Get used to it

In her DJ sets and on her upcoming album, Audio-Hygene, Mini challenges the boys and the girls—especially the girls—to embrace the unexpected

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

“Overdose
1: Too great a dose (as of a therapeutic agent); also: a lethal or toxic amount (as of a drug)
2: An excessive quantity or amount <an overdose of fun>” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Since September of 2003, Mini has manned the decks at le Parking’s Overdose, a stiff hit of electro that fills the dancefloor under a giant disco ball every Thursday night. Although the event was founded by Frigid, it was Mini who steered it forward as the electroclash fad waned, leaving so many lesser electro soirées by the wayside. With such esteemed guests as Tiga, Ellen Allien, Laurent Garnier and Miss Kittin at her side, and with a stack of tracks ranging from sharp minimalism to brassy techno, Mini’s Overdose has never turned toxic.

At 15, Rimouski-born Evelyne Drouin fell for beats at a rave in Montreal. Only five years later, a bartending job at Blue Dog facilitated her first experiments in turntablism.

“I was a baby!” says Mini, pointing to a significant upgrade of her musical taste as well as her DJ skills. Her age, gender and sexual orientation never impeded her progress as she began to make a name for herself in 2002, at Blue Dog, Blizzarts and finally Parking. After all, genitalia and bedroom activity have very little to do with putting a needle on a record, despite critical acclaim for the “female touch.”

“I say a DJ is a DJ. Whether they’re a woman or a man, everybody has their own ‘special touch.’”

Conversely, Mini admits to a bias when it comes to buying records and booking guests, if only because of the possibility that female producers and DJs will be overlooked by her male counterparts. But talent is the primary attraction when it comes to selecting tracks and collaborators, not the content of an artist’s pants.

“I represent the ladies as much as I feel is right.”

The L sound

Despite frequent one-off gigs–such as opening for bands at conventional concerts and working with Opéra de Montréal on their TechnOpera series–Mini also finds time to spin regularly at the cavernous afterhours club Aria and the ambient, intimate Bily Kun, expanding and contracting her eclectic electronic sets to fit the mood.

The mood is bound to be femme-tastic at Mini’s second annual gig with Divers/Cité’s Lesbomonde, and her graduation from opening act to a headliner affords her more freedom to work the crowd her way.

“It’s strictly girls, which is very big for me, but the lesbian crowd comes from so many diverse backgrounds that it’s very hard to please everybody.”

Mini acknowledges the slightly sad reality that women generally play it safe when it comes to club music, based on past responses to her unfamiliar, vocal-free sets, and on the continuing conservative programming at the few lesbian bars and events in this city.

No amount of pressure will coerce Mini into playing Madonna, but her eyes have spied a contingent of musically open-minded women at clubs, particularly in the 18–30 age range, that’s willing to give the Material Girl a pass. In time, with the emergence of new venues and an infusion of adventure in the existing ones, Mini hopes that the soundtrack to lesbian nightlife will evolve beyond its commercial-radio orientation, the way that the gay scene branched off from circuit house.

“I would love to play for girls more often, as long as I don’t have to change what I love to do.”

Production seduction

There’s no love lost between Mini and DJing, but her new crush is music production. Mini has made her first album, Audio-Hygene, a title that her Web site says, “evokes a sonic cleansing, an antidote to the redundancy of force-fed pop,” an apt reflection of a sound that blends a dirty, lo-fi aesthetic with doses of melodic melancholia, hard electronica with intimate “organica.” Included on the album are collaborations with French goth-rock legends Trisomie 21 and local dancefloor-dyke band Lesbians on Ecstasy.

After being involved in every aspect of the project, from circuit-bending toys for sampling to overseeing engineer Frédéric Lagacé’s substantial studio work, Mini is eager to pursue production further, and to bring her new set of skills to her night job.

“Music production has made me a little bit more picky as a DJ, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do crazier things in terms of equipment.”

To celebrate the August release of Audio-Hygene, Mini is keeping it low-key by incorporating the launch party into Overdose.

“It only makes sense to do it there,” she says. “It’s where my lab was for the last two-and-a-half years—it feels like my home.”

With Chiclet at the Musée & Cabaret Juste Pour Rire’s Loft on Saturday, August 5, 9:30 p.m., $30. For info about other Lesbomonde acts (playing simultaneously in different rooms, same ticket) and Divers/Cité activities, visit www.diverscite.org