I met the Sick Girls a little over 3 years ago when in Berlin covering its nascent Nu bass/Euro Crunk scene, and even back then the girls knew how to lay it down. Alexandra Droener and Johanna Grabsch first met as bookers at the now legendary WMF Club, but were bored of the stale sounds that were permeating the club at the time. So the two acutely eared musicologists decided to throw their own night, and invite whatever talent they wanted to curate the decks — genres be damned. The result was called Revolution #5, and its opening night saw a plethora of talent take the stage: TTC, Modeselektor and Jahcoozi all took turns at the decks and mics, and a can’t miss Berlin club night was born. Since then the Girls have blossomed into proper DJs in their own right, deftly mixing sounds and textures all united in the love of bass — hop skipping from two-step to grime to dubstep to nu skool breaks with effortless ease. Peep out the Sick Girls’ awesome In Bed With Jackmode mixtape below to get a good grasp of their sound, then download and enjoy it all week long…
Allow me to introduce myself, I’m…
Alex D., Half Girl/Half Sick and when I’m with Johanna we are the Sick Girls!
JJ — One Sick Girl — who´s the other half.
I’m usually posted up at…
A: This little café in Wrangelstr [Berlin] that I don’t know the name of, having tea and Italian cake…
J: My pirate rooftop terrace watching the Jehova’s Witnesses main hangout.
I pay my bills by…
A: Traveling round the globe making people dance, and by writing about music for Style & the Family Tunes magazine.
J: Pushing buttons and pads on my machine.
You might’ve heard of me because…
A: I’ve always wore the best glasses long before all the hipsters started pretending they were blind…
J: I´m an open secret.
But why you really should know me is…
A: because we’ve just released this awesome mix cd on BBE records called Revolution N°5!
J: Not because we make the best parties in Berlin, but because we started this.
The last time I saw the sun come up I was…
A: On a train from Bucharest to Berlin shortly before we got into Budapest (and it was beautiful, I had a rosehip tea and a triple chocolate cookie for breakfast while watching the sun come up over a lovely Hungarian countryside…)
J: Walking down a street in Brooklyn the wrong way, only to discover that I had to walk 3 miles back.
Continue reading our interview with Sick Girls, plus Full Tracklisting of In Bed With Jackmode mixtape after the Jump…
SICK GIRLS – IN BED WITH JACKMODE (LIVE-MIX 09/2010) by Jackmode
“I can honestly say that I have no real idols because I object to the concept of idolization. I like sincere, courageous and fair-minded characters with a little twist…”
If it wasn’t for __grime music_____ I wouldn’t be where I am today
Grime!
The best part about my job is…
A: Playing the perfect set with my beloved DJ partner…
J: Dancing to Alex´s favorite tracks. …
The worst part about my job is…
A: Traveling. It’s dreadful…I hate flying so I’m on trains all the time, sometimes for more than 20 hours…
J: Too many people, too many places and not enough time!
If I was taking a train from Paris to Madrid, and I could choose one person to share the cabin with, I’d choose…
A: My future husband who I did not meet yet…
J: Gertrude Stein
The first piece of music I heard that I remember waking up my ears was…
A: “Children of the Revolution” by T Rex
J: “Revolution” by the Beatles
The last piece of music I heard that woke up my ears is…
A: LV & Okmalumkoolkat: “Boomslang’
J: Babe, Terror: “Summertime Our League”
If you want to put a smile on my face, you probably want to…
A: Share my sense of humor, recommend a thrilling new TV series to me and bring me the best brownie in town
J: Beautiful vegetarian food. Make the sun shine. Recite “Burnt Norton” by heart.
If you want to wipe that smile away, then you should…
A: be a stupid racist sexist
J: be a hypocrite.
The person I admire most is…
A: A jigsaw puzzle of many different people, I can honestly say that I have no real idols cause I object to the concept of idolization. I like sincere, courageous and fair-minded characters with a little twist…
J: My shrink.
The last time I lied was because…
A: My phone rang but I wasn’t in the mood to speak so I pretended being busy
J: Ditto
If you hit shuffle on my iPod you might be shocked to find…
A: Nothing really — I got no iPod but maybe if you’d hit my iTunes you might be shocked to find Vivaldi…
J: I don’t have an iPod.
If you hit shuffle on my iPod I’d be embarrassed if it landed on…
A: No embarrassment here — my iTunes is a bottomless pit of taste, thrills and eternal beauty…only
When I get my next really big check, I’m gonna go score an…
A: Old derelict factory floor that I can have renovated just as I like to live in
J: Hmmm…never thought about that. A beautiful old Persian rug maybe. Probably music equipment.
But it’ll never replace…
A: Erm…no, nothing really…I guess if I would have a pet…I really love my computer, does that count?
J: There’s none that I value the most, but I couldn’t go without my RME Fireface audio interface .
My one magic power is…
A: To laugh at myself
J: Materialism is shit.
You usually can find me…
A: in Berlin, Germany (on the Oberbaum Bridge watching the skyline in the sunset…)
J: Berlin, yes Wedding, Germany. HOOD!
I’d like to give a quick shout-out to…
A: Peter at BBE, RQM, Native Instruments, my fellow members of the STEEP PEAK (and our charming aspirant), Cathy, Lisanne, Sophie, Sasha, Gerriet, Sara, Andrea, Daniel, The Italians, Westernbarbie and her little friends, Stinoe and all the boys, my SATFT colleagues, the DJ who played before Flying Lotus last week and the gifted creature who bakes the brownies at Fresh & Friends.
J: aAl of the above plus my sister, my brothers, my great family. Isabella, Sami, Katrin, Roman, Ableton, Pepone and Spot, Friedrich, music music music, my singing teacher, Birgit
And lastly, If I was Lost In a Supermarket, you’d find me in the…
A: Candy aisle. If I was Lost In a Supermarket, I would be stressed out and when I’m stressed out I need sweets (just for the record: when I’m not stressed out, too…)
J: I love supermarkets. My old antikapitalist self can just not get enough – especially in Italian supermarkets. Fruit section or deli section. Olives, or cheese. If it was a Turkish supermarket halva and hummus. Chinese supermarket: mangos and white tea. American supermarkets? Scare the hell out of me…
Sick Girls In Bed With Jackmode Mixtape Tracklisting:
Zarif – Box Of Secrets – Redlight Rmx
Mumdance&Brodinski – Eurostarr – Supra1 Rmx
Sick Girls – V Skank
Lil Silva – No Hooks
T.Williams – People’s Choice
Si Begg – I Can’t Take It
Alan Barrat – Electro Step
Vato Gonzalez – Badman Riddim – Mat Cant Badman Place Blend
Zinc – Nexx
Serocee – Badeng – MJ Cole Rmx
Lapo Numa Crew – HC Youth ft. Sista Kinky
A Juicy Red Apple – Skin Up – Hostage Rmx
Flore – The Test ft. Shunda K
Kry Wolf – Dibby
Ribs/IG88 – Monkey Wrench – Jinx Rmx
DVA – Step 2 Funk
Ezra Bang & Hot Machine – Cadillac – Sick Girls Backseat Rmx
Zander Hardy – Signalling
Racknruin – Soundclash ft. Jessie Ware
Nolay – Unorthodox Daughter – Kingdom Refix
Dark Sky – Reflex – Sick Girls Claptrap Infusion
Meleka – Miss Me – Swindle Rmx
For more infos or booking inquries, please get in touch with kai [at] jackmode [dot] de
