Queen Of Raves: DJ Sc@r talks pirate radio, running a label & wild nights in Belgium!

Australian born DJ Sc@r, or Kaylene to her friends, has been at the forefront of the UK Hardcore scene for the past ten years and has become the leading female name in that scene.

Now based back home in Australia, Sc@r continues to perform at events around the world and runs her own label, Scarred Digital, which has just celebrated its 4th anniversary and is approaching its 100th release.

Alive At Night caught up with Kaylene for a chat about pirate radio, running a label, raving around the world and lots more!

 – For any of our readers who don’t know you yet, please give us a quick introduction to DJ Sc@r
I’m a UK hardcore DJ and producer from Australia. I’ve been into rave music since the early 90s, I’ve been DJing since 2004 and since 2012 I’ve been running a label, Scarred Digital. I’m also a Registered Nurse! I love to travel, party, and cuddle my beautiful cat Deejay.

 – How did you first get involved in the rave scene in your home city of Sydney, Australia and what subsequently led to you becoming a DJ?
My brother was a DJ and a raver back in the 90s and used to bring home tape packs for me to listen to, so I was brought up on early rave music. The first rave I attended was Utopia in May 2000 at the Sydney Superdome – I’ll never forget walking into the venue and experiencing that atmosphere for the first time! I got decks for my 21st birthday – Behringer Direct Drive Turntables, they were shocking and I actually still own them. You’ve got to start somewhere 🙂

 – We understand that you moved to the UK in the mid-‘00s and initially got involved in the London hardcore scene. Can you tell us how that move to the UK came about and how you broke into the scene there?
I grew up with one dream, to travel and see the world. I did my training as a nurse and off I went as soon as I could. I popped over to London for a weekend during a European trip and ended up staying for ten years. I swear I was a gypsy in a past life – I always have the urge to travel!

When I first moved to the UK I found out where the good parties were from a rave forum website, USH.net, and went to my first UK rave called Helter Skelter Energy at Milton Keynes in 2004.

I started to work with DJ Uplift at the label Raw Elements but my first DJ set was actually during a trip back to Sydney, playing b2b with DJ Uplift at a party called Dosage.

Three months later I was back in London playing at a massive underground event called Raindance and from there on it was all go!!!

 – Pirate radio has always played a big part in the London hardcore scene, what can you tell us about your days as a pirate radio DJ?
I was a DJ on Eruption 101.3 FM in London for six years. Those were some of my favourite days ever! This was real pirate radio, transmitting illegally, and it was so much fun! We had strict rules to abide by – like getting in and out of the building, we had to be really subtle, couldn’t wear anything that might be considered to be rave gear or carry record bags. We couldn’t say real names on air or do anything that might jeopardise the station or ourselves. We had a real community feel going all through the station, quite a special and unique experience.

Just a little geekiness about how a pirate radio station works – from the station studio a transmitter sends the signal to an antenna on a nearby tall building which spreads the music across the city on a FM signal. During the show listeners would phone in for shout outs, tune requests etc. It was pretty cool cruising around London hearing hardcore on the radio 24/7.

Of course it’s so much easier now to do internet radio shows or Facebook live stream mixing because DJs don’t even have to travel to a studio, they can stream from the safety of their own bedrooms and reach audiences worldwide. It’s just not the same thrill DJing in your bedroom wearing your PJs while dinner is cooking and the cat is running around your feet.

I have played on some pretty cool radio shows over the years including Happyhardcore.com, Krafty Radio, Happy Nation, History Of Hardcore, Kool FM, Hardcore Overload and I was a guest on BBC Radio One for Kutski’s “In New DJs We Trust” show.

 – What would you say have been the highlights of your music career so far?
My dream was to rave around the world and I think I’ve achieved that! Through music I’ve met amazing people around the world; I’ve met all of my best friends through music. I’ve been to countries that I never imagined I would be able to visit, including Sweden, Spain, Canada, USA, Belgium, Japan, Russia plus I’ve travelled all over Australia, England, Scotland and Wales!

 – Who would you say have been the biggest influences in your career, both in terms of music style and as professional mentors or role models?
Luna-C has always been a big influence musically, I love pianos and his tunes have that real ravey old-skool feel. My own tracks always feature pianos – I actually played classical piano for 12 years before I started DJing. Luna-C has personally been very supportive to me over the years; I even had the amazing experience of playing back-to-back with him at an event in New York and we’ve also remixed each other’s tracks.

In my early days, DJ Uplift from Raw Elements taught me how to mix professionally, guided me on how to take on the scene professionally and really inspired me as a DJ. He always pushed music with dark underground acid lines and hoover sounds which I love.

 -Your label Scarred Digital has just turned 4 years old and is about to celebrate its 100th release – congratulations on this huge achievement! What inspired you to start your own label?
I worked with Raw Elements for eight years and eventually decided to move on in a new direction. I’ve always liked to support and promote new talent in the scene and I want to stay true to that spirit with Scarred Digital. I didn’t want Scarred Digital to be just a UK Hardcore label, my interest is much wider than that; to put it simply, we support “rave music”. I love listening to new music and releasing whatever interests me.

I’m so happy with what we’ve achieved. It’s a small label but we have a close family vibe. All the artists involved with Scarred Digital are working really hard and we have a lot of support from around the globe which I greatly appreciate (thanks guys!).

I’ve been nicknamed “Mummy Sc@r” by some which makes me feel so old but I am proud of everyone who’s been involved and hopefully Scarred Digital has helped some artists on their music career paths.

 – Of the almost 100 tracks released, are you able to pick a particular one or two that hold the dearest memories for you?
The very first release will always be very special to me – it was one of my own productions, named “Rushin”. It was very well received in the scene and really kicked the label off on a positive start.

The 100th release will also be something very special, we have a project underway featuring several artists from the label. We are also rebranding with a new logo to coincide with the 100th release and I’m planning a very special treat – but I won’t reveal anything about that just yet! All I will say at the moment is that I’m in lots of business meeting trying to arrange things!

 – Scarred Digital represents and showcases talent from around the world, including UK hardcore, powerstomp, freeform, gabber and more – what qualities do you look for when you are selecting new music and new artists for the label?
I always looks for original ideas and for music that gets me dancing. I’m listening out for that certain something in a tune that just grabs me, something that’s just a bit different.

I like to work with artists from different countries and different scenes. We’ve released music by artists from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and Russia plus an incoming track from South Korea to add to the list.

Some of the variety of music that is in the pipeline includes a gabber track by the very talented Machina from Finland, a happy hardcore release from StraV3r in Japan and even now got some Hardstyle tracks coming up soon too from our own producers Hitman and Reflux. Something for everyone 🙂

When I’m watching out for new artists, I’m looking for people who work hard and who don’t cause drama or trouble in the scene. I like to see artists who are going the extra mile to push their own careers – including putting mixes up online, networking and making the effort to get involved with online radio shows and with events in their local scenes.

 – Tell us about some of the artists in the Scarred Digital family and what they have been getting up to recently
I’ve been working with an artist named Reflux for many years, he has so many new ideas for music. He’s started to get some really good event bookings this year. His new track “The Other Side” has been getting a lot of attention and support, especially the Macks Wolf remix which is being played by some high profile DJs like Gammer, Fracus, and Joey Riot.

Mizz T is a new signing to the label, she’s producing powerstomp. She’s a really nice girl and I’m so proud of how far she’s come with her music. She’s got a great mixing style and we both like to dress up as unicorns – you may have seen some photos and a video floating around from our Future State Music interview at HTID In The Magaluf Sun.

Another artist I’m really excited to have signed is Hitman, he’s producing UK hardcore and hardstyle, expect to hear big things from him soon!

Like I mentioned earlier I’m pretty proud of everyone involved with the label – big shout out to MC Vibrance, Wingman, Yorkshire Ripper, Ziyad, S.I.D.R, Code-E and Ken Masters.

I’m currently working on a Scarred Digital New Breed DJ competition to sign up two fresh newbies. Due to a lot of interest it is taking me longer than expected to go through all the submissions, there is a lot of talent out there.

 – With regards to your own productions, who have been your favourite artists to collaborate with over the years? And who would you most like to work with the in the coming years?
I really enjoy working with Haze from Sydney, we’ve made a number of tracks together across different genres and did an album last year for Future State. We are currently collaborating ideas for a future project!

M-Project from Japan is another amazing artist I have really enjoyed collaborating with. He’s so musically talented, supportive and taking the scene by storm the past two years. We have made a few tracks together and he also took me to Tokyo in 2015 to perform at The Day Of Hardcore. He deserves every bit of success as he’s extremely hard working.

As to who I would like to work with in the future – it would have to be Hixxy – the guy’s a legend! No further reason has to be given…. he is the DJ HIXXY!

 – How have you seen the UK hardcore scene change over the years?  What are your predictions for the scene for the next year or so?
In the UK I’ve noticed recently that there have been a lot of breakthrough artists and line ups are changing; second room artists are now becoming main stage artists. I’m hearing a lot of new quality productions at the moment – the scene is really fresh and I’m enjoying it. It was great catching up and hearing a lot of new artists recently when I travelled over to HTID In The Magaluf Sun so it’s good to see major line ups pushing boundaries and supporting more fresh talent.

All music scenes move in cycles, with different genres being popular at different times. Here is Sydney I can see that UK hardcore is growing in popularity again. Events such as OneSeventy, Rocket Science, Sugoi As F##k and Revamped are now held regularly and are increasing in numbers every time plus it’s  good to see Masif Saturdays booking regular UK hardcore artists as well. SHN Raveolution will be returning in Sydney on NYE and will be bringing out DJ MOB from the UK!

I’ve also played in Brisbane a few times since I’ve been back in Australia, it’s a small scene up there but the events are regular and a lot fun with a great friendly atmosphere.

 – UK hardcore, just like the rest of the dance music industry, tends to be quite male-dominated. As a female DJ, producer and label owner, what additional challenges have you had to overcome? Can you give any advice to other women who are considering a career in hard dance music?
I think that girls in the scene do have to work harder to show that we are dedicated and passionate and to earn respect for our music skills. It has been a lot of fun but unfortunately there is some stereotypical negative stigma about being ‘Female DJ’, however us ladies stick together, support each other and it is always a lot of fun when performing together! I haven’t found a male DJ yet who wants to dress up in costume and dance together like us girls do behind the decks 😉

More and more girls are getting into DJing now and there are female MCs coming through as well which is great to see. I used to run a night in the UK with an all-female line up called The Powder Room a few years back.

I absolutely love DJing and I encourage any girl who is interested in a DJ career to have a go, follow your dreams and do what makes you happy!

– With your regular trips to perform at events as far afield as the USA, Japan and Russia we probably couldn’t ask you to pick just one favourite place, so tell us about your three favourite international party destinations
Firstly I have to say Russia, I’ve been there four years in a row. Amazing culture, awesome friends and of course lots of vodka and Borsch!

I’ve had some really crazy experiences travelling to Belgium – it’s just two hours on the train from London. After one club gig there I found myself crowd surfing and then later on I was behind the bar pouring shots for everyone! I’ve actually written a gabber track called “One Night In Belgium”, inspired by two gigs, one crazy house party, two train trips and pretty much losing my marbles all within the space of 24 hours.

My other favourite destination would have to be the USA – I’ve played in various cities a fair few times.  The people are amazing and they serve fantastic food! I really do love to eat and I love a good food challenge – there’s plenty to choose from in the USA. They have an amazing kandi raver scene over there too. I used to be a kandi raver when I was a young raver in Sydney – I was in the Smiley Rave Crew back in the day! It’s great to see that kind of scene still alive around the world.

 – Where is the most unusual place you have ever played a DJ set?
The OneSeventy boat party, Rave Fantasea, on Sydney Harbour last year was pretty cool! It was a scorching hot sunny day and there we were raving away on a boat cruising around the beautiful harbour. One very unusual but very memorable gig was the Colour Run at Wembley Stadium in London, I played for four hours as 18,000 partied on. I played a mixture of upbeat commercial music through to UK Hardcore and everything in between. I enjoyed the multi-genre set – I take on any opportunities that might be thrown at me! The HTID In the Sun Pool Party would also be up there as a pretty unusual set with the crowd splashing around in the pool, going crazy to the music.

 – Now that you are based back in Australia after around ten years living in the UK – is there anything you miss about the UK? Obviously not the weather, but maybe the crisps?!
Haha yes crisps for sure – McCoy’s Salt and Vinegar! I do miss the UK scene where there were hardcore parties every weekend and the rush of driving all over the UK playing two or three gigs in a night. I remember one weekend having gigs in Portsmouth and Bristol on the Friday then driving all the way up to Durham in the north of England for a gig on the Saturday night. I then slept in the passenger seat of the car all the way home to Essex, changed into my work uniform in the car and went straight into work for a Sunday morning day shift like nothing had ever happened!

 – We know there’s some party animals in the UK hardcore scene (actually, we heard you are one of them…) – what’s the wildest story you can tell us from behind the scenes?! Names need not be mentioned!
Haha you can’t ask me that! What happens on tour, stays on tour! Having said that though, I have to say going on tour with other artists is a really fun experience, you really get to see a different side to people and get to know each other on a whole new level.

I went on tour in the USA with my good friend DJ Pikey, we were on a tour called the “2 Hot 2 Handle Tour”. We visited New York, Pittsburgh and Rochester over two weeks and suffice to say – it was carnage! DJ Starkiss drove us around but for Pikey and I it was no sleep, lots of booze, lots of friends and three epic raves – two lost passports and some pretty epic memories which stay between those where were there!!!!

 – And finally, the most important question, what did you have for breakfast this morning?
This morning I had porridge for breakfast and two coffees, I save the English fry-ups for Sundays .

Kaylene, thank you for taking the time to chat with Alive At Night! We would like to congratulate you and all of the Scarred Digital label crew on four highly successful years and on reaching the milestone of 100 releases!

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