INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Abstract and empowering

Venus Envy
Therapy Nightclub and Lounge
Saturday, July 22

When DJ Shiva assembled the all-female Venus Envy DJ event at Therapy Nightclub and Lounge last Saturday, her primary goal was to combat an overwhelmingly male-centric approach.

“What commonly happens in the electronic music world, and the music world at large, is that men will put together an all-female event, and then really play up the sexuality and looks of the DJs,” Shiva said. “With this event, I wanted to focus solely on the talent of the DJs and to empower ourselves.”

Certainly music and talent was front and center here. DJ techniques cover a fascinating range, and Venus Envy presented a wide abstraction of all forms. Punisher featured somewhat more repetitive beats, the kind of stuff that hits hard and fast and sticks with only minimal variations. The work of Sassmouth, playing off her, had a more 1980s feel to it, frequent variations and surprises along the way, the kind of stuff that gets your heart beating in time with the music and damn near shocks your whole system when it changes the beat. Then, of course, there’s the unpredictable fun of what happens when a couple of DJs hit it at once and mix-and-match against and with each other.

The show (a benefit for Girls Inc. of Indianapolis) boasted an impressive local lineup,ncluding Shiva’s own intricate, multilayered beats and Merkaba’s exotic and unpredictable rhythms. Other DJs included Setha and Fate.

“I want women to have a voice in electronic music, because if men are the majority making and presenting the music, then there is a whole spectrum of experience not being heard and felt,” Shiva said.