17.02.2021
This week’s mix feature is 3DEN! She is a badass and switching it up with some heavy bass music. I’m happy to have her on, and this is also her very first interview! It is a bit longer, but I enjoyed talking with her and I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about her as well.
She is a part of the collective Skwad Records, who have members all around the country and curate great events in and around Detroit. She also has her own merch, an extensive background in gymnastics, and big ambitions for her future.
In her interview, we talk about things like being a woman in the music industry, her tattoos, why she chose bass music, plans for 2021, a bit more about Skwad Records and what they do, her hobbies, how she stays confident, Squishmallows, and more.
This is also the third week of our new partnership with Deep Space Radio! Each mix will exclusively premiere on Deep Space Radio at noon on Wednesday – and then be available on the detroit.dance SoundCloud as per usual at 3:13pm EST.
Be sure to check out her mix now, on SoundCloud. I hope you enjoy!
detroit.dance: What do you do outside of music?
3DEN: I’m a doggy daycare instructor, as well as a vet assistant. So I have two jobs. The first one for the doggy daycare instructor, I am certified to watch up to 20 big dogs at a time. That means a dog that’s like 50 pounds and up, we have 50 pounds to 150 pound dogs – big dogs – and we will all be in one play room area. So I’m basically a teacher, but for dogs. It’s pretty awesome. Definitely not a job for everyone. You need to be very honest with yourself when it comes to it. There’s a lot of barking, there will be fights… but I love it personally. It’s all up my alley entirely. The second job that I do is a vet assistant at a small clinic, we don’t do any surgeries or anything of that sort. We do immunizations, nail trimmings, and necessary care for a really good price. We have an actual vet there that has the qualifications to perform surgeries or euthanizations or anything like that, but they’re not performing those at our place of work. It’s been very educational for me and I’m excited to bring both of those together and eventually open my own doggy daycare with a small vet clinic in it, you could call it a wellness clinic, and have grooming in it too. That’s my ultimate goal is to have my own version of this, but I’m learning all of the various components of it by working at these two places. There’s a lot of very necessary components that a lot of big organizations that do these kinds of work don’t pay attention to. And that’s what I’m going to be focusing on is the little details. I have a lot more to learn, for sure.
detroit.dance: What are your hobbies and how did you get into them?
3DEN: I have been a gymnast since I was literally old enough to do a somersault. Four years old at toddler playtime is where I started, at Bounce in Hartland, actually. And that was where I lived my whole life basically – in that gym. I was getting pretty good, and I needed some hard training, and a lot more extensive training than I already was doing. Unfortunately, when I was 12 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in the back of my head so I had to put gymnastics aside for a little bit. I lost a lot of time where I should have been gaining more skills to be at the level that I wanted to be at. After you lose about three years of training, that definitely is going to put a big mark on your career when it comes to being a gymnast. Then after that, I thought about it and my best apparatus was bars. I loved bars, I could swing on them for days – the bars were my safe place. And I’m like, “Okay I have all this arm strength, and all of this ability to do this, what do I do?”. So then I started doing stuff like finding small but super sturdy trees, and I started learning how to do pole dancing but on trees. I would also use signs and posts and then I was like, “Honestly, I might as well start pole dancing.” so that’s what I did. I’ve been doing that for four years now.
I’m actually going to be bringing it into my showcases when I’m performing. I want to have a pole on a block that I can travel with. I can have myself perform on the pole during something, or have a team of girls that would perform. I want to take that hobby and turn it into a job. Pole dancing is the closest thing to gymnastics that I’ve had.
detroit.dance: And how is your situation with the brain tumor – is everything ok?
3DEN: Yes, I’m going on 10 years now tumor free. It was benign, it was not cancerous, which is absolutely amazing.. and I’m so thankful for it every day. But it was a very, very big tumor in my little 12 year old head. I got very lucky with not having any sort of reoccurrence, I do have to get yearly scans, to make sure that there’s no regrowth – because unless my tumor grows back we will have no clue how long it took for my tumor to grow. It could have been at birth, it could have been when I fell in some way or could have been from anything. So unless it grows back, there’s no telling what or where it came from.
detroit.dance: So obviously your background was in gymnastics first before you started pole, but do you have any tips or advice for people without that kind of background that would like to do pole fitness / pole dance?
3DEN: The best thing that I can tell you is, when you don’t have 15 years of gymnastics on your back, including the 15 years of swinging on bars for the arm strength… it’s physically not going to be easy or happen that quickly unless you have that. My best advice is: strengthen your core. Focus on pull-ups. You have to have the ability to lift yourself, you can lift weights all day, but your bodyweight is a totally different lift, compared to lifting weights. You want to be able to lift your body. Your core is what’s holding you and keeping you tight in a certain position on the pole. You’ll very easily be able to tell when you have core strength, by how much easier the things that you’re doing are.
Now if you just want to pole dance, it feels good, it feels nice and it’s kind of an escape. You’re twirling around a pole and it’s magical and cool. The best advice that I can give you for that is to simply enjoy it. Don’t worry about being sexy. It doesn’t always need to be that way. It’s stereotyped to be like that. Twirl around on it and feel good! Get comfortable with it, don’t go straight to pole tricks. You have to be comfortable with your pole. Be one with the pole if you want the pole to work with you. The best thing you can do is first, get your relationship with your pole.
So the big three are – relationship with your pole, being able to lift your body, and core strength.
detroit.dance: 3DEN – I love your logo, so is there a cool story behind that or anything?
3DEN: I kind of want to change it to 3DENDUBZ. I think it sounds good to the ear. Having a name that’s fun to say, it’s gonna make people say it. I also wanted to find something that would represent the three – I dance, I sing, and I DJ. That could be the three, butI think I can find something a little bit more clever than that. For now, it doesn’t really have any sort of backstory behind it, it’s just my name. Having my name being Eden it’s already a name that would work as a DJ name, it has that magical vibe to it, and it is a biblical name.
detroit.dance: How did those three components come together?
3DEN: My 3DEN page started off with dancing. I do like hip hop and popping dancing… the no bones looking dancing where you’re some noodle popping around. If you go on my videos on the 3DEN page and scroll down you’ll see a lot of those videos. It started after I got asked to dance on stage personally by Al Ross at his show The Crofoot in Pontiac, where he was playing with Trampa. He asked me personally to dance on stage while he performed. After that, my page started getting more popular because I had gained a following. Honestly, it was also after that show that I realized I wanted to DJ. I was like, “I love to dance, but honestly I want to be behind the decks making the music, because damn do I love that!” I wanted to give people the euphoric feeling of good music, and it being my music would be amazing. So, I started DJing. I’ve been doing this for almost two years. I started playing shows in October 2019 and I played my first show at Hot Rocks in Warren for Taco Tuesday. It started booming from there.
detroit.dance: Why did you choose bass music?
3DEN: I love rap music. I have an ability to portray a whole rap song with my body, and can make a dance move instantly to match a word. It’s like a form of acting, but really fast, and I usually need to know the song pretty well in order to do it. From that, I never really ventured out into bass music at all until a few years ago. I was pretty stuck on the rap scene. I heard the song Crave You by Flight Facilities (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix). I kept listening to it and listening to it and then I started venturing out and venturing out. I realized that there’s so many different subgenres of bass music and it goes on forever. After listening to bass music for the first time, I knew that it was something that I wanted to at least pick up as a hobby. There’s so much more to bass music than just the music. There’s the jobs, the fun stuff, there’s great people involved, there’s so much to learn. It’s like one of those spider web graphs in school. The culture of bass music overall sucks you in from the get go if you let it.
detroit.dance: Do you have a dream b2b?
3DEN: Svdden Death and Vampa. I know I will be able to do one with Vampa one day. That is my number one goal. She is so awesome and she is my role model, and I would love to share a stage with her one day. Svdden Death is my dream, like, oh my goodness fan girl here, for sure… but Vampa is that bitch and I love her, and I will absolutely b2b with her one day. Manifesting it now.
detroit.dance: You have your own merch – talk a bit about what you have available and what you have coming in the future.
3DEN: My pins! I started with the Divine Demon pins. I had a black and gold which actually sold out super quick. And then I have a blue, and a red sparkly enamel. My first set of pins I had, I sent some to Norway, Germany, and China. It was pretty crazy. I never expected that for sure. My second set of pins is the Killer Kush enamel. It’s my logo, the lips with a blunt in her mouth with fangs and my name in the smoke. I still have quite a few of those left – they come in a set, they are $20 for the set. You can get them on my website. I also have my jerseys. My jerseys are beautiful! They’re made by Tom from My Hydration Pack. He’s actually made quite a few different jerseys for local artists and he also makes the merch for Skwad Records. The back of the jersey is where you would put your last name, it’s totally customizable – which I love. If you were to order one, It would be custom made for you, there’s not any that are already made.
I do have some ideas for the future. I was thinking of doing a beanie and mask combo. They’re going to correlate together, they would not be attached. I’m going to do a black one, and a red one.
I’m also thinking of coming together with another pin design with my guy that makes my pins. His name is Get Ghosted aka Saige Boilanger, he’s amazing. He makes amazing pins, and he has his own pin set called Kinky Enamel. He and I are developing some ideas around for a new pin set that’s going to be a little bit flashy, for sure, but that’s how people like their pins. That’s what I have in store that I’m ready to bring to the table.
detroit.dance: Do you have any live streams or events coming up that you’d like to talk about?
3DEN: This Saturday actually! I’m on a live stream with some other amazing artists local to Grand Rapids or Detroit that is being put on by Bassface Productions on Twitch. I’ll be on from 8pm-9pm EST. The stream is called Experimental Sessions and is through Mad Lab, which is a cool little studio with awesome visuals and it’s super vibey in there so I am very excited. I have a show that I’m supposed to be playing through Bassface Productions at Hot Rock in Warren, but unfortunately due to COVID, we have to wait it out, but that’s still in the works.
detroit.dance: You’re a part of the Skwad Records collective – talk about that and what it is, what you do, how to join, and whatever you’d like to talk about.
3DEN: We are an abundance of things. First of all, we are a bunch of independent artists that are together as a group and making it as one. There’s a lot of different components to us. We bring a lot of things to the table. If you’re not on the music side, you don’t have the production drive, it’s not something you can force yourself to do. If you’re not about that, we have a bunch of other things you can do. We also have an apprenticeship program that’s going on right now. Basically you’re a promoter, but you are also on the team. We do group bonding activities. We play a lot of music festivals during the summer as a crew. It’s definitely a team effort. Charles, our mutual friend, he makes the most beautiful pinecones I’ve ever seen – it’s insane – he’s on our team. It doesn’t matter who is in charge of what, we are all one. We also do weddings, graduation parties. We will bring a whole setup. So we bring a lot of different things to the table.
If we found someone who wanted to be a part of the team who was a phenomenal bartender, okay cool – we can bring that in too. Now we have an amazing bartender for our events.
Nothing’s ever more important than something else. We’re very uplifting and welcoming and a good group of people that all have a dream and we all want to have each other succeed in it. I have really high standards for Skwad because I know what we are capable of.
detroit.dance: How many people are currently involved in Skwad?
3DEN: We have members both in and out of state, so we have a pretty big team. We find people that have something to bring to the table, and then we add them to the team. So we are getting bigger and bigger by the day.
detroit.dance: Do you have a memorable accomplishment from you and the crew so far?
3DEN: We played Sherwood Appreciation Weekend last year on the weekend that was supposed to be Electric Forest, on the Forest grounds. We were definitely making sure it was COVID compliant, being strict with the regulations like six feet apart, wearing masks… everything that was supposed to be going on so we could have that event. We got asked to come out there and we had our own separate stage, down by the beach area. We had such a good vibe going on and probably the most people around our stage. And we were either playing or getting down to the music. I was so proud of everyone that weekend because although we did have limits as to what we were allowed to bring to the table because of COVID, we were still able to safely do the damn thing. It was honestly a really awesome experience. We ended that weekend with a really amazing back to back to back to back to back Skwad take over. I will never forget that weekend at all.
detroit.dance: The newest member of the Skwad Records collective is Charles of Twisted Pinecones or also known as Gemini_Creations57, I know you guys did a group class with him – talk a little bit about that and your experience.
3DEN: I had the BEST time. It was a really euphoric feeling. It was just me and my friends all hanging out making pinecones. I honestly never would have thought that I would have had the opportunity to sit down and make a pinecone. You know, like, it’s one of those things where I was like “Okay, these are expensive jewelry”. For example, Third Eye Pinecones – it’s a lot of money to buy one of those! I never would have thought that I would have been able to take a class on it. And then I met Charlie, and we all did a class. The way he explained it, it was so easy to go through the steps and do it. He was really good at explaining it, and really good at being understanding. For example, I put my logo sticker on wrong, and he had to go and redo the sticker so I could put a new one on. And he was like, “Oh, no, it’s no biggie, I don’t mind. You’re learning.” It’s definitely a learning experience, and he makes it one. When things happen that could make frustration, there’s no frustration. Only teaching moments, which is great.
He can seriously make a life for himself doing that. I personally think he needs to do classes specifically for children and parents. He would be great dealing with kids. And then whoever is taking that kid to the class, it would be a great bonding experience for the both of them. Having a pinecone is so cool, and it’s going to get your attention. Having a four or five year old’s attention is really big. If you can do that – good job.
detroit.dance: Do you have any plans for 2021 music wise?
3DEN: I’m planning on dropping my first original vocals track. I’m sitting on a couple rap tracks with drops in them. And I’m also sitting on a couple of feelsy tracks. All original lyrics by me. One of the songs I wrote when I was in eighth grade, and it’s fire. I was going through the whole tumor thing and I’m excited to finally do something with it. One of the rap tracks has to do with being a DJ and the euphoric feeling that I have when I’m on stage.
detroit.dance: Here’s a big one – being a woman in the music industry. What has your experience been so far and is there anything you’ve noticed – positive or negative?
3DEN: So when it comes to being a female in the music industry, in the beginning, I noticed that it was hard for people to take me seriously. As time went on, and I continued to do my thing, regardless of what people said to me, it was up to me. There have been a couple times that there would be a guy DJ that would come up to me and be like, “Oh, you’re doing this wrong. Let me do this for you.” and I was like, “Backup dude. Back up. If I was a male DJ, you wouldn’t be up here.” Speaking up for yourself is number one. Let’s say someone catcalls you at the gas station. I’ve noticed, especially living in Detroit, if you show them fire, they usually aren’t going to want smoke. They go, “Okay, you’re one of those females that I can’t fuck with. Okay, I’m gonna take that into consideration. I’m gonna walk away.” Or they could be ignorant, of course. But I’ve noticed that 9 out of 10 times – show them fire, they’re not gonna want your smoke. When you show your teeth, you’ll be taken more seriously, especially when it comes to being booked for a show.
Let’s say the booking agent does not think that I have what it takes, regardless of what I do, and it has to do with the fact that I’m a woman. Continuously showing them what you’re capable of and being active on social media with your brand and your photos and videos, no one can say a word around other people besides for in front of you. You know what you’re capable of, they know what you’re capable of, but at the end of the day, they’re not in front of other people. They’re in front of you and they’re going to say what they want to say in front of you because there’s no audience to back you up. Being publicly badass is the best way to be taken seriously when it comes to this industry.
Vampa is on top of it. She’s out there doing the damn thing. And she’s making it known. I promise you, before she got to that point she was not taken seriously. Same with Lucii, same with Xia. Every single one of them had to show what they could bring to the table. But once that point is reached, you become untouchable after that.
It doesn’t matter what others say. Keep on chugging and eventually you will be untouchable. Build your consistency. It’s a battle but then it starts to make sense. Take things with a grain of salt and keep doing the damn thing.
I still deal with people not taking me seriously after two years, but I get booked, I’m on a record label. People love my energy. Give people the energy that you want other people to give to you. Super important. Kill them with kindness.
If there’s a booking agency that told you that you couldn’t do it two years prior because you’re a woman, and then two years later, they want you? Take it. Don’t say a word about the fact that they didn’t book you before. They already know. Keep going and just keep your eye on the prize. Straightforward. That’s all that matters. Eventually, you’re going to be like, “Wow, that happened a lot faster than I thought it would.” Turn your fear into fire and blow it up.
detroit.dance: How do you stay confident?
3DEN: Honestly, it’s hard. I hate to say this but you fake it till you make it. There’s certain things you have to tell yourself in order to get through certain scenarios. It’s a form of manifestation. The best thing I ever did for my career was get spiritually involved with myself and the universe. Trust the process. Talk to the universe. Talk to yourself. Get “witchy” if you need to. You need to be in touch with your spiritual self or the outside is going to eventually consume it. Once you get spiritually comfortable with yourself, you’ll be unstoppable. Meditate! When you get frustrated with your brand or are feeling irrational, take a few moments and meditate. It’s hard, but when you master it you master a part of your brain that is like a fire extinguisher – but it’s personal. I don’t consider spirituality a religion, it’s internal, necessary, and you being in touch with yourself.
People want control of so many things but they don’t have control over their internal being. It is a process.
detroit.dance: You’ve got a bunch of tattoos – how many do you have and are there any cool stories behind them?
3DEN: I have 10 tattoos not including my sleeve. It’s my portrayal of the Garden of Eden. It has a whole bunch of different things in it. I have a lion, a snake in it, “Memento mori” which means “the inevitability of death” that came from the Mac Miller “Self Care” video. He carved it into the coffin that he was in, and then he punched out of it. I really like that. Death is inevitable but you have to keep going. There’s a bunch of mandala flowers too. I also have Have Lilith on the front of my leg on my thigh. She was Adam’s first wife in the Garden of Eden, and she said “No, I’m not marrying you, I am not a simp, I will do my own thing” and she left and got banned from the Garden of Eden. She started dating Satan. She screams “bad bitch hot girl shit” mentality. She reminds me of myself. I’m my own person, I’m going to do me, and that’s what she did.
I also have a Medusa head on my hip, and I love both of their stories. They were both portrayed to be horrible people but were amazing people. Very empowering. Having them on me reminds me every day that you can be beautiful, be a badass, and not take shit from anybody regardless of your story.
detroit.dance: So, I personally don’t have any but I’ve seen you post photos of Squishmallows – how many do you have or are there a few that you cherish most?
3DEN: This Baby Yoda Squishmallow! I have been looking for him for a long time and I can never get to Costco in time to get him. I finally found him last Sunday. I am lit about it. He is awesome. He’s huge! Like the size of a regular pillow. He’s so soft and squishy and I can’t deal with it. I saw him from afar and I ran from the opposite end of the store and jumped into the Squishmallow box. I meant to take a TikTok of it but I was too excited. Overall I have at least 50 of them at this point. I’m in a studio apartment and they take up a lot of space. When I am rich one day, I am making a bed out of them.
Make sure you check out 3DEN’s Destination Detroit (Lincoln Street Art Park), and her Recipe by Request that will be posted on Friday (Lemon Raspberry Cake).
Keep up with 3DEN on her socials:
Skwad Records socials: