This month’s mix feature is Fiyafly, out of Chicago. She and I met at one of my favorite festivals, Even Furthur, in northern Wisconsin. Ever since then, I’ve kept up with what she’s been doing and I am happy to have her as a guest.
She spins DnB and recently started her own label Forefront Recordings., and is also part of the Drum and Bass collective MIA DNB. You can catch her streaming on Twitch as well.
In her interview, we talk about why she is drawn to DnB, the origin of her DJ name “Fiyafly”, her passion for graphic design, go into more detail about Forefront Recordings and MIA DNB, tracks she is excited about in her mix, fun facts, how she keeps the day fresh, and more.
I hope you enjoy her mix and features this week.
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.
detroit.dance : Why are you drawn to DnB?
Fiyafly: Oh, that’s an interesting question. Well, it’s magical. You could be feeling like crap emotionally or physically and after hearing one song you are brought back to life. It energizes you and makes you happy. When I first heard jump-up, I loved the drumbeat. Everyone loves a bass that shakes you. Junglists are also pretty chill people to be around.
detroit.dance: How long have you been DJing and what is the inspiration behind the name you chose?
Fiyafly: I started back in 2014. My DJ name at first was Squirrel Fairy, and one time I was told that I could open for someone but I had to change my name because I wouldn’t be taken seriously. At that time I had just gotten a haircut with some pink streaks, so the name Fiyafly came to me from my hair. I also wanted to spell it differently so that I could find myself easier on Google.
detroit.dance: You have a label called Forefront Recordings, when did you start that?
Fiyafly: Within the past year, my friend from Florida and I decided to start a label – Forefront Recordings – to have an outlet for our tracks and tracks from our friends. At first I was doing all of the art for it but it’s starting to become a lot of work so we may start outsourcing some of the artwork in the future. We have two people named Coalision and Dace on our label, and we recently got a couple releases from Jedi which is pretty cool because he’s a jump-up master. I’ve been listening to Jedi for years.
We’re just starting, but we hope to build over time. I’ve been spending a lot of my time learning how to make my own tracks lately. It’s the most fun thing and the most time consuming thing in the world. I could do it forever though.
detroit.dance: You do a monthly live stream, where and when can people find them?
Fiyafly: Yeah! Those are on the MIA DNB Twitch page. It is usually every second Friday of the month, but in October we are doing it on a Saturday as a combined livestream with another DJ.
detroit.dance: What is MIA DNB?
Fiyafly: MIA is a united US-based collective of DnB DJs, with the base in Chicago. Alfonz Delamota started it in 2006 because dubstep was taking over and DnB was being pushed aside, so he and the others wanted to figure out a way to keep pushing DnB. They started throwing parties under the MIA DNB name and a bunch of the original members are now out of it, starting their families and whatnot. But there are chapters in other cities around the US. Texas and Seattle have large chapters. We all do livestreams together or just talk and support each other, and it’s nice to have people around you like that. The people in MIA were the first people to answer a lot of my questions and give me advice when I joined in about 2017. If someone needs a DJ last minute or an MC, there’s always someone who can do it.
detroit.dance: Are there any tracks in the mix you made for detroit.dance that you are particularly excited about?
Fiyafly: Ugly by Jedi & Earthquake by Phibes.
detroit.dance: What do you do for work?
Fiyafly: I do freelance graphic design, music, and I DoorDash.
detroit.dance: What are some things you’re into besides music?
Fiyafly: I like drawing, painting, and I walk my dog a lot. I also play with my Nintendo Switch and knit sometimes.
detroit.dance: You’ve got a graphic design business called Fiya Flyers and Design, are you open for new clients? What is your favorite thing about graphic design?
Fiyafly: If people contact me I can see if I have time to fit them in depending on their project needs. My favorite thing about it is that I can listen to music while I do it, and it’s pretty useful to know graphic design in the music business to make logos and flyers.
detroit.dance: What are your thoughts on the growing push for DnB in the US and especially in the festival circuit?
Fiyafly: We need it. You see all these people all over the world having fun at festivals to DnB and why not here? It’s not fair. I think people would enjoy it.
detroit.dance: Being a woman in the music scene/DnB scene, what are some things that you have learned or noticed?
Fiyafly: Lately I’ve noticed that a lot more women are getting involved. Here and in other countries. The next generation of DnB and electronic music in general is a lot of women, which is really cool. It’s nice to see that we slowly aren’t being as outnumbered by the men.
Recently, it is also getting a bit harder for women to go to gigs alone, I don’t anymore. Making sure you get paid ahead of time or at least half up front is huge, if you can. People will do or say things to you and break promises to you that they wouldn’t do to a male DJ. And guys come up to the booth all the time to “fix” something that you are doing when you sound just fine.
detroit.dance: What is a random fact that you know?
Fiyafly: I just learned that bowhead whales live for like 260 years. How do they know?
detroit.dance: What is something that you feel like people should know but they don’t?
Fiyafly: Only use up to 3 types of text in a flyer and always wear a helmet.
detroit.dance: How do you keep life fresh?
Fiyafly: Take a shower.
Keep up with Fiyafly on her socials:
- SoundCloud
- MixCloud
- Website (Fiya Flyers)
Forefront Recordings: