INSIDE DNB GUEST MIX – Global Interpretations #01 – DJ Wuffnuffs (USA)

Curating Guest Mixes for this website has weirdly been one of the hardest and most time consuming things to do. I have reached out to so many people to see if they’d like to contribute, but it’s been tricky!

So, when someone DOES say yes, I get super excited about it. It depends on the way you look at guest mixes, I think. For me, they represent many things. First and foremost, of course, they are a collection of tunes for listeners to enjoy. But much, much more than that, they are a moment in time, they are a look into someone’s take on life, on music, on they way they see and hear things and their interpretation of the scene they have linked themselves to, both emotionally and physically. For us, that is something to be grateful for, and to treasure. 

And that brings us nicely onto this brand new series of Guest Mixes that we’re titling ‘Global Interpretations’. We’re hoping to touch base with people of all ages, from all corners of the world, to give us a true musical interpretation of their authentic version of drum and bass, whether that be deep, dark, experimental, high energy tekky dancefloor or the ruffest jungle you’re ever likely to hear, and kicking things off is DJ Wuffnuffs from Denver, Colorado.

She is a regular streamer on the international Twitch DNB scene, a staple member of the Denver DNB scene and a staunch advocate of diversity and authenticity within both the national and international drum and bass scene. She’s also our newest contributor, and is already a very valued member of the team!

For this, the very first of what we hope we be an exciting and treasured Guest Mix series, we welcome, Wuffnuffs!!!!!!!!

Welcome in sister! And thank you for offering your open heart and your time to this exciting new chapter in our mix series.  Over the last three years we’ve covered a couple of states in America during interviews (Metapattern in Atlanta, Juice in Oregon) to try and get a clearer picture of what’s happening stateside. Please tell us, if you can, what DNB in Colorado and Denver in particular look like right now?

Thanks so much for inviting me to take part, Dan.

Denver has been a massive hub for DNB in the states! There are so many people working hard to foster the growth of the scene here. Recon, Sub.mission, Reload Productions, DNB radio and many more I haven’t mentioned. As a young junglist stuck in the middle of America, DNB was extremely underrepresented. Most people were into dubstep, house, or mainstream electronic. I grew up wishing DNB and Jungle artists would come through more often. Nowadays, there’s someone playing every weekend and I’m spoiled for choices. Proud to represent Colorado!

You have a musical background (as many, many people I’ve talked to through the site do) and this includes singing in choirs and playing both piano and guitar. Did you grow up in a musical household, and if so, what types of music were you exposed to as a youngster?

I was surrounded by music! I was lucky enough to have a dad that was a bit of an audiophile. He always had a really nice hi-fi setup growing up, so I was naturally drawn towards music. He liked just about everything, but loved Steely Dan. My mom liked Jazz. My brother was a Hip Hop head and showed me Erik B & Rakim. My sisters were in the punk and alternative scenes, and handed down their old mixtapes to me. To no surprise, my music tastes ended up being pretty varied. I’m pretty thankful for that background as a DJ.

And you’re right at the start of your production journey too, so are you finding this early grounding in musical theory is helping?

It’s extremely helpful, I don’t feel as clueless diving into a DAW. I get a headstart in understanding music structure and arrangement. At the same time though, I try not to let it be a rulebook. Not everything has to be in key, quantized, or perfect. Some of the most creative musicians have zero theory training, and I like to embody their spirit of creativity.

Your DJ journey started with house music though? I have always been a huge house music fan! What made you make the switch from analogue musical instruments to DJ equipment?

House music was my first love as a DJ. Chicago deep house has so much soul to it! As someone that enjoyed jazz already, I fell in love with house quickly. I naturally went off to discover progressive and tech-house, and started playing those subgenres as well. It was great to hone my skills as a DJ! I was playing in a small punk band at the time, but we could never seem to get everyone together to practice. I had the motivation, but couldn’t channel my musical energy when I wanted to. I ended up buying a set of old Gemini Turntables and a Vestax mixer with my first pay check, and was a DJ from then on.

And then you found DNB! How did that happen?

The DJ I bought my turntables from asked what kind of music I was into, and  hooked me up with a variety of electronic records to start my collection. One of those was SPAWN: The Album. It featured collaborations from the likes of Goldie, Roni Size, and The Prodigy, with artists in other scenes like Metallica, Incubus, and Orbital… The full list of names on that record is crazy big, and about as 90’s as it gets. As time passed, I grew a tad stale of house music, and DNB was too interesting to ignore. I’ve been deep into the culture and music since.

You’ve played in states other than that of your native Colorado, including Iowa and Nebraska. As an Americanophile (I only just learned this word today!), this sounds super exciting! Tell us about it!

After getting close to a lovely collective of house DJs on lowercasesounds.com, I was invited to play out of state! America is large enough that going out of state felt like a massive step in expanding my career.  I was so happy and nervous to give it a shot. The first night was a tiny club near Council Bluffs, Iowa. I got a bit into my set and ended up having tons of issues with my usb drives, and couldn’t load tracks in. I had to have another DJ take over and was completely humbled! The next day, we stayed in Omaha, Nebraska and had an event in a city park. Before my set, I was so anxious that I had to puke in a trashcan. My mentor helped me get my head together, and I ended up smashing it. Talk about being a mess, though, hahaha. Valuable experience for sure, and it’s hilarious looking back.

While I have read a few things online recently about DNB blowing up in America, I’m guessing in reality, and away from those already into EDM it’s still quite lowkey and underground? What does the average modern American think to drum and bass?

I’d have to agree, the average American isn’t too aware of DNB from what I see. Hip hop makes regular appearances in the charts, as well as poppy artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift. However, I’d still argue EDM is still pretty big here in its own right, so more people are aware of DNB in America than ever before. One of my younger relatives knows who Chase and Status is, that surprised me!

As far as DJ names go, yours is pretty out there! I like it! This is linked to your love of nature, and animals, and in particular Wolves. I mean, you’re a wolf trapped in a DJs body, right?

Hahaha, exactly! My name is pretty unique; I’m glad you like it!

Wolves were always a symbol of nature’s beauty to me. I grew extremely attached to them over the years. and consider myself one in spirit. My friends knew my obsession, but one of them would always pronounce wolf as “wuff.”

I used wuff as my username on a DJ oriented IRC chat. One of the chatters was a big junglist and coined the name wuffnuffs. In Jamaican Patois, nuff means you have “enough” of something, to the point of abundance. So wuffnuffs means “lots of wolves.” It’s perfect for me.

And you stream on Twitch too, which is a place of solace and comfort for many, many people I’ve met on there, myself included!

I’m glad to see so many people taking part in streaming!

Live streaming music is much bigger than some people think, and is an amazing outlet for musicians and DJs. Whether you’re a bedroom DJ or a headliner, the accessibility of streaming gives all of us an even playing field to build a community around music. It gives you an opportunity to network outside of your local scene, and meet all sorts of wonderful people you wouldn’t normally get to interact with.

It also gives people that aren’t able to go to events or shows a space to still be a part of the action. Not everyone is healthy, able-bodied, or comfortable enough to go to events that we take for granted. I mentioned that I deal with anxiety quite a bit; I don’t think I’d still be a DJ without live streaming. It really helped build my confidence, gave me practice, and even created my own community. I have listeners from all over the world! It’s incredible that a platform like Twitch can give me that.

As a Trans woman, you cite Mandidextrous and B-Complex among others as role models in a world that has been slow to come to terms with, and accept that people are not all the same. There is still a lot of misunderstanding, misogyny and hate out there, particularly on social media platforms. How has your journey within the confines of the drum and bass scene been?

Drum and Bass has been the best music subculture to welcome and encourage me as a queer person. Everyone I’ve met has been respectful of me, and stays focused on the music. It’s much needed relief not feeling like an outcast. There’s always loudmouths on social media, but they’re easily drowned out by the positivity in the scene.

Diversity is DNB’s biggest strength!! We have a genre with worldwide reach, bringing all sorts of people together. I found a home and community in DNB, and will be forever grateful for that. Uplift the labels, artists, and people that keep this spirit alive! PLUR’s not dead, and just as important as ever!

On the same note, I believe judgement and elitism to be the antithesis of what we stand for as a community. You may not understand or enjoy a certain person, artist, sub genre, MC, vocalist, or style. But we should treat them with equal respect, and embrace the originality and creativity brought to the table. That’s how we push the scene farther and foster its development. It’s why this genre has been so resilient.

I’m extremely thankful for all of the role models and mentors in this community. They’ve given me the hope and ability to keep pursuing my DNB career. Mandidextrous, B-complex, the Unorthodox DNB crew, Tony Coleman and the Hospital crew, Juice DNB out in Portland, Oregon. The list goes on! They’ve all shown me that you can make a difference with positivity in music.

Absolutely! Right since the early days of the M25 raves and the beginnings of rave scene, it has always been about peace, love, unity and respect!

So, what about your other interests outside of DNB? You’re into Anime right? And the furry scene? I have had no real dealings with either of those areas of life, so please explain to an amateur like me what it’s all about?

I guess you could say I’m a bit of a nerd!

Anime is the catch-all term for Japanese cartoons. My dad is half Japanese, and would travel back and forth from Japan for work. He got me hooked on shows like Speed Racer, Cowboy Bebop, and Spirited Away. It’s as wide a genre as DNB is, there’s something for everyone if you go looking for it! So many stories and adventures you wouldn’t get in American cartoons.

The furry scene is made up of people that enjoy anthropomorphic animals, or animals with human characteristics. Talking animals have always been a staple of cartoons and fantasy. Think Mickey Mouse and the multitude of Disney characters, Donkey Kong, or Aesop’s Fables. People in the furry community enjoy creating characters that represent them, and make lots of art and media featuring said characters. They even make some cool mascot suits to dress up as different creatures. The suits are so cute, expressive, and fun! Furries also skew heavily to being LGBT, and I made tons of friends that actually share a lot in common with me.  Naturally I have a wolf character to represent me in the fandom.

Both communities gave me an outlet to express myself without judgement, and that’s so important when you’re as asocial, nerdy, and out there as I am. Every wolf needs a pack, humans are no different. We’re drawn to groups and subcultures we can see ourselves in.

And you’re also a petrol head! I’m into the hot rod and drag race scenes, but you’re a BMW and VW nut and build your own cars?

I’ll have to take you drag racing if you ever come to Colorado! It’s such an adrenaline rush. One of the mechanics I know will put a $100 bill on the dash during races, and encourage passengers to try and grab it while the car accelerates. It’s impossible, the cars are so powerful you can’t budge an inch!

I absolutely love my German cars, specifically from the 80’s and 90’s. I fell in love with a junky 1989 BMW five series, and did all the maintenance myself. Since then, I’ve owned two more BMW’s and enjoy working on, maintaining, and modifying them myself. Older BMW’s aren’t the most reliable though, so I have my trusty VW golf to get me around. Don’t tell my bimmer though, it gets jealous…

Now we’ve learned a little bit about you as a person, lets talk about the reason you’re here. Talk us through your mix and some of the sentiments behind the track selection. This after all, is your own personal interpretation of the music we call home!

I’ve released quite a few mixes over the years. In that time, I’ve neglected to shine a proper light on my love for liquid and atmospheric DNB. I’m an emotional person, and liquid is a great conduit for my feelings.

I wanted to focus on phrasing and layering tunes together in a really cohesive way. I love letting the songs play out a bit instead of mixing quickly. I also used Serato stems and a good bit of looping to keep it interesting. I think it ended up giving the mix a really good flow. Perfect for late nights, rainy days, and a cup of tea.

AS previously mentioned, we are super grateful for you taking the time out to create this amazing mix for us! Before we sign off, is there anything else you’d like to say to the world?

Thanks again for having me on! I had fun reflecting on my DJ career, and blabbing a bit about myself.

As for the world, there’s really only one proper thing for me to say:

Awwwwooooooo!

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