Hello: Lady Flic

Who: Lady Flic
Where: Bali, Indonesia
Sounds like: Hopefully no one else!!! 

Lady Flic is living the life. Originally from New Zealand, she’s now the resident DJ, music director and event manager at Potato Head Beach Club in Bali, a chic daytime beach club that is easily the most desirable place to spend a day on the most desirable island in South East Asia. Before that she was at Ku De Ta in Bali and even before then she put in a few years playing at clubs all over London including spots at Plastic People and Fabric. She was also chosen to take part in the Red Bull Music Academy in Dublin. But all roads lead to Bali because life there is good and the burgeoning number of DJs relocating there these days speaks volumes for its thriving music culture – a culture that Flic helped build.

Versatility is Flic’s defining quality, which she refers to more as being “a little schizo with my musical taste” but we call it a mastery of genre hopping. Her massive cross genre music selection, a knack for seamlessly stringing it all together, and knowing exactly when to turn it up and when to turn it down means she can go from soothing seaside jams at Potato Head to party rocking on massive stages like the one aboard It’s The Ship to supporting De La Soul, Snoop Dogg and even Justice and Fatboy Slim.

“I love mixing genres together to create something unique while keeping the flow smooth as f**k,” she said to Mixmag Asia. “I do have a strong base in hip-hop, indie, soul and house/electronic music.”

She gets her inspiration from DJs like Gilles Peterson, Harvey and Mr. Scruff, who she says are totally unique and wildly diverse, and with that she knows exactly to what to play to entertain your grandma, your kid, or a giant pack of ravers and a day in Bali is best spent seaside with Lady Flic.

The great thing about Asia is that EVERYONE’S story is different. What brought YOU to Bali?

A friend’s wedding brought me to Bali from London, at a time when I was quite free from commitments, although I never thought I would want to live there. Getting a residency at Ku De Ta flipped that as I discovered a whole new enjoyment for DJing given the location, the weather, the sunsets, and the people.

What has kept you in Bali? 

Now, Potato Head keeps me in Bali, if not for it I would definitely be living in a big city.

How did you first get into electronic music and DJing?  

Sneaking into clubs underage, looking with wonder at the DJ and feeling totally drawn to what they were doing, also listening to specialist shows on Radio Active 89FM.  Then I went out with a DJ, only to realise that I had more love for his turntables than I did for him. He got me a show on that same radio station and it went from there. Oh and this helped – I fell out of a tree and broke my arm when I was 15 and a couple of years later got an 8000 accident compensation payout, moved out of home, bought turntables, and boom!

Besides Potato Head Beach Club, what other kinds of things are you involved with in Bali? 

Honestly my life revolves around Potato Head and music and if I’m not there I’m likely at home downloading music. I’m currently also getting Logic lessons so I can record my vocals onto basic tracks, and send them to other people to make awesome music as I’ve never had the patience for music production. I cycle a bit and do heaps of hot yoga. Other than that as much travel as possible and the more I get out and about, the longer I will stay in Bali. 

What’s the best thing about the music scene in Bali? How do you think it’s totally different and unique from the rest of the world? 

It’s come a long way since I arrived six years ago as there are more spots to hear good music, it’s a lot more diverse with quality DJs and live acts coming through, plus DJs, producers, and artists who are relocating here or living here for long periods of time. There are a lot more cool and creative people to get involved with and it’s making Bali even more of a desirable destination. It’s a good time to be here. It’s unique from the rest of the world, big cities particularly because of its sunset culture and generally relaxed happy vibe, everyone is on holiday and wants to hear good music. There are a lot of things I miss about being in London and having that more immediate connection to the action, but the quality of life and the projects I’m involved with here more than tip the scales in Bali’s favour. 

You have an extensive resume as far as DJs you’ve shared stages with. What would you say was the best moment of your entire career? 

I can’t pick a best moment, I guess getting props from artists I really respect, like Mark Ronson, John Legend, Snoop’s crew makes me pretty happy.

With respect to your position at Potato Head Beach Club, what makes you happy and content with your musical home now considering all the world famous clubs you’ve worked with or played at in the past? What’s special about it?  

Potato Head is special in a lot of ways. The design, location and atmosphere provide a great foundation for creating these crazy awesome soundscapes daily. I’ve been DJing there for over four years and I still don’t get bored. Our music policy encourages DJs to be really diverse and edgy while keeping the huge variety of guests as happy as possible. It’s a balancing act that is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. You really can play any style of music, if you play it in the right way. 

It must be quite different to DJ a beach club over a nightclub since you get people from all walks of life passing through. How does this affect what you play from day to day? 

On a regular day there’s no pressure to keep people dancing, only to keep them entertained, and we are talking about toddlers to grandmas, so that’s one reason we are so eclectic.  We move through the styles regularly, in one set I might play jazz, hip-hop, funk, disco, folk, rock, ska, or house, depending on the vibe and the crowd.  The other reason is that we just love good music, and why limit what can be played out when there is so much out there to be enjoyed! 

You can listen to a groove sunset session by Lady Flic recorded at Ku De Ta in Singapore here.