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Let’s get L.O.U.D.

2010 Ladies Of Ultimate Destruction tour rolls into Whistler with Sw@t and Crystal Fresh taking over the DJ booth
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Who: DJs Sw@t & Crystal Fresh (DnB Girls of Canada)

When: Sunday, May 23, 10 p.m.

Where: Tommy Africa's

Cost: $5 cover for first 50 people

Early Monday morning, DJ Sw@t (better known as Darlene Friesen) and her partner in musical crime, Crystal Fresh (also known as Crystal Rhodes), were just getting ready to tackle another show on their L.O.U.D. 2010 tour. So far, they've played gigs in Banff, Calgary and Edmonton. They are preparing to make their way West to British Columbia for shows in Abbotsford, Vancouver and finally, right here in Whistler.

"So far, it's amazing! It's been pretty busy. The first couple nights were pretty hectic," said Sw@t.

Both ladies hail from Winnipeg, Manitoba. And while that city isn't renowned for being a hotbed of the Canadian DJ scene, Sw@t points out that there are a lot of big up-and-coming names emerging from the 'Peg.

"I feel like it's going in a really positive direction and we are getting a lot more notice," she said, pointing out that well-known DJs and producers like Harry Chan and RCola got their start in Winnipeg.

Sw@t was introduced to the rave scene almost five years ago. She was hooked immediately on the upbeat vibe and energy of the dance floor.

"The people that actually got me into a lot of that music, it was just a friend, they were all playing records and I was like, 'oh, that looks cool! Can I try this out?' And it was a bunch of boys and they were like, 'Um, no, I think it's going to be a little too technical for you,'" she recalled, laughing.

"I was like, 'Yeah, we'll see about that.'"

The very next day, she jumped on another (more open-minded) friend's turntables and was hooked. Just three months later, she had started amassing her own collection of vinyl and was set up with her own turntables.

After six months of learning the ropes in Winnipeg she started thinking about taking her show on the road.

"At first, a lot of the people who had been on the scene for the past 10, 12 years, they were like, 'You know, we haven't really done that, so I don't know if you're going to have too easy of a time getting noticed.' So again, I was like, 'Yeah, we'll see about that.'"

She began talking to successful touring DJs like B.Traits and Freaky Flow, trying to find out how to best promote herself and get bookings. She started an online radio show just one year into DJing to create a buzz. And within a few years, had made a name for herself.

But DJing still is largely a boy's club. And while at times it's been hard to be taken seriously, being a female DJ also had its benefits.

"Even if people had prejudgments of what they thought you were going to be about, people would still be kind of interested - 'Okay, can this girl actually do this or not?'"

Though Sw@t thinks  women will always face a bit of prejudice in a male-dominated industry, she's hoping there's strength in numbers. She's gone on to form the DnB Girls of Canada group, featuring a solid roster of supportive, like-minded female DJs.

"And there's a difference between guys and girls. The guys are always trying to one-up each other and the girls are like, 'Let's do this together; let's make this work out.'"

Aside from Sw@t and Crystal Fresh, the group's cross-Canada roster includes DJs B. Traits, Bombah, Ill-esha, J.F. Killah, Jocelyndee, Lady AK, Maniak, McNaughty, Miss Blyss, MzRevoloution, StephDangerous and Villify and MCs Elle Be, Kay and QT.

Sw@t launched the group last year and was surprised by how quickly the list of artists grew.

"I didn't know how it was going to go and I was very picky about the girls that I picked on there, too, because I want talented, supportive girls, but I also want girls that respect themselves. I don't want it to be like a sexualized thing; I want it to focus more on talent."

Is there a danger of it turning into a gimmick?

"We try to just steer away from the half-naked groups, right, because we want (the audience) to focus on what we're doing and not how we look."

In the future, she hopes to keep building the roster up, tour outside of Canada and perhaps even create an album together.

And there's no doubt about it - these ladies can definitely hang with the boys.

Sw@t seems to be an equal opportunity musical lover, diggin' on everything from drum 'n' bass and dubstep to bass line house and garage.

"I love the mashers, I love the jump up and reggae jungle - anything that just keeps people going," she declared.

Crystal Fresh shares Sw@t's passion for bass, but also samples more house, electro, breaks and reggae in her sets. Both are high-energy performers who aim to keep the flow going throughout the entire night, feeding the dance floor until the early hours of the morning.

"It's a lot of fun and people dig it. They just dig two girls having a good time and bouncin' around, not just looking at the turntables and pushing buttons."

Crystal Fresh has been on the Canadian rave scene since late 1999. Hypnotized by the beats and bass lines, she quickly got involved behind the scenes, promoting successful parties and club nights around the city.

"She wanted to start touring, as well, and I love helping people as much as I can with stuff like that, especially if they have good intentions and they work really hard, and she was totally all about that," Sw@t said. "So it was really easy to push her to do the things that she's doing now."

While at some of the tour stops they'll be playing tag-team sets, at their upcoming Whistler show the two performers will play solo.

"In Whistler, we'll each have our own set, which is kind of nice because we play such a wide range of music that it's nice to kind of get that hour to just take people on a journey with our music."

They'll also be offering up beats that reach beyond the realm of straight-up bass.

"It's not just drum 'n' bass - we love drum 'n' bass and we play a lot of it - but we're making sure to put a lot of dubstep and bass line in our sets, too."