Heidi talks about music and the pain of touring

Heidi talks about music and the pain of touring

12 May, 2008 | 12.19PM

• Section: Music News Topics: Get Physical Tour
• Written by: Industry Boy

When Heidi woke up on the pavement in Brooklyn with concerned hotel staff shaking her back into consciousness, she realized that the Get Physical tour, for her at least, was over.

Earlier in the week, Heidi had pre-empted that the 14-hour drive from New York to Chicago straight after the gig on Friday night would be impossible to handle, so Heidi and I booked flights to Chicago in order to miss the last drive.

Heidi had been dragging her bags towards a taxi from a hotel in Brooklyn, when she suddenly fainted in the street.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “My body just said ‘no’. You’re not going anywhere near a plane or a nightclub, it just shut down.

“I had hardly eaten anything the day before and with the exhaustion of the whole tour, I just passed out.”

Heidi lost about 10 pounds during the Get Physical tour - we all lost some weight and even joked that we looked all the better for it (not so much heroin chic, more German techno DJ chic).

But beneath the jokes, we all knew that missing meals and not sleeping was bad for our health.

One unforeseen casualty of the tour was Heidi’s right ear, which ended up becoming blocked from too much DJing.

“I’ve never played so many gigs before in one go, and it feels like it’s permanently blocked,” she revealed.

Quite often Heidi could be seen wiggling her jaw up and down in an attempt to unblock it, like how people on planes do.

Another problem with having a blocked ear is that Heidi’s sense of balance was a little off, and every once in a while she would fall over or trip – her body was getting more and more bruised by the day.

To top it all off, she had to deal with six men (and sometimes more men) on the bus by herself, which can’t have been easy.

At one point after the Toronto gig there was a brief argument with Patrick from M.A.N.D.Y., and she sat under a tree by herself for a bit, looking like she had had enough.

After her set in Montreal at Tribe Hyperclub Heidi had legged it to another club to catch up with her good friend and fellow female techno spinner Ellen Allien, head of Bpitch Control.

Heidi explained, “I needed some support from somebody who understands touring so I asked Ellen ‘how do you do it week in, week out?’ and she gave me some advice.’”

Heidi will now spend the next few days recovering in New York, giving her body the “love and care” it needs and deserves.

The only problem being, Heidi has three or four consecutive gigs already lined up for Europe next week, so the beat will go on, whether Heidi’s body likes it or not.

Heidi’s music

Heidi was a bundle of energy and happiness behind the turntables, at odds with how she felt during the days.

She was more animated and more excited to play then either M.A.N.D.Y. or Audiofly, and her enthusiasm was infectious to clubbers, who cheered her sets track after track.

For most of the Get Physical tour Heidi played before M.A.N.D.Y., and her blend of old house grooves and fun four-to-the-floor tech house contrasted perfectly with M.A.N.D.Y.’s wobbly techno - check out her top three tracks from the tour below.

“My friends are always joking that my music has to either have a brother singing about house music or a girl talking about sex,” said Heidi. “I think they might be right.”

Having worked at London’s infamous vinyl emporium Phonica Records for a few years, Heidi has a vast knowledge of house and techno. 

She also plays exclusively off vinyl, a surprising revelation considering she hangs out with M.A.N.D.Y. (who use a combination of Serato Scratch and CDs).

I joked that she used to be pretty unapproachable when she dished out vinyl behind the counter at Phonica – she was the embodiment of the moody DJ working at a record store in trendy Soho.

“I’m not a bitch, that’s just the way I had to be when dealing with men all day who think they know everything about electronic music,” she said.

Get Physical Tour: Heidi’s Top 3 tracks

Mr. 69, Mike Dunn ‘Phreaky MF’ [Robsoul]

No gig during the Get Physical tour was complete without the ‘Phreaky Motherfucker’ vocals screaming out of the speakers thanks to Heidi [check it in the player below].

“It’s the filthiest piece of disco funk I’ve ever heard,” she said. “It’s dirty as hell, and it gets everyone on the dancefloor because all the girls want their boyfriends to do what the vocalist is talking about.”

Unknown ‘You Can’t Stop The House’ [Chicago Housing Commission 3]

Heidi loves this old house record, with its simple drum programming and catchy bassline.

Heidi: “It’s a really old record from the late 80s or early 90s, and it’s got this girl talking about house music which is really sexy.”

Milton Jackson ‘Ghosts In My Machine’

Heidi: “I like this track because it destroys the dancefloor. It’s produced really well and it sounds so crisp. The bass is super punchy.”

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