GRAMMY U Presents
GETTING TO KNOW MISS MIA MORETTI
BY JENNIFER BOYER
CONTINUED FROM MAIN PAGE
Jennifer Boyer: When you say that you have “mixes due,” what does that assignment entail? Walk us through
the process of creating a mix.
Mia Moretti: I had two types of mixes due for Fashion Week in New York earlier this month. The first was for Fashion’s
Night Out where I recorded a mixtape of songs that I like or that had something to do with the store, collection,
season, or moment. The second mix I had due was for various runway shows. I sat down with the designer whose
show I was performing at and we chose the songs together.
JB: Much of the press you have received is from fashion-based magazines, newspapers, and online
websites. Why do you think that you have become a fashion industry favorite?
MM: I suppose it’s because that is what I am into. I gravitate toward something I like and I am drawn toward the
fashion industry. I created an opportunity out of one of my main interests.
JB: What was the first runway show you provided the music for and how did that job come about?
MM: The first fashion event I did was not a runway show, but a fashion party in downtown Los Angeles at a place
called California Market Center. I performed at a monthly party called “Dress Right,” which hosted three designers
every time. Each of the three shows had a theme that was reflected in the music I chose with each designer. The first
official fashion runway show where I played live was for the designer Walter.
JB: Your remix of Katy Perry’s song “Peacock” is labeled a Vocal Club Mix. How do you define “vocal club
mix”?
MM: I worked with Katy’s record label for my remix of “Peacock.” It is my favorite song on the album. The original
version is so good. The labels always want a big club room remix. With “Peacock,” I love the part where Katy sings I
want the jaw dropping, eye popping, head turning, body shocking / I want my high fiving, ground shaking, shoe
stomping, amazing. I love that lyric and her vocal during that line. For the remix of the track I had the idea to let that
vocal ride and that is why the “Peacock” remix is called a “Vocal Club Mix.”
JB: You are currently featured in alice + olivia’s Spring 2011 video lookbook. Did the designer behind the
brand reach out to you, or the other way around?
MM: She [Stacey Bendet] reached out to us. We [Caitlin Moe & Mia] had played at a grand opening of one of the alice
+ olivia stores in NYC. That was when I met the designer for the first time. There were pairs of DJ duos playing at the
grand opening. Each pair played for 20 minutes. Stacey liked the performance that we gave so much that she has
since booked us to perform at each of her store’s openings and events.
JB: How did you first meet electric violinist Caitlin Moe and whose idea was it to become a team and perform
live together?
MM: I first met Caitlin at Ella [Lounge] on the Lower East Side of Manhattan a little over a year ago. We first performed
together last year (2009) at Lollapalooza. After we met, Caitlin came over to my house and we thought What can we
do? I played a bunch of records and kept asking her “Do you like this? Do you like this?” Eventually we worked out a
set for Lollapalooza and have been playing together ever since.
JB: How often do you practice when not spinning at clubs, events, parties, etc.?
MM: I try to practice every day. However, when I‘m out every night spinning, I use that gig as live practice. And live
practice is the best kind of practice. Once a week I do one of the following: go to a record store, go to a turntable lab,
go see and hear a DJ that I like, or go check out and listen to a live band I am interested in. Caitlin and I vibe off the
audience. If you don’t look up at the audience, you don’t know if they are liking what you’re playing or doing. It’s like a
live play. We want to have the feeling like it’s not easy. We rehearse the day before a show, but then we may thrown
in a new song right before hitting the stage. We always pay attention to and look at the set of the previous DJ spinning
before us. If the DJ before us plays any of the same songs we were planning to include in our set, we say “We can’t
do that song,” or “We gotta pull that song out.”
JB: What is most commonly requested when it comes to booking: you and Caitlin as a package or only you?
MM: Both. Most of the times when Caitlin and I have been booked as a pair, it’s because people saw us perform
together before and request us to do the same again. Even when I am playing a solo DJ set, I still invite Caitlin to
come join me if she is free or in town.
JB: Do you play a musical instrument?
MM: No. I never have.
JB: What legal and licensing issues do you run into when working with songs that are written and produced
by other people?
MM: Anyone can make an edit, you just can’t sell it. I am paid by the label to create a remix on an artist’s record.
Normally, I get a flat rate when remixing for a record label. I could be paid separately if someone wants to use a song I
mixed. That is getting into publishing. When mixtapes first came out, it was literally a collection of songs from cassette
tapes that were cut and taped together to supply a DJ with a live set. Anybody could legally do that. Any DJ can remix
another person’s song, but cannot sell it because he/she did not write it.
JB: Do you write your own original material?
MM: I have been working on an original song with Corey Enemy that we wrote three years ago. We found it while
working on the “Peacock” remix for Katy’s new record. I would love to make an album with guest artists and have a
different artist sing on each track.
JB: How did your friendship with Katy Perry begin?
MM: We met in Los Angeles. We had mutual friends.
JB: Do you feel like Katy Perry’s super successful career has in turn helped your own career as an in-demand
DJ?
MM: Katy has never given a friend an opportunity just because that person is her friend. I am friends with tons of
artists and that fact has not made a big difference in the success of my career. I remixed Katy’s song “Hot N Cold”
from her first record and Katy never promoted it and never put it out. I made a remix of her single “Waking Up In
Vegas” as well. Katy chose her top three remixes of that song to release on an EP and my remix was not in her top
three picks.
*DJs Calvin Harris, Jason Nevins, and Manhattan Clique are the three whose mixes made it onto the Waking
Up In Vegas The Remixes EP.
JB: How did the opportunity to remix Katy’s “Hot N Cold” come about?
MM: I asked Katy if I could do it. “Hot N Cold” is my favorite song from her first record and I wanted to remix it. She is
a good friend of mine. I was with her when she was pitching the singles from One Of The Boys. I was in the room with
Katy and her record label during meetings and discussions about which tracks would be released as singles and
which songs would be remixed. She let me remix “Hot N Cold,” but my edit never made it onto the Hot N Cold
Remixes EP.
*DJs Innerpartysystem, Bimbo Jones, Manhattan Clique, and Yelle are the four whose edits made the cut.
JB: Which do you prefer and why: having a residency at one location or spinning at different venues all over
the world?
MM: It is important to have both. A residency is a good thing to have because it is a place where people can go back
and see you again if they saw you previously and liked what they heard. A residency helps to define you as an artist.
Your audience where you are the resident house DJ is 90% composed of people who are open to what you play. I
was the house DJ at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Belvedere Nights every night this year during Lollapalooza weekend. Just
to be on the same bill as all of the artists playing Lollapalooza after parties at Belvedere Nights this year was amazing
[The Temper Trap, Mumford & Sons, Mike Posner, Phoenix].
JB: Who are some of your favorite artists that you are listening to right now?
MM: The Gossip, Florence And The Machine, Phoenix.
JB: Which question about your music and/or yourself has become your biggest pet peeve?
MM: I do not have any pet peeve questions. Although one subject that I just now realized you did not ask about or
bring up is the whole “girl DJ” card. I get asked about playing the girl DJ card a lot. The truth is, I am no different than
a guy DJ. People seem to think that being a girl in the DJ scene is some sort of advantage. I jam out to what I like and
what I know my 30 girlfriends like.
JB: I loved that you played Sia’s recent hit “Clap Your Hands” and MGMT’s “Kids” at the last of three
Belvedere Nights gigs this past summer.
MM: Totally. I love Sia. I think that the reason why you had such a good time that night when Caitlin [Moe]and I
performed is because we obviously like the same artists and songs. People have their favorite DJs who they go see
again and again because there is a mutual appreciation and similar interest in the music being played.
Jennifer Boyer is a longtime GRAMMY U member who recently graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a
degree in Arts & Entertainment Management.