Badcat

In any reporter’s career, there’s always that one interview we know we will always compare all the rest to. The one that went just right. The perfect environment, the perfect conversation, the perfect topics. Even though I am still early in my interviewing career, I know deep down, no matter who I speak to moving forward, they will always come second to the night I interviewed DJ Badcat, a DJ I had known of for a while, but had not actually met until I showed up at her front door one winter evening in Santa Fe with nothing but questions and time.

We had talked online for a while and I had been a fan of her radio show for what felt like years, and yet, as is the normal thing these days, we never had a chance to meet and speak in person. Which is a huge part of why I was so amazed and grateful that she allowed me a chance to enter her world. Rave culture is one that supports and believes in those individuals that belong to it, and that is part of why my need to interview came to be.

All these stories, and amazing journeys we have all had, and yet, unless we try and remember them for each other they run the risk of disappearing. Well, I have no interest of letting that happen. Which is why I am writing about DJ Badcat.

I arrived at the House with the Blue Door with an open mind, and from the minute I walked in we began to talk nonstop, clicking immediately. First, as is always my custom, we started with her record collection. A record collection will always be a strong place to connect with others because every collection is unique, and ever record seems to represent a different part of who that person is.

The collection is your identity and with each one a different story is told. Badcat had one of the most unique collections I’ve seen mainly because, like me, she collects the records as much for herself, as ever for anyone she’s going to play them for.

There’s this grand misunderstanding that DJs are the only one’s who study and love music, and yet the first point she made that stood out was the fact that she hasn’t always been a DJ, but she’s always loved the music. She’s as much a traveler of the world as anybody I’ve met, and not every story revolves around music. Life is a constantly changing story, and I sat in amazement for what ended up being hours as she unfolded hers.

She served six years with the Army National Guard, spent five years as a volunteer fire fighter in Pittsburgh and has known more cities than most people will ever dream to see. Her time in Florida being the moment she fully realized her love for playing house music, which eventually helped her find her way to Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is where I first heard her play.

I identified with this immensely since I’ve found that in many ways our people are nomads by nature. We seem to have one home and yet no home all at once, and I felt that with Badcat. Everywhere she’s gone she’s made it her home and yet she knows she is able to carry that with her, which is something you can feel strongly when she DJ’s.

Much like a record collection a DJ’s choice of songs during a mix is a representation of where they’ve been and with Badcat you can sense that every time. When I hear her play a song, I want to ask her where she found this, and what it meant to her? How did you choose to play this one? And why now? So many words are produced when I hear her DJ, and I feel that is something that should be noticed. Badcat uses her art to inspire others, and I know this because I’ve spent many nights sitting at home listening to her radio show and making art of my own.

Don’t think for a minute, though, that her skills only exist on the radio. She can rock the dancefloor as good as any DJ in this state, and her respect for the craft is felt in what she always describes herself as, ‘A Vibe Engineer.’

It started with the Charcuterie, and then the different types of wine, and then the amazing art she had hanging everywhere, even one beautiful one I loved most, which I’d later find out was painted by her own mother. Then came the music.

Have no doubt when I say this, I’ve met a lot of people who love House Music, and yet very few who have as sophisticated a palet as Badcat. She doesn’t just know house music, she seems to sense it, like, well, sort of like a cat. There’s a natural intuition to setting the mood and, again, it comes back to her own phrase. Vibe Engineer.

She explained the concept of a DJ not just playing music that they like on a really loud Soundsystem, but rather setting a mood and a feeling in a way that could be seen and felt, on top of being heard. We feasted on some of the most unique food I’ve ever tasted as she explained this concept more and more.

DJ’s, at times are mad scientists by nature, creating experiments and explosions with every new attempt, and she showed me that again that night.

We ended the night by listening to her radio show from her kitchen, as she had to leave early in order to play across the airwaves with her Legion of Boom show on KSFR in Santa Fe.

It was a bizarre feeling to have, knowing that the very person speaking to me over the radio waves was the very same person sitting across the table from me just an hour before, telling me how she went from a bedroom DJ, to where she is now. A leader in House Music here in New Mexico.

But the radio isn’t the only place you can find her, as there is nothing compared to hearing her play that house music in person, as she will do tonight at Meow Wolf with Paul Oakenfold and The Rev. Three Legendary DJs in one night is something I just can’t recommend enough. And from there it just keeps going, just like with everything. The beat goes on, the vibe carries on, the culture continues to grow.

I will forever be grateful to Badcat for that night at the House with the Blue door, and it will be very hard for others to top such a moment for us to have together. It was music, it was laughter, it was the sharing of stories, it was delicious food, it was good drinks, and most of all, it was a moment worth remembering. So please, show your love and support for a one-of-a-kind DJ, and a true and tested Vibe Engineer. Jennifer Highfield Castro AKA DJ BADCAT. See you on the dancefloor.