Interview by Yolande Fraser Cox & Charlie Robbie

Photos by Yolande Fraser Cox

Flava D spoke to us about her path to where she is now, what to expect from her set and about her new song with Hamdi, which was an exciting moment to witness as their two sets crossed over. 

Okay, so you can start by introducing yourself. 

Uh, hey, I'm Flava D. I'm a DJ producer that’s been making music for about 15 years, kind of specialising in electronic dance music, like garage, drum and bass. Most recently, kind of dubstep stuff; done grime back in the day, so I'm quite across the board. 

Nice, so how did you first get into performing, and what got you into the scene and inspired you? 

It was about 2011. So, yeah, about 15 years ago, I kind of had my break with my 1st grime song. That got some circulation, and then as the years went on, I started making garage, and that's when my 1st DJ sets came about, and like my 1st ever booking, and then it just kind of went from there. 

Is this your first time playing GemFest? 

Yeah, yeah, actually. But I've heard really good things because people are saying it's like a very headsy festival, which is like we love that. And then, yeah, the crowd, from what I've seen so far, look really up for it. 

Would you say you prefer performing to bigger or smaller crowds? 

Well, to be honest, it really varies because sometimes, like, you'll have a big crowd and it's good, but sometimes the smaller crowds would be a bit more invested, you know, and it's a bit more intimate, more into it in general. Like, everywhere is really different. You just never know. 

What tracks are you most excited to play tonight, and will we be hearing any new music? 

Yeah. I've got a lot. So I'm starting my set tonight with a collab with me and Hamdi. So, yeah, it's a song we actually finished about 2 weeks ago, but yeah, I'm pretty stoked to play that. I've got a lot of music with me, Peekaboo. Yeah, there's like at least 5 new tracks. I'm testing, so it's quite a lot. 

Do you have any new music coming out? 

Yeah, lots. A lot. Every month, I think, I've got a song coming out this year, so... Yeah, so I'm going to be playing; I've got a single dropping in 2 weeks. I'm actually playing it today 1st time as well. So I’m like, GemFest is really getting the exclusives. 

And then lastly, where can we expect to see you performing this summer? 

The summer is quite a lot. I'm in America quite a lot at the end of the year, but I'm at quite a few festivals in England. Croatia's coming up next month with Hospitality on the Beach. So that should be good. Uh, God, I kind of have to think on the top of my head. But yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot. I'm about.