“It’s crazy to think but when I first started DJing in 2003, and even now, it’s such a novelty to see a woman on the decks spinning tunes,” Rasela explained.
The Spin Sistas are offering interactive eight-week video courses via the Podia platform where women can develop technical skills at their own pace. It includes weekly face-to-face catch-ups and a dedicated one-hour one-on-one session where each student can focus on specific issues relevant to them.
The course also offers women the chance to connect with other creatives and join a greater community of female DJs across Australia and around the globe.
“Our courses will provide women with a safe and supportive space to connect with other like-minded women, learning together and empowering one another. We look forward to seeing what musical collaborations may come of it in the future,” Rasela said.
For greater balance, Lainie believes gender shouldn’t come into it. “Man or woman, we’re all human beings. When we dance to music, we’re not thinking ‘Is the DJ a man or a woman?’ We’re moving to the rhythm of the music because the DJ is skilled, and they’re passionate about what they’re playing – gender is immaterial.”
“We’re not doing the course to discriminate against men – it’s to give women confidence so they can meet male DJs on a level playing field,” Lainie added.
The course was developed in collaboration with film students from SAE’s Byron Bay campus, Charlotte Morrow-Smith and Lee Collier. Charged with creating the look and feel of the online course, the project enabled the students to put their skills and talents to work on an industry project.
“We were fortunate that Rasela and Lainie had a very clear idea of what they wanted to do. It was just a matter of translating that into film terms for them,” Lee said.
“Everything we’d learnt over the last year came into practice and that was such a good feeling. I felt privileged to be a part of the project,” added Charlotte.
