Kara Sun
Mother Goose once said little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice. I say dj Kara Sun is made of golden tresses and chain-link dresses. And before you ask yourself, what in the hell is he talking about, take a look at dj Kara Sun’s website and the FLYER sub-section within her GALLERY. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
But before you label me an insensitive chauvinistic asshole, let me just say dj Kara Sun is more than just a pretty face. Yes, she’s beautiful, yes she’s statuesque, and yes, she’s sleekly muscled, but she’s also a talented artist in more ways than one—the German-born dj was once a go-go dancer, punk rock singer and gymnast. Possibly even all at the same time.
Nowadays, though, she’s music—through and through—and loves it dearly. Except, of course, for covertrance, or coverdance, or whatever the hell it’s called, which I found out recently.
ML: I think when it comes to interesting stories about how djs eventually find themselves behind the turntables your story is one of the most unusual. Tell me about how you went from gymnastics teacher to dj.
DJ Kara Sun: Well, I studied sport teacher as my profession. I also like to do many sports, but I never worked as a sports teacher, after all. [I’ve] always wanted to be free in my work, so I started working as a go-go dancer instead. But it was not just about how to dance, for me it was more about [how] to act to the music, which I liked. After eight years dancing, I had enough of all the hip-hop and coverdance trend in Germany, so I thought I should buy some turntables myself and play good old trance. I did not know if that would be my thing and if I could learn mixing, but I just tried ‘cause I was so in love with the music, and still am. Actually, I was a singer in a rock/punk band in my earlier days…but we just did some little gigs [for] birthday parties, and the whole band broke up after some years then for certain reasons.
ML: Tell me a little bit more about your love for music.
DJ Kara Sun: [It’s] just simple. [I’ve] loved music ever [since] I can remember; different styles, of course. When I was young, I was really a rocker between thirteen and seventeen when I had my band, and I went to all [the] hard rock, metal bands [that] I liked, and was head banging, of course. And later, as a go-go dancer—of course, you do not head bang—you move powerful and sexy to music. At least this is what it looks like. For me, it was like dreaming or spreading my energy to perfect trance sounds that inspired me. When the music was bad, like [the] many times I had to dance [to] hip-hop, I was just pretending to like it to do a good job, but did not feel the music.
So as a dj, I don’t feel too good when playing house. Also the people react different, and to me [it was] boring, ‘til now. But there are certainly some electro or vocal house tracks which I like, too. But mainly I became a dj to play powerful trance to make people party and happy and dreaming with stringy breaks...‘cause I know how good this can feel.
ML: Germany is well known for its dance music, especially its electronica. You could even say Germany is a haven for dance music. You've been in the Netherlands for some time now. Does Holland rival Germany with the quality of its dance music?
DJ Kara Sun: I don’t agree with this question. I don’t like the German dance music at all; there are certain producers like Alphazone, Ronski Speed or Cosmic Gate, which still rock very much and have a different style than the usual German producers. But for the rest, I don’t even like to go out in German discothèques anymore ‘cause they are all crazy about hip-hop or oldies made up with a faster beat which we call covertrance that really sucks!
I don’t find that most of the German djs I met have their own style of music; [they’d] rather mix many styles together to present the people the sounds [that] they like to hear. I am living still in Germany, but right next to the Dutch border. I work in the Netherlands, have a Dutch boyfriend, and talk Dutch. Most of the famous trance djs are Dutch, so what a difference! I feel more Dutch than German and have no need to compare [myself] with other German djs. So the quality of Dutch trance music is best [to] me.
ML: Why does covertrance suck?
DJ Kara Sun: Ja, really! In which country of the world is it so common like in Germany to put a new beat to a twenty year old song on which your parents already partied to and let their children party to? Why do musicians all over the world create new music, and many people appreciate that, but in Germany grown-ups must party to their mother’s or father’s music? How stupid is that?
I am not sure if the young people really want this music [that] bad, or the dance producers are making too much of this crap so that they must like it... I just don t like to think about this subject...
ML: Okay, a different subject, then. A dj's name is very important because it often highlights a dj's musical strength, or it helps a person associate a certain style of music with the dj. Why did you choose dj Kara Sun as your name, and what do you want people to associate you with when they think of your name?
DJ Kara Sun: I needed a dj name on my first paid dj gig ‘cause they wanted to print out flyers, so I had [a few] minutes to think about that. I wanted a not too short and not too long name—besides that, I liked names like Kera or Kara—but I saw that Kera did exist already, and there was a dj named Tom Sun. I made a combination of this, which [I thought] should sound nice, but then when I started thinking, I knew why I chose this. Kara means a strong powerful girl, and sun is like soft and warm…like two persons in me…and that is also true.
ML: Let's talk a little bit about your music. On your website, you describe your style as uplifting, energetic and vocal trance. Do you prefer to have vocals in your music than not? And is that energetic and uplifting style an influence from your gymnastic days?
DJ Kara Sun: No that has nothing to do with that at all. It is just that I am not interested in listening to slow music; I almost never feel like relaxing with music, and if I do, then it might still be a fast beat.
I like many rock ballads, and many Dutch songs of certain artists like Marco Borsato, but most of the time [when] I listen to that music, it makes me a little sad or at least thinking a lot, so I stick more to music with happy fast melodies. And yes, I do like vocals in songs, of course. I like to sing with my music myself, and I think you can have more fun when you can sing to songs in discothèques, [and] you can also remember them better. Besides that, there are just [so] many wonderful vocal trance [groups] like Oceanlab with Justine Suissa. But for the main thing, I choose most of my tunes by being inspired by the melody of the song or not. Sometimes, I choose them for a cool bass loop like Randy Katana.
ML: You're based in Holland, but where is your favourite place in the world to do a gig and why?
DJ Kara Sun: My biggest dj dream ever would be to play on the main stage of Trance Energy. Sensation would not be bad, too, I guess, but I [personally have] never been there. So, we have great trance festivals in Holland, which are visited [by] many people [from] around the world. I am always flying far away to do my gigs, but to be appreciated in the land which I love so much is one of my big wishes.
Besides that, I’d like to play everywhere, [and] would love to play on more festivals, but my main interest is actually to see the rain forest…so I am always more [than] happy to visit South America or Asia ‘cause the chance is bigger to go there. I also plan to do a tour in Australia and New Zealand next January to see wildlife, and also do many gigs there to afford this.
Dream
