Spot on – itsadisasta – frohfroh – electronic music from leipzig

With hard techno grooves in the last slot, JoJo aka itsadisasta ensures that you fight your way home on shaky legs after the closing. Through a lot of collective and networking work, JoJo knows that the party scene can be an ambivalent place. Itsadisasta talks about why and why in an interview with gladfroh.

3 p.m., a rainy afternoon, Cafe Bubu, table in the back left corner with the soft cushions on the bench and the sunny yellow table lamp.

Hello, are you itsadisasta?

Hey, yeah, but you can also call me JoJo.

Understood. Should we get some coffee?

Yes, I'd love to. I invite you, the last gig went quite well. I have to use that. (laughs)

I won't say no to that.

“Two cappuccinos with oat milk, please.”

Cool that it worked. Did you get through the gig well?

Yes, that was a while ago too.

What do you play now when you play somewhere?

Very different. Depending on what I come across and what interests me. I've played and recorded all sorts of genres from hard/dark techno, dark disco, retrowave, hypno/groove, funky & G-house and Schranz. But I'm just a little bit stuck on reverse bass, rave and hard techno. But that changes every few months and years.

And how did you get there?

I don't know, I just fell into it. Through scene work. First a visitor, then a designer of visuals and posters, awareness work, organizer and organizer. Among other things, for example in Conne Island or in the boiler house. I've been DJing for six years. I was still trying to teach myself back then. I remember that I practiced without headphones for at least three months because I didn't check what they were really good for. At some point I started playing gigs, now here in Leipzig, Halle and Berlin.

So much music, so many genres, what do you celebrate?

I like lyrics a lot, bright tones, a good mood, but not too trashy. I like feeling. That's why now, in addition to DJing, I'm also trying to make a little bit of other music myself, namely hip hop. I used to listen to a lot of American rap, like the Suicide Boys and stuff like that. That's probably where my love for it comes from.

I'm slowly venturing into producing. This gives me the opportunity to design everything myself, from the beat to the lyrics to the video. There's just a lot of me in there. And with rap I can give my voice to the whole thing and tell personal stories. I find horror and dark rap particularly exciting. I know my stuff is edgy. But I'm doing this for myself and the few people who feel it. I can just process a lot with producing and writing. It's basically my art therapy and self-realization.

And when you're not writing lyrics, what are you doing?

I like way too many things and would like to do everything. Designing, writing texts, creating content, posting cringe stories. I don't have enough life to do everything I would like to do. Boredom is a foreign word for me. But lying in bed with my cats and a good book definitely brings me down and I really enjoy doing that.

But then you jump straight back into the projects. For example two years ago in fem*vak. I'm really happy that it's still going. As the FLINTA* collective, we could hardly save ourselves from news and stories about attacks at parties of all kinds. We then mainly used the Corona period to work through all of it and find a way to deal with it. But now there is a change in thinking, and you can tell. Some things no longer need to be discussed so harshly because there is now a certain level of awareness even among people socialized as male.

How do you perceive the electronic music scene in Leipzig?

Really really nice. I was able to meet such good friends through my scene work and had my best moments on the dance floor. There is no need to spend a long time discussing certain basics of being together and you can live out your style and individual personality.

However, I would like to see more tolerance and foresight from the scene when it comes to incalls and outcalls. When two parties have a conflict, the truth usually lies somewhere in between. Instead of working through the matter, a lot of things are canceled straight away.

Many activist struggles are worth fighting to bring about structural change. But creating spaces that are at least somewhat free of discrimination takes time. We need to deal better with transformative processes instead of unilaterally canceling many things.

How could that work?

Locations with a bad reputation can be reclaimed and filled with your own cool projects. Many places simply need a breath of fresh air. Old hands should take the new people by the hand and instruct them in the structures instead of scaring them away with their intolerance.

But I think this is not just a party scene problem, but a general human one. In this celebration scene, it's just played out crassly. Because it is both – our private and public life. Participating in the party scene here means having to deal with a lot of things. Be kind, constantly reflect and take care of yourself and others <3

5 p.m., two hours have passed, the conversation was long and intense, Jojo goes to the cash register and pays for the two cappuccinis, we leave the café and go out into the rainy afternoon with onem Set of itsadisasta on the ears:

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Photos

Many thanks to Leon Meckler for the photos of our spot on. He says about the shoot:

“Adjacent to the small studio is a room where Nexus Cult members print T-shirts and sweaters. That's why they're always bustling around the studio. Conversations arise. Between the photos, Jojo talks about the cult and the occult, about practices and ideas that fascinate her. We show each other music and references and laugh a lot.“