Brighton Mixtapes 007: Dance Upon A Time with Helpmeimblonde

Since the success of our beloved Berlin Mixtapes Series, which has featured awesome guests so far, we felt there was a real gap in terms of showcasing the amazing talent within our own home city right here in Brighton. We have a wide spectrum of artists that span across many genres therefore we decided we would create the 'Brighton Mixtapes' Series, so that we can not only showcase established artists but also feature up and coming musicians that would like a platform to be heard.

Equally, whilst our focus at Berlin has always been somewhere between Deep House and Techno we can now open up and extend a wider reach into other genres that Brighton has to offer. Also each artist will be subject to a series of one answer quick-fire questions to accompany each guest mix to give readers a quirky insight into the artists' likes and dislikes.

Next up we bring you a real raw up and coming talent. Helpmeimblonde AKA Paula López moved to Brighton two years ago to initially improve her English after completing her music degrees and it didn't take long for her to fall in love with our city. A self-confessed former metal head and classically trained in piano as well as being pretty fly jamming on guitars, Paula discovered electronic music rather late but found her calling and hasn't looked back since. Paula is making great progress in our scene and has already played at a number of venues across the city as well as starting her own female lead DJ collective 'Dance Upon A Time'. Not only that, Paula has completed our latest Brighton Mixtapes Episode 007 - A truly gutsy and impressive collection of tracks, utilising the full two hours and transitioning through a multitude of genres from Deep House, House, Techno to Psytrance. We love artists who push themselves and Helpmeimblonde certainly delivers a solid boundary pushing episode. So let's meet her and find out more.

Hi Paula, how are you and what have you been up to this week?

Hello! I'm all good! This week it has been a bit crazy. I'm currently working in three different places, so you can imagine. Also I've been disconnecting a bit from the real world, reseting a bit. So very busy but I'm really happy and very excited about this. I've alwayd wanted to have the opportunity to play techno in Brighton so this means a lot to me.

How long have you been DJing?

I've been a bedroom DJ for years until I came to Brighton and decided to kickstart my DJ career.

I've been studying music since I was 8, I attended a professional music school and I learnt to play the piano, then the guitar. After that I studied a BA in Music before completing a Musicology University Degree. I wasn't into electronic music much until I went to University. Then everything changed.

I was studying music for more than 10 years, and everything was completely different with electronic music. I was very curious about the genre and about production as well as the chance to play all the instruments you want to, without the need to spend all your life learning how to play just one.

Also, by that time I was a metal head, I've always loved heavy, fast and overwhelming sounds, especially bass sounds. So you can imagine my face the first time I listened to Drum & Bass!

What was it about Brighton that made you make the move here?

When I decided to come to the UK it was because of the need to speak English properly. I finished my Masters, so I decided to travel and live the experience of living in another country whilst I was improving my English skills.

As a Spanish person, the most comfortable option was Brighton, you know, the weather, the sun, the beach. It's such a good spot.

Then I came and I fell in love with the vibe of the city, the constant randomness, the freedom, the live music, the street art.... Everything is so cool here.