Name: Rani "g"
A.K.A.: Rani Gharfeh.
Club night(s): Thursdays at Bomberos Cafe & Wine Bar, first and third Fridays at Incognito, and I'm the resident DJ at Desert Botanical Garden.
Preferred genre(s): It could involve anything from global soul, good house music, deep house music. That may mean some Afro-tech or some avant-garde stuff, or world music. It goes everywhere, it's whatever I'm feeling at the moment. Every place I play I tailor my set to my mood in that exact spot, going from house to jazz to remixes to oldies.
Weapon(s) of choice: I have Pioneers, when I play clubs I use the 1000s. I like the Rain Rotary, too. I don't have one yet because I'm saving the money.
Where do you get your music: I used to buy through Beatport, Dancetracks Digital, or Juno Downloads. But now I get music from producers sending me original stuff just to preview, like my man Boddhi Satva, Master Kev, or different producers I've networked with. Jay Trip Wire sent me a lot of his music.
How many records are in your collection: I have enough records to fill a 5 by 5 Ikea box, if not more. Maybe 1500 records. That doesn't count the little ones, since I have a lot of the original 7-inch records. I have so much music on records that I've forgotten about, but I love to bring them to clubs with me.
How did you get your start: I've been into music since I was a kid growing up in Cyprus. I always listened to radio shows, got interested in the DJs, and slowly started learning how music fits and blends together. I'd do school dances and my first gig was two cassette tape decks. Trying to mix cassette decks is crazy, but I found a way to do it. Slowly I went to clubs getting more introduced to what DJs did. Everyone was worried about getting drunk while I got to know DJ Dino Ashiotis and he became my mentor. He's one of the best DJs in Cyprus right now and he would teach me beat-matching, professional equipment, all that stuff. He let me use his equipment and let me open up at the clubs and MC for him.
How deep does your passion for DJing run: It was always a hobby but I liked it. I really wish I'd spent more time practicing, because people tell me they lock themselves up for eight hours DJing. I never could do that because my life has always been crazy. I've always been diverse, learning languages or traveling so I never could find the time to dedicate eight hours a day just strictly for practicing.
Do DJs always get the girls: When I worked at Fat Tuesdays I saw a lot of crazy girls wanting to show their bosoms for playing certain songs. For the most part people have this perception that if you are a DJ you're going to automatically get all the girls asking but it is not necessarily true and the ones that do that are usually the ones that you aren't interested in.
Most memorable moment as a DJ: I opened up for Mark Farina in May at the Mondrian Pool at Tranzit's party with Senbad and Kevin Dow. It was a good day, probably one of the best times I've had since moving to America, just being around the pool, the music, the vibe. It was just a great time, I was able to not give a shit about anything.
