QUEER CRUSH OF THE WEEK: Daisy Catterall

By Matilda Douglas-Henry

I first spotted Daisy at a friend’s birthday party last year. We were a month into Spring, but in classic Melbourne fashion, the nights were still unpredictable – oscillating between wild winds, cold snaps, and splutters of rain.

There was something bringing the heat though – or should I say, someone. DJ If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late was behind the decks. With her iconic look – a visor worn upside-down so it looks like a health goth’s royal headdress, eyelashes for days, and dance moves that evoke Rihanna and 90’s JLo – it was a flawless way to encounter, and subsequently be introduced, to Daisy for the first time. I remember her dropping Hotline Bling – days before it became a number one hit – and knowing, in that moment, that she was undoubtedly a genius, with an incredible taste in music.

Daisy – now under the moniker DJ Dee*Luscious – continues to infect parties Melbourne-wide with her amazing sets that drop R&B bangers you forgot you were obsessed with. Ultimately, however, her DJ-ing is a side project – a companion to the beautiful work she creates as an artist that explores self-worth, ego and self-preservation. She may be responsible for soothing the psyches of millennials worldwide with her crucial zines – Keep Brave and Hey Everyone, Don’t Forget – which aesthetically appear to be little books, but really, are poignant down comforters for the soul that make you feel less alone.

She also has the voice of a goddess, performing with Melbourne two-piece Shouse and rapper HTML Flowers (of Brothers Hand Mirror and Lossless), and is appearing as a panellist at the Listen Conference this weekend. It’s hard to articulate, but Daisy is one of those people who everyone knows the face of – someone who is incredibly good at the many things she does, and makes a real impact on her admiring audience as she does them.

I talked to Daisy about her journey as a DJ, the intersection of feminism and racism, and the necessity to advocate for intersectional lineups. 

Congratulations on being Heaps Gay’s Crush of the Week! What do you think is your most crushable quality?

What an honour! I literally feel giddy after that introduction. I think people like me because I like myself.

You are a passionate Drake fan. What is your take on the hip-hop/feminism nexus, with many critics interpreting rap music in particular to be inherently misogynistic?

I think this discussion is located at the intersection of feminism and racism, and more specifically anti-Blackness. In my experience, most of the people criticising misogyny in hip-hop music are White people. They’ll be the first to criticise a Black rapper for the content of their music but will refuse to acknowledge the deeply ingrained sexism in white-dominated genres like indie and pop. The Drake/feminist conversation is a great example of how the Black man can’t appease white consumers no matter what: if a Black man talks about money, sex and women in his raps, he’s a thug. If a Black man talks about being lonely, dissatisfied and heartbroken in his raps, he’s gay or not masculine enough. Drake’s politics don’t align perfectly with mine as a feminist, but I don’t listen to hip-hop for that purpose.

Thanks to your support (and recommendation of what software I should use), I chose to pursue my passion in becoming a DJ under the name DJ Fist – I will be eternally grateful for that! What provoked you to start DJ-ing?

Woo! And what a show DJ Fist and DJ Cyst put on at the Gaso that time. You had all the punks dancing to Whitney Houston. I was asked to DJ at some friends’ parties a while back before I knew any software and would alternate between fading out a song in iTunes and fading in a song on YouTube using the house’s wifi because I am a technological goddess. Then when I started DJ-ing at venues there was no damn wifi so I had to level up my game! DJ-ing is hella fun because you curate the vibe of the night according to the crowd. Sometimes I’ll go in planning to play strictly 90s R&B music but the vibe of the crowd is super horny so my whole set changes to sweaty grind songs. DJ-ing has been absolutely invaluable to helping me get rid of my fear of performing in front of people.

I really do think your zines are like millennial self-help books – Hey Everyone, Don’t Forget particularly resonated with me. Do you consider that your art might be having this effect on people as you’re making it, or is your process more self-reflective?

I definitely make zines to connect with and comfort people. Zines are such an important type of media because of their accessibility. I love me some self-help and while heaps of it doesn’t resonate with me, those pearlers that do are so rewarding when I come across them. I try to be inclusive in my zines because my ultimate goal is for my readers to feel understood.

What do you love most about living in Melbourne?

I feel a lot of genuine love and adoration amongst people in Melbourne. People are passionate about each other and people stick to their word here. I think a lot of people move to Melbourne because of the opportunity so everyone is really committed to make a real go of it.

On Facebook not long ago you posted about a sort of social experiment you were undertaking – that you would boycott gigs and other performances that didn’t have people of colour on the bill. I was so proud of you for taking your own initiative with such a crucial issue – what was the outcome? Any observations you made? 

I’m still undertaking this practice and it’s been really positive. It’s encouraged me to be more curious about the artists and musicians I encounter and it’s started a really important conversation amongst my peers who book gigs and exhibitions as well. I think we’re finally past the age of lineups with zero women on them, and now is the time to make sure this new platform of feminism is intersectional by putting the same amount of energy into giving opportunity to POCs. It’s definitely made me realise that booking gigs in Melbourne can easily become a best friends club and it’s easy to become lazy and not reach out to musicians you haven’t spoken to before. HABITS do a really good job of playing with musicians from diverse backgrounds and genres and not becoming complacent in playing with the same white bands all the time.

This weekend you’re a panellist at the Listen: Feminist Futures conference. Huge! How important is it to have these sorts of spaces in such a male-dominated music industry?

It is huge, isn’t it? I cannot believe my company; literally my Melbourne music idols. LISTEN is going to be great because there’ll be so many different conversations happening. Yes, we need to talk often about women’s role in music, especially punk music, but at LISTEN we’re going to discuss more than just women. There are panel discussions on accessibility, gender diversity, collaboration, racial diversity, safety at venues and heaps of other intersections. They’ve done such a great job to book people who are experts at all these things and hopefully the ideas we discuss will begin to be put into effect immediately.

Who is your Crush of the Week?

Tommy Genesis, a rapper from Canada. She’s queer and super young and unapologetic. She’s inspiring ’cause she says she still gets nervous before she performs but she still does it, which is just huge, no?! Listen to Angelina and Hate Demon.

You can listen to Daisy’s v empowering mixes here: https://soundcloud.com/keep-brave

The Listen: Feminist Futures Conference is running from October 14-16 in Melbourne.