Touching Bass: Siobhan Bell

It’s weird how the music industry works sometimes. One minute you’ll be in a Universal office staring at a large mural of Birdman, the next you’re mixing Dark E Freaker into “Next Hype”. Siobhan Bell went from Cash Money to cash-in-hand after she found DJing back in 2010. Since then, the East London beat-matcher has taken more of a slow-cooking approach to getting out there.

And now – along with a growing fascination for off-the-cuff eBay purchases – she is beginning to develop a cult following of listeners. We had a little chinwag recently and in between lamenting modern day kids TV and discussing clothes, Siobhan dropped a Touching Bass. Thanks luv.

Noisey: Are you an 80s or 90s baby?

Siobhan Bell: A very early 90s baby. I got to absorb all the 90s goodness like SWV, TLC, Mary J Blige, Busta Rhymes, Spice Girls, Prodigy, euro dance pop and jungle.

So what was your favourite childhood programme?

Rugrats and of course I was Susie the black one.

I would have been Susie’s brother or something. Did some deep research (read: Wikipedia) just now and it turns out she does have an older bro called Edwin. Did you ever watch this trippy title sequence too?

There was an episode where they were introduced and Chuckie fancied me/Susie.

Save it for your therapist. Modern day kids TV is so terrible in comparison to back then, amirite?

Definitely right. I watch cartoons now like Adventure Time and Uncle Grandpa and think how is this for kids or maybe I’m just really high.

How important is your clothing to you? I hear you have a good collection of garments.

My t-shirts are the most important. I feel like I have the best t-shirts to be honest. If I was to have a t-shirt stand-off with someone I would win. I have this really cool Max B button collar shirt, I have a rare paid in full tee which I’m wearing in the pic above and of course all the Work It lyric tees.

Most prized possession of clothing?

A Nando’s bucket hat!

Go on then, tell me. How did you end up getting that?

LOL I eBay really silly things and I thought it would be funny to search “nandos hat” and voila.

Why is that not in your press shot? What do you spend most of your time doing these days?

Good questions because I have no idea.

I navigate my way towards really obscure parts of the Internet too much. I need to get out more. London’s a cool place to go out in but where are your favourite party spots?

To be honest all I do is DJ and when I do go out to ‘party’ it’s to see another DJ I like not because of the place. I do love XOYO though the sound and bass in that place is really cute.

Cute? Where are your favourite spots to hang out though?

MY HOUSE! So cosy

OK, apart from your house.

Well I live in the heart of Dalston now so everything from Alibi and Birthdays are my locals to hang out. I’m actually sitting in Birthdays right now eating a Psycho burger.

How long have you been involved in music for?

Always had a natural interest in music but I was actually studying Business, Sociology, Philosophy and Law in college then went onto Law School and was like “eff this it’s boring I want to be free” so did the whole uni dropout route and interned for a PR and entertainment company. Then from there I worked my way up to learn about the music industry interning at Warner, Atlantic Records. I still do freelance work for labels and my most recent work was with Cash Money Records *brrrrrr* (bird noises).

Did you ever get to meet any of the Cash Money homies? More specifically, did Weezy offer you any cough syrup/lean or something anywhere near as story-worthy?

Nothing too crazy to tell. I just got to sit in Birdman’s office in the Universal in New York and the walls were plastered with what look liked Swarovski crystals and a big self portrait of Birdman’s face because obviously you need a self-portrait in your own office.

Not one iota of surprise in my body right now. What about DJing, how exactly were you introduced to that realm?

I had always been interested in DJs and had a lot of DJ friends around me so my thirst just grew. I did it as a hobby and just for fun. My first big gig was at Nike Town in November 2010 and from then onwards it went cray. The hardest part was finding my sound because I love 90s and 2000s but there was something missing. So this new mix is definitely what I want to represent.

Who’s your musical idol and why?

My pals because they influenced my music surroundings. I grew up and lived with Darq E Freaker so watching him progress helped me #nodrake #bestfriends.

Have you thought about producing?

Hell yes! I get frustrated because my sets are based on remixes and produced beats from other people and I love how it’s put together. I have an odd obsession with researching samples used in a song and the elements of how they are put together, so I definitely think producing will be my next step once I can turn my room into a pimping studio.

Who Sampled 4 lyf. Finally, what kind of stuff have you gone for on the mix?

Well easy-listening EDM trap that you can listen to while at home or do a soft window washing arm motion to. Mostly remixed songs and contains a few of my fave rappers like Yung Lean, Lil Ugly Mane, It’s Nate, Mykki Blanco and Future Brown.

Vibes. Thanks Siobhan.