Interview: Half Queen - Rhythm & Alps Festival 2021

One rite of passage upon moving to Tāmaki Makaurau, along with receiving a Caker birthday cake and spending a night at a Whammy lock-in, is getting a big ol' crush on DJ Half Queen, the co-founder of club collective FILTH and one of the acts billed for this year's Rhythm & Alps Festival in Cardrona Valley. You might have caught them spinning tracks at the To The Front fundraiser show last week, or making Aotearoa DJ history as part of the country's debut Boiler Room earlier this year, but despite their busy schedule of summer festival appearances, Half Queen aka Shaquille Wasasala squeezed in a quick messenger chat last night with yours truly. Touching on festival tips, FILTH plans for 2022 and Christmas music picks, catch up with Half Queen in our short and sweet Q & A below...

RHYTHM & ALPS AOTEAROA 2021
Wednesday 29th December to Friday 31st December 2021
Cardrona Valley, Wanaka

Featuring... ANDYHEARTTHROB, ANTIX, AW B, AZIFM, BECCIE B, BENTHAMISM, BOMB DYLAN, BOOMBOX DJS, BOZNICH, BYTE SIZE, C:SHE, CARNIVOROUS PLANT SOCIETY, CHICCORELI, CIVIL DIN, CONCORD DAWN, CULTURE SHOCK, DIMENSION DJ SET, DOM DOLLA, EDEN BURNS, ELLIOT TIERNEY, FILTH FEAT. BBYFACEKILLA, DIESEL, HALFQUEEN & ZEKI, FINN, FOXTROT, FRICTION, HARRY CHARLES, HURRICANE EMILY, ISAAC CHAMBERS, JAKE RATTLER, KORA, KRAVIS, L.A.B, LEE MVTTHEWS, MAMADAFUNK, MAMII, MINTIE, MISS B, MOLLY & THE CHROMATICS, MONTELL2099, MUROKI, NICE GIRL, PAIGE JULIA, PASH JAMS, PINO, ROULSTON, SALMONELLA DUB, SANOI, SCRIBE & P-MONEY WITH THE HARMONY & RHYTHM BRASS BAND, SHAPESHIFTER, SIN, SOPHIA, STATE OF MIND FEAT. JABZ, TALI LIVE, TEXTURE, THE UPBEATS, TYLIE, WATTSSON, 40K

Tickets on sale now via rhythmandalps.co.nz

Annabel Kean: How are you feeling atm about your filth set at R&A?

Half Queen: I’m feeling good about it. I haven’t played anything of that scale in a long time nor have I linked with the extended FILTH gang, so I’m nervous but really excited. We have the coveted 10-2 slot on the 31st…so that’ll be interesting. Hopefully we remember the countdown hahahahaha.

What do you and the other filth DJs do to prepare for a festival show like that? Do you approach it differently to shows with a smaller audience?

Generally we try have a kanikani to the set before us, drink some liquid courage + gas ourselves. I’d say one of the few differences is maybe the content of our sets. Smaller shows have less random people/more ~fans~ of us, so with big festivals, I guess one of our goals is enticing a new audience.

Top 3 acts at R&A you want to see?

Salmonella Dub and our pals Aw B + Hurricane Emily.

Do you have any personal festival ‘hacks’? Like tricks or tips for having a good time - both as an artist and a punter.

Ooooh I have a couple hacks:
1. Research acts before you attend, so you get your money’s worth.
2. Keep your wits about you.

Besides DJ sets, are you planning on spending much time working on mixes over the festive season? Or are you wanting to have some downtime?

Hopefully playing to an audience again will spark some inspiration for some mixes!!!!!!!!

Are you into mixing Christmassy / new years songs into your sets? If yes, what tracks? This is me asking if you have a favourite Christmas song without asking if you have a favourite Christmas song.

I absolutely do not mix Christmas songs but my fav would have to be any Boney M or 2 Fat Bitches + A Bag of Weed by Nadia Nympho.

Who or what do you have on repeat rn?

Currently, I have Dinamarca’s Barcelona Boiler Room set on repeat.

What is the dream for FILTH in 2022?/What’s the next big goal?

Our next FILTH clubnight is vol.10, so you’ll have to wait + see.

Aaand is there anything else you want to plug?

If you’re not around for R&A, you can catch the FILTH crew at Northern Bass, That Weekend + Splore, as well as our individual sets over Summer which you can catch on our socials :~)