Audio: Carly Foxx shows her love for Detroit

Australia’s electronic music scene was less established than today when Carly Foxx was growing up, so it was only after moving abroad that she ever thought about becoming a DJ. Once she'd left her homeland Foxx started to learn about house and techno from the genre's Detroit and Chicago roots, styles that now define her sound today. She also has an obvious penchant for disco and acid, shown by the records she’s produced and released on her label, Love Story. Foxx’s work in music covers many other angles, and her involvement in our upcoming Level Up event is as good an indicator as any of this. We got an idea of the full scope of Foxx’s talents with a Detroit-affected mix and interview, dropping ahead of her Room One appearance alongside Ritual and Moon Harbour this weekend. Download: Carly Foxx Forms Promo Mix Did you have a theme in mind for the mix? I didn’t exactly have a “theme” in mind as such, but I did know that I wanted to record a mix that would include the type of music I would play from the start of a night running over the course of a few hours, but compressed into an hour or so. I wanted to make sure it was reflective of the types of dance music I really love, and that’s always a mix of old and new records, deep and groovy 90s US house, Chicago and Detroit flavours and little sprinkles of acid and disco. Around half of the records in the mix I’ve had for years, and the other half I bought especially for this. One track that I knew had to be in there from the minute I was asked to do the mix was the last track: Truth About Techno by Los Hermanos. Such a banger! Where do you find most of the records you play? I'm fairly rubbish when it comes to promos – unless it’s from an artist I really love, it’s rare that I end up listening to them. I mostly discover music from my DJ friends, and trawling the internet. I visit music blogs and Spotify every day, I like second-hand record stores and eBay for vinyl. YouTube is also amazing for getting lost and discovering old school gems, I listen to Boiler Room sets and pick out my favourite songs, occasionally I fill up my trolley in Beatport and I really like the selection at Hard Wax too. Your tastes span quite a few different genres. Would you say the electronic music scene in Australia had a broad scope when you were living there? I left Australia when I was 19, so I would say most of my electronic music taste developed when I moved over here. I grew up playing the guitar, listening to 70s & 80s music and lots of rock, folk and band-orientated stuff. As a teenager I was introduced to breaks and electro stuff, so used to go out to see artists like Stanton Warriors, Adam Freeland & Tiga when they were in town. Then the Modular Records explosion with electro-rock groups like The Presets and Cut Copy that were coming out of Australia. Later on I discovered artists like Metro Area, Mark Farina & Derrick May, and really got into the type of US house and disco that’s still prevalent in my sound today. I didn't start DJing until I was about 23, and that's when I started building a music collection by listening to dance music in a different way. In my spare time, I mostly listen to anything but electronic music. I think it's so important that as a DJ you stay on top of music as a whole, not just what you play or hear in the clubs or the music of your preference. Having a broad knowledge of all types of music, and listening to music with an open mind is all part of what makes a good artist to me. Listening to music from the past and present, knowing what's happening in the Top 40 is all part of it, as is understanding different types of people and scenes. We’ve met you at the club recently outside of our weekend schedule – can you talk about some of your work beyond DJing, and what this involves? Yes, fingers in pies! Outside of DJing and making music, I’ve been working in the music industry for the past 6 years or so. I do some freelance work in sync, finding and placing music on TV commercials and with brands. I’ve learnt SO much about the industry as a whole and listened to and learnt about every type of music you could imagine. When you're searching for music to fulfil a brief and fit with a film or brand, you learn to listen to music in a different way and develop a very specific ear, which I'm really grateful for as it's helped me enormously as a DJ and producer. I also run my record label, Love Story Recordings, and I've been working on some events for women in electronic music. The Level Up event I’ve been working on with you guys is coming up and we’ve got some great people on board for it; B.Traits, Nick Halkes from XL and Kate Simko are just a few amongst a bunch of very talented people. Finally what are you up to throughout the rest of the summer? I’ve got my Body Ache EP coming out in July on my own label, Love Story, which I’m particularly excited about because (fan girl moment) Parris Mitchell has remixed it! Apart from my fabric debut, I’m playing at Kala Festival in Albania – the line-up looks so good. Also a beach party for YouTube in France, and will be finishing the summer in Ibiza, playing for Cream at Hi. I’m also going to be working on a documentary over the summer, presenting and producing a series for a digital channel about specific electronic music scenes across Europe. I can’t say too much about it right now, except that I’m bloody excited for it!