How the West Has Won with J. Phlip and Dirtybird Records

Jessica Phillippe, better known to the world of electronic music as J.Phlip, embodies that West Coast Dirtybird flair that's allowed Claude VonStroke and his team to rise to prominence. But Jessica's story is not your average claim to fame.

"I went to the University of Illinois, which is where I grew up in Champaign. I originally wanted to be an engineer, and it's a top five engineering school," said J.Phlip.

So, how does a young, aspiring engineer end up behind the decks at some of the hottest clubs in the world. "I started DJing at the end of my freshman year there. I really just kept growing and started getting gigs in Chicago, then in Minneapolis, and went up from there." As many artists from the mid-west know, all roads lead to Chicago when it comes to house music.

Every artist has a breakthrough in their respective careers that they, as well as their fans, can pinpoint as their platform to success. Jessica doesn't like to pin it down to one specific event or achievement, but there are certainly a few along the way that were springboards in her rise. "I won a remix competition in 2005 and that was the first big moment for me. I got to go on a tour with DJ Collete and Reid Speed, which was huge. I learned the industry on that tour―what a manager and a booking agent is," she reflected. "I was just some kid from Champaign so I didn't know anything. I got an itinerary, experienced life on the road, and even went to Miami WMC and had a set at Ultra. I was 21 at the time."

From there she never looked back. Balancing life outside of her burgeoning DJ career was difficult, but evidently, Jessica made it work. While laughing, she explained that although she did finish her degree it took her a long time before she quit her job as a bartender. "Now I've been doing this for a living for six years," she said.

Many DJs and producers today take the techno pilgrimage to Berlin, and immerse themselves in the scene for years to hone their craft. Jessica was no different. "I lived there for three years," she explained. "It's a very different scene there, and the music that's popular is definitely different―way different."

Everyone is drawn to Berlin for different reasons. The clubs, the music culture, the many studios and their teachers, or a different reason entirely. "The reason I was drawn to Berlin was because when I first started going out clubbing there, it felt like hearing dance music for the first time again. The vibe was really free and really cool, and parties were always different and exciting. It was never repetitive."

In North America, there is an inherent issue of 'cookie-cutter' parties, where promoters stick to a formulas that maximizes their revenue and minimizes their work input. That being said, there are always promoters in each city that differentiate themselves by going above and beyond the status quo.

I wanted to know if she spent her holy days―Sundays―like so many other of the Berlin's techno faithful: at Berghain. "I went to Berghain and Panorama Bar…a lot…especially on Sundays," she laughed.

Jessica's known for her dedication to vinyl―both purchasing and spinning live. But on Saturday night, she was using CDJs.

"I actually haven't played vinyl in a while," she said. "But I like to bring it out sometimes. Usually, even though the clubs have the equipment, they are lacking any proper foam insulation. The vibrations are really intense, so if you drop the bass it's really just a feedback loop of bass."

There's only room for vinyl in J.Phlip's performances at clubs where she's familiar with the setup, and knows that they can accommodate her records. "At one point, I was playing vinyl a lot, but I got frustrated because I had three shows in the US and all of them had the same problem. Now I just rip vinyl―buy them, record them, self-master them, and put them on my USB," she said nonchalantly.

I mentioned the hilarious post that Sven Vath put up last month, about becoming bored playing on CDJs when his wax got lost on an airline.

Jessica actually agreed. "CDJs have become too easy―automatic almost―and I will definitely get kind of bored sometimes. Some DJs like to use effects and I feel like that's because they're bored. But I never got into all of that. When I am playing CDJs, I like to mix as if I'm playing vinyl. I like to keep it feeling old school." Which is just about the coolest thing any girl could say, ever.

"Playing vinyl is definitely more of a challenge for my brain. Then there are other shows where I'm like 'damn, if I was playing vinyl right now it would be really hard.' Like tonight actually, where my fingers were freezing…"

Freezing is an understatement. That evening at Igloofest, crowds and artists endured weather that would scare even the most stoic, Northern Canadians. Jessica, who's a California girl, braced a 60 degree swing, from 30 to -30 degrees Celsius.

"My fingers were freezing and I couldn't feel half my face. But the funny part is that the back of my legs were on fire from the heaters. It would've been really hard to play vinyl tonight, especially since I was wearing so much clothing and had limited mobility."

A portion of Dirtybird Collective, which included J.Phlip, were performers that Saturday at Igloofest. While it was not an official Dirtybird event, the whole main stage roster had direct ties to the label.

"There was an era where a lot of Dirtybird tracks were influenced by West Coast hip-hop tracks. The West Coast in general is very bass line driven, whereas a lot of stuff coming from Europe is more kickdrum based, more of a thump-thump-thump," she said. Quite a relevant testament to our namesake here at THUMP and our respective partnership with Dirtybird that weekend.

Coming up, Jessica has her 10-year Dirtybird anniversary party with the whole team. She'll also be back on Holy Ship again, and has some truly epic international tours in the works―from Australia to India, and other Asian hotspots. Most interesting though, is her upcoming collaboration on an EP with English heavyweight Huxley.

Regardless of where you catch her―sunshine, cruise ship, apocalyptic snowstorm, or elsewhere―it's evident that J.Phlip has little trouble living up to her fame of 'keeping it old school.' Wherever she may find herself behind the decks, her Berlin, meets Champaign, meets San Francisco, combination makes Jessica one of the more revered women in dance music today.

J.Phlip is on Facebook // Twitter // Soundcloud
Dirtybird Records is on Facebook // Soundcloud

You can follow Zack Rota on Twitter: @zackrota