DJ A.K Interview

Through sheer hard work and determination over the past seven years, A.K has gone leaps and bounds in all aspects of her DJing. Scoring her first club gig in 2008 when female DJ's especially in Hip Hop were a rarity AK had her sights on making DJ'ing her full time career and getting to work with hip hop's greatest artists; fast forward seven years a lot of sweat, tears, hard work and not giving up AK has done just that.

In a time where DJ'ing is more popular than ever it takes someone special to be the cut above the rest, AK is one of the first female DJ's to step up and learn the art of turntabalism although AK has many years of experience with using CDJ's being able to work the turntables as well puts her in a league of her own. Musical versatility is number one on AK's agenda whilst still trying to keep her love of hip hop alive, mixing both the latest releases of today's radio hits and being able to change it up and play old skool classics along with the newest hip hop and pop tracks all in the same set is a talent that very few can do well. A.K has been commended many times as reading the crowd to be one of her best abilities, which is a skill, many DJ's lack.

A.K has gained both National and International interest with her previous mixtape campaigns but achieved the respect she deserved from the industry with her -The Best of Both Worlds' mixtape earlier in 2010 which found her touring Australia twice, and being asked to exclusively DJ at a private party for Chris Brown, Rihanna and their entourage. AK has continued to gain international and national interest over the last few years gathering quite a following in Adelaide and being asked to play four times in the last few months alone, along with Gold Coast, Sydney, Regional towns. In 2011 AK started touring internationally also rocking dance floors all over the world including spinning at the Prestigious Balasco Theatre in LA along with Vista California, Papua New Guinea several times and Europe.

In 2012 AK decided to build her brand even further in her home country of Australia and dedicated her time to scoring support slots with almost every hip hop show that hit town. Although she had already had the rare opportunity to open up for such acts as Ne-Yo, T-Pain, Big Boi and Fatman Scoop at the Winterbeatz Concert at Rod Laver Arena in 2010 and rocking the urban stage at the underage Goodlife Festival. She started with opening up for the old skool duo Kci & Jo Jo which then led the Sydney based promotion company to have AK as their go to person for all future tours including Lloyd (Also being asked by Lloyd himself to have AK as his official DJ for his tour), The Game opening up directly before he hit the stage along with being asked to stay on stage to rock the show with him, that then followed to supporting Bow Wow, MANN and then to be personally asked for by one of the biggest touring company's in the world Live Nation to be the solo opening DJ for the TYGA concert at Prince Of Wales which turned into a massive three and a half hour set after TYGA ran late AK managed to keep the crowd live till he showed up which is not an easy feat.

2013 started off with a bang with AK being the only DJ on Nick Cannons Australia tour with Mariah Carey to DJ alongside him as he hosted at Watermark in Melbourne on his first and only headline show in Australia, again being the only DJ in Australia to DJ alongside Craig David in his only night club appearance as he hosted at Fabrique and being support DJ for the Avant concert.

In 2014, AK started the year off opening for Ja Rule, Snoop and Mac Miller, Tyga for a second time, Sean Kingston and Eric Bellinger. Midyear found AK back in America DJing at one of the hottest clubs in Anaheim California - Heat Ultra. 2014 was a huge year for AK and 2015 is already set to be looking bigger starting off as being the official Melbourne DJ for the Asian Cup 2015 opening up at all Melbourne Games, opening up for YG & TY Dolla Sign and being booked as Ciara's official tour DJ for Australia and NZ.

Keep an eye on this space to see what's next for Australia's own "Queen of the Decks".

Interview with DJ A.K

Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Angela Kuzmanovska: I didn't really have one particular inspiration I always was really passionate about music I loved, then when I got introduced to 2Pac's music and that changed my love for the hip hop genre for ever.


Question: How did you feel beginning a career in a male-dominated industry?

Angela Kuzmanovska: It was very intimidating at the start but I went into it knowing that it wasn't going to be easy I started eight years ago when you could count the female DJs in Melbourne on two hands. I used to get guys stand over my shoulder when I would start and watch me which would make me even more nervous but also made me want to prove myself even more, I still get the occasional prejudice now and it really frustrates me cos I feel like it's the norm now but I just keep doing my thing and prove them all wrong.

Question: What have been the highlights of your DJing career?

Angela Kuzmanovska: There has been so many, I've got to open up and DJ for some pretty cool artists but being asked personally by artists to DJ for them after they have either seen me open up for them or heard about me through the grapevine is beyond flattering and what you really aim for as a DJ for that kind of recognition, and then being able to keep some of the artists as contacts last year I got to party with Game in LA and Tyga in Vegas which was pretty crazy. Also the first time I got flown interstate or overseas to play are also huge highlights and moments I won't ever forget, oh and being asked to be the official DJ for the Asian Cup this year was a huge highlight!


Question: What was it like to DJ at a private party, for Chris Brown and Rihanna?

Angela Kuzmanovska: Amazing! So surreal I had only been Djing for a year at the time and I had tickets to the concert and I got the call that morning to see if I was interested in doing it was the first celebrity function I was ever offered to do, at the time Rihanna and Chris Brown were dating but were "officially" denying it in press and they were dancing, kissing and all over each other so no one was allowed to even look at their phones in case they took a picture which would of been worth a bit if you were caught holding your phone you were instantly kicked out. They both danced almost throughout my whole set and even had some KFC delivered and ate fried chicken in between.


Question: Can you tell us about the Winterbeatz Concert?

Angela Kuzmanovska: That was the first concert I ever DJ'd at usually when a DJ gets an opportunity to open up at a concert they start small and work their way up I got the amazing opportunity to get up in front of thousands of people at Rod Laver Arena when I was still quite new on the scene I remember being so nervous but the second I got on the stage I knew that you only get one shot to impress people who have never heard of you so I kicked the nerves and gave it everything I had. I also got to meet Ne-Yo, Fatman Scoop and Big Boi and tried my best to play it cool but was dying inside especially when Ne-Yo kissed my hand and thanked me for supporting his music!


Question: What about the difficulties surrounding the TYGA concert?

Angela Kuzmanovska: I was lucky enough to be asked to DJ for Tyga twice the first time I was the sole support DJ usually with hip hop concerts they get a few DJs throughout the night so I was excited to not only be DJing for Live Nation for the first time which is huge cos they are worldwide but also to be the only DJ on the bill, until of course my hour set turned into a 3 hour set as you can imagine the crowd started to get a bit impatient but somehow I managed to keep them pretty hyped till he finally got on stage, so it wasn't so much difficulties as the artist running late which is normal except there was no one to share the pain with at that point haha.


Question: How would you describe your style?
Angela Kuzmanovska: New Hip Hop & RnB mixed with a splash of Pop (you may sometimes hear a random Taylor Swift or Spice Girls remix in my set just for the nostalgia) and the occasional old skool track you love but have forgotten about and haven't heard on a dance floor since you were at an underage.


Question: What's your number one track to keep a crowd partying?

Angela Kuzmanovska: It really changes all the time obviously there's always a track of the moment that's guaranteed to get the dance floor packed usually they last for a month or two like at the moment its either Coco or Ayo and then you get a track like Loyal by Chris Brown that literally didn't get old for like a year and even now can fill a dance floor.


Question: What are your goals, for the future?

Angela Kuzmanovska: I'm currently working on getting a Visa to go to the states to DJ as I've had a few huge opportunities present themselves over there but I've had to unfortunately turn down for the time being as it was a we need you here and now type situation, so there's a few things in the works over there at the moment that I can't really say too much about but that's my main focus right now is getting my butt over there and seeing what the future holds.


Question: What are your social media links?

Angela Kuzmanovska: Website: www.djak.com.au Facebook: www.facebook.com/djakpage Instagram/twitter: @djakofficial

60 Second Quiz

Full Name: Angela Kuzmanovska

Nickname(s): AK
Favourite Food: Anything bread based, burgers, pizza, sandwiches and chocolate!
Favourite Film: Pretty Woman
Favourite Actor: Julia Roberts
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Mariah, The Queen!
Hobbies/Interests: Gym, watching trashy reality TV and eating out!
First Job: Check out chick!
Are you a Pub, Bar or Club kind: Club!
What Can You Never Leave Home Without: iPod
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning: Food

Interview by Brooke Hunter