DJ Goldierocks “rocks” in Tbilisi
By Salome Modebadze
Friday, May 2
“Georgians like parties, so I am here to party,” DJ Sam Goldierocks said in a half dark Night Office Club in Tbilisi on April 25 just a few minutes before moving to the stage to DJ for her Georgian audience. Goldierocks is an international DJ and broadcaster familiar to the Georgian audience through the radio Selector broadcast on the Green Wave Radio 107.4 FM, where she’s been playing for around three years.
“I think the number one [rule] is to play music people love,” she told The Messenger while sharing “the secrets” of her success. “Let people hear what you want to hear, then you become unique and niche.”
Advising Georgian musicians not to follow trends, but to be unique, build their own brand, and think on a local scale, she said, “The world is mysterious, unknown; there is a huge potential for promoting internationally, so one should think how to take advantage of this.”
During her hour and a half performance at the Night Office Club last Friday, Sam showcased the UK underground.
“I want to play sounds maybe people haven’t heard before, sounds you may have probably heard on my radio Selector,” she said adding that on the Selector she plays blues, jazz, indie-rock, house, hip-hop. “For me it really depends on what mood I’m in.”
Meeting with the local media at Morellis Gelato, DJ Goldierocks said she is a big pioneer of women in media, women in DJing, and women in journalism.
“I am interested in hearing what they have to say, like things they are struggling with in Georgia, how they got started,” she said earlier.
“Be passionate,” she told the journalists sharing how she started her career working at different jobs for free. Writing for one of the UK magazines, she said she had a great deal of access to amazing artists and started drawing attention and receiving respect, before finally developing as an artist herself.
“I worked for free for a very long time. I did working experience with every station in UK. I just worked, worked, worked… trying to get more experience as a journalist “to grow” professionally,” she said.
Carrying on working for free she started DJing and when someone from MTV saw her, the Goldierocks brand started to grew and tour around the world.
“No matter who you are, where you live, or your economic background, music is the universal language. It’s cliche but it is true. All these different countries that listen to the same show, same music, getting involved twitter, Facebook… It’s amazing. Selector is my baby,” Goldierocks said stressing that the she is so proud of the radio for its cultural exchange.
“What I’m very excited about meeting local DJs, finding about music in Georgia. People don’t know too much about Georgia in UK and I think this is a cultural exchange not me just coming here like “listen to this music” I want to find you music, I want to bring it back to UK,” she told The Messenger.
According to Charlotte Hunter, political officer of the British Embassy, “The British Council has been working with Goldierocks’ radio Selector for a while now so this is a great opportunity to bring her here and to show some of modern Britain and support the “The GREAT Campaign” of the British Embassy.”
“In partnership with the British Embassy, Omega Tegi, Morellis Gelato and other partners of the project, we managed to invite her and I am sure the audience will love her performance tonight. It is a great opportunity to showcase contemporary UK music in Georgia. The radio program has been very popular,” Zaza Purtseladze, Director of the British Council in Georgia, told The Messenger before the show.
The Arts Project Manager of the British Council Georgia, Maia Darchia thanked Cafe Morallis Gelato of Omega group for sponsoring Sam’s visit. “You made my dream come true,” she said.
“I think life should be colorful,” DJ Goldierocks told us. Passionate about cultural journalism, she made her first radio documentary and plans to make a TV documentary and to do “more serious stuff” but still continues DJing at the same time.
Still making notes about the interesting things going on around her, Sam Goldierocks receives inspiration for her future topics so that one day her followers will like Madonna, Giorgi Armani, Jade Jugger. Those who listen to a variety of the best British music at the Selector will read Sam’s book with pleasure.
Calling Tbilisi “a beautiful city”, she said she has fallen in love with it. Apart from discovering “amazing Chacha”, Sam was also excited about a rug she took with her to the UK.
