DJ PRETTYNINJA + Click To Enter + A born party-rocker, Erika aka PrettyNinja grew up on Marthas Vineyard, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. Her Uncle tossed her tapes of his live DJ sets he performed for sweaty summer dance floors in the islands hottest clubs. She danced her little heart out until the tapes wouldnt play anymore. HipHouse, Miami Bass, and Freestyle permeated her 7 year old existence along with the odd "Rockin Robin" by Little Michael Jackson- or some other random, yet seemingly perfect track- thrown in for good measure. Only a few years later, pouring over her expansive music collection- she obsessed over creating genre-eradicating pause mixes for friends. Made with one turntable, a Sony Discman, and a tape deck- these mixes ignored any and all barriers. Friends scrambled to hear the newest creative connections she conjured between classics like- Grandmaster Flash, Blondie, the Sugarhill Gang, and crazy punk bands like the Misfits, the Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, and the Ramones. Relocating several times throughout her teenage years brought new experiences presenting different and exiting styles of music to explore. While living on Long Island, at 14 she went to her first rave dancing ecstatically into the wee hours. After that, she lived for going to warehouse parties, not for the drugs and social scene or the largest rooms like many others, but for the euphoric states experienced through dance and music in the smaller, more intimate side rooms. In her later teenage years, she performed in a funky punk/metal band based in upstate New York that played all over the Northeast. In dingy clubs, church basements, and VFW halls she operated a distro or small, portable store. Among the bootleg band t-shirts, homemade patches, buttons, cds, and crates of records and 7 inches, it wasnt uncommon to find several of her latest mixtape creations. Her desire to share music with others never wavered. She loved performing and the closeness that could be achieved by connecting with a spellbound crowd. Her first experience DJing came just a few years ago when shed expressed a serious interest in learning to her close DJ friends- Master Sun and Optimus Prime. That evening at their gig, a posh island nightspot enclosed in rich mahogany with high tin ceilings and dim lighting, the DJs seemed to effortlessly romance and excite the people before them. When they decided they wanted some pizza from down the street they jokingly nudged the young Ninja behind the decks and took off before she could think to object. Looking out over the crowd of faces illuminated only by a few strategically placed tea-lights she started to sweat. Hands shaking, she fumbled through the unfamiliar crates and found a dusty P-Funk LP that seemed to take on a new glow as it was lifted from the sea of anonymous vinyls. As the record turned she watched the crowd settle comfortably into the funk and noticed a new bubbley din of conversation rise from the bar. Funk she realized, was one of the lesser known, universally appealing styles of music and a lifesaver. Using only the start/stop buttons, she rockily transitioned into Q-tips Viverant Thing and held her breath as she followed it wth a 2step remix of Bob Marley. Slamming the fader over into The Choice Is Yours by Blacksheep, the last song of her short, nerve-racking set she let out a massive sigh of relief and was greeted with congradulatory pats on the back from her two smiling, pizza-greased friends. That first time taught PrettyNinja much about playing songs for a crowd, but highlighted the gaping hole where she might gain more knowledge and technical skill. It lit a fire inside of her that burned to reach levels she knew she in her heart that she was capable of. Diligently, she practiced mixing for hours each day and after a little over a year of practicing on borrowed decks she bought her own pair of Technics 1200s. She hasnt slowed down or looked back since. Being a female, just like anything has its pros and cons, and PrettyNinja takes both in stride. Shes extremely driven to have her chops up technically and refuses to be stereotyped as a pretty face behind the decks. She loves dancing and playing music that makes others want to move. Shes a funky vibe-ster- her selections know no boundries in terms of genre, though she truly enjoys a solid set of 2step, breaks, or drum&bass. She loves to rock the funky beats, and to connect with a crowd. Shes always challenging herself to be better by maintaining a fierce open mindedness towards new ideas and sources of inspiration. She continues to indulge in the passion of cultivating her beloved vinyl collection- but has learned to utilize the efficiency of Serato Scratch for ease in traveling. She is thankful every day for her turntables and what she is able to do with them, and all the love and support from funkster friends and loving family.