W.I.G.: What got you into DJing?

Lucy: I was always obsessive about music and records. I had a great friend since I was 12 and everyone thought we were complete freaks because we were obsessed with what I guess was really not particularly exotic music, but it was not mainstreamÑwhich was very strange. I had turntables, and I used to play my own and other peoples' parties, but I never thought I would be playing clubs. It was only when DJ friends would play my parties and I was drunk that I got to stop being self-conscious about it. People would see my record collection and say, "Wow, you've got these great records, why don't you play them out?" And I'd say, "Well, should I?"

I have a theory about women which is they tend not to put themselves in the spotlight or make fools of themselves, so [music] was always a much more private passion for me. It was only recently that I went more public with it. Again, I think this happens with a lot of women in the arts. You get older and are a bit more not caring about what people think. Also, I found a supportive group of people, which is the illbient scene here.

So what happened then?

I just started doing it. I started out at the Wave and with DJ Spooky. Years ago, another DJ friend of mine taught me how to match beats and really trained me formally. It's only been the last year or two that I've been playing and enjoying it more.

Where do you spin?

A bunch of different places, like the Soundlab. I played at the Limelight for awhile, but it as weird because it was a new party, and I don't know if people really bought a woman doing trip-hop. All the other DJ's were men, and then there were these women in bikini's dancing around in cages to my music and it felt so strange. It just felt like I was in the wrong spot.

So being a woman DJ can be problematic?

I would say yes. People always mistake me for the one carrying the records. I spin on my own and I also spin with a band called Byzar [on Asphodel] and it's actually very funny because sometimes everyone will be getting their instruments and I'll be headed to the turntable and the DJ at the club will think I'm going up there to have a look at what he's doing, but instead, I'm going up there to play a set.

Tell us about your film project.

I'm trying to get together a documentary about the New York music scene and DJ's. I really love making films because it takes years and film is such a labor of love. It's a year or 10 years before you're able to screen it in a finished form. Whereas with Djing, it's totally exhilarating and if you make a mistake, then boom, [it's] right there. You get the adrenaline, give a performance, and get the feedback all within a couple of hours.