D&B in Focus: KLUELESS
When it comes to D&B pies, KLUELESS has her fingers in just about all of them. The Kazakhstan-born, London-based DJ, producer, UKF channel and playlist curator and A&R specialist talks through her journey into D&B, how it’s impacted her life and why she’s happy to spend every waking hour immersed in it.
Discovering D&B
Kamila Bookless, AKA KLUELESS, grew up in Newcastle, a city in the north of England isn’t well known for it’s D&B scene. So it was only when she went to university in Reading that she heard the rhythms of D&B. It was 2018 and she dived headfirst into the scene, besotted by the way the music made her feel and desperate for more. It was only then that she looked back at the music she listened to as a kid and realized she’d had a taste for it all along.
“I adored “Heartbeat Loud” by Andy C and "Hot Right Now” by Rita Ora and DJ Fresh from a young age,” she says. “And it was only when I looked back I realized these are D&B tunes. So I loved D&B without even knowing what the genre was.”
Reading was the perfect city for Kamila thanks to its rich club culture. “They had this venue called Purple Turtle which had an underground dungeon that played D&B, and then Sub89 was the main rave venue,” she says.
Kamila joined the Drum & Bass society in her third year where she started learning to DJ, and a few months later she was being booked for gigs across the city. “It was weird going from a punter to being behind the decks,” she says.
A Career in Music
Once she graduated, Kamila didn’t think too hard about making music her career – she just knew it was going to be part of her life no matter what. At first she applied for jobs in TV and film production but when that didn’t work out she considered following her real passion. She applied for roles at Hospital Records, Shogun Audio and Souped Up, and eventually landed a role at UKF. That was two years ago.
“Since then I’ve been investing in perfecting my mixes, my ability to perform, being my own booking agent, managing my own social content, and being as engaging as possible,” she says. "And now production as well.”
Day-to-day, Kamila runs A&R for UKF’s YouTube channel, which has over 10 million subscribers. She spends a huge chunk of her day listening to hundreds of D&B tracks to decipher what works for the label, which gives her a deep understanding of the various sub-genres of D&B. She also updates playlists, creates videos and uploads promos.
DJ'ing, Mixing and Producing
All this time spent listening to music feeds into her DJing skills, making her arguably one of the most up-to-date D&B DJs in the UK. Kamila’s bass-heavy sets have become staples in London’s underground, and she regularly performs at some of the city’s most celebrated venues from Village Underground to Colours Hoxton. She’s made recent guest mixes for dubstep label Deep Dark and Dangerous, as well as Deep Tempo and Riot Records, and loves how the latest wave of dubstep is breaking new sonic ground. “I feel like dubstep in particular is such an exciting genre,” she says. “People are making really unique, brand new sounds that we've not heard before, and it's really popping off at clubs.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kamila listens to music non-stop. “In working hours it’ll be an hour or two listening to music promos,” she says. “Then I’ll put on a mix while I’m doing admin, and Iisten to music when I’m prepping a set.” Kamila pauses to think. “I don't really stop listening to music ever,” she laughs. “When I wake up, the first thing I do is put on music, and I actually sleep to music every night as well.”
The only time Kamila stops listening to music is when her air pods run out of battery.
But it’s for good reason. “D&B culture is youth culture,” Kamila says. "Rave culture is youth culture, because it's this idea of breaking the rules, being different, being part of a community.”
Kamila is happy the culture has opened up to everyone, because it’s always been about inclusivity and community. “D&B has been through so many cycles, and I’m so happy it’s more diverse now. D&B stems from such rich culture it wouldn’t make sense without diversity,” she says.
In December, UKF will throw a huge party to celebrate 15 years. They’ve already sold out Drumsheds, and invited bass music royalty including Pendulum, Caspa and Rusko, Flux Pavilion and dozens more. KLUELESS will be playing the Bristol leg and just announced that she’ll be part of Rinse FM’s radio roster. To top it all off she’s been working on her own productions and can’t wait to play out some of her latest creations during her sets.
With her relentless commitment to the genre, KLUELESS is fast becoming one of the most loved names in bass music – not just because of her sick selections but because of her unending support for the community.
