Arts and Culture
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I am more than willing to come clean and honestly admit that the only piece of information my mind retained regarding the name Mia Moretti was that she is a disc jockey who is close friends with Katy Perry. The latter happens to be one of my favorite artists. Therefore, whomever is a friend of Katy’s is a friend of mine by default; I simply cannot help it. Whatever connection or chunk of knowledge brings me closer to my favorite writers, producers, idols, etc. is what is on my radar.
Upon discovering that DJ Mia Moretti was spinning at the Hard Rock Hotel during Lollapalooza’s Belvedere Nights after-party, I pretty much freaked out. My freak-out was due to a fantasy that by being in the presence of one of Katy Perry’s best friends, I was somehow a degree closer to being acquaintances with Perry herself. Wishful thinking, I know. But one can dream, right?
I follow Katy Perry on Twitter. Guilty as charged. So sue me. Hence, I learned of the existence of Moretti, whose remix of a new Katy Perry tune is going to be featured on the deluxe edition of the singer’s Teenage Dream album, which was released this past August. How pumped am I? Super pumped!
Sick and tired of music geeks and snobs who call themselves a “DJ” when all they do is play tracks from an iTunes playlist they created on their MacBrook Pros, I was seriously doubting the skills and “talent” (if any) that Moretti could bring to the table. How guilty and ashamed did I feel when Moretti completely blew my mind with her jack of all trades spectacle of a DJset? Pretty guilty and ashamed. I had wrongly assumed that Moretti would just pick and choose which songs she wanted to hear out of her music library.
What I was presented with instead was a woman who has impeccable taste in music (MGMT’s “Kids,” Sia’s “Clap Your Hands”) and spins with both a MacBook Pro and a classic turntable. But wait, there’s more! Moretti has a partner in crime: electric violinist Caitlin Moe. Fresh off the 2009/2010 West Coast tour with multi-plantinum selling rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Moe has been touring with Moretti, exploding out of the ordinary classical violin and electrifying audiences in hotspots across the country.
Moretti may have the superstar friendship with Perry to keep her career on the rise, but Moe has the jaw-dropping, classically-trained improvisational talent to steal the show every night that the pair do their thing. I could watch Moe play the hell out of her violin anytime, anywhere. Now if only I had kept up the viola lessons back in fifth grade…
