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Ruth Kavanagh Like many great stories, Ruth Kavan
agh’s DJing career began with a dare. “I was having a conversation with a promoter friend about New Year’s resolutions, and I said that I wanted to do something scary and challenging. I was kind of thinking like a parachute jump. When he asked if I would DJ at his night, I said no, I’d rather jump out of the plane! And he said ‘well you wanted to do something scary and challenging!’ and started goading me until I did. I thought I was only ever going to do it once!” But after playing her first set, Ruth was hooked. She worked in software development during the week, happy to only play sets that she would enjoy in her spare time. In her ten years as a DJ, there is only one nightclub that she ever chased for a set. That was Mother, a gay club that specializes in synth-pop and deep house. Of course, gay clubs are spaces that dedicate themselves to LGBT people in a society that is frequently hostile. As a straight woman, did she ever feel like she was intruding? “Not a bit. Nobody ever challenged me for doing it. 40% of the Mother team are straight. We always say it’s like a good house party, it’s not strictly LGBT. The door policy isn’t that you have to show your ‘gay membership’ to get in!” To Ruth, Mother is more than a nightclub. There’s a familial feeling that extends beyond the crew, all the way down to the regulars. She’s made friends across the country from her time playing under the Mother banner, and speaks fondly of a couple who met on the Mother dancefloor. They recently got married and are still regulars at the club. And then there are the memories. Over the years, Ruth has played many Pride block parties and festivals with Mother. One of her favourite moments is playing at Body and Soul until the sun came up. There’s also the small matter of opening for the legendary Grace Jones in the Olympia. “It was surreal. She had a big runway coming out the middle of the room and our decks were smack at the front of that. It was very shiny ground and quite narrow. I remember saying to the lads before we went on ‘she does this in heels and I’m worried I’ll fall over if I dance the wrong way.’ She’s royalty!” Though Ruth jokes about the age of retirement for DJs, she can never see a time where she would consider leaving Mother. “As long as you’re playing the music that people want to hear, age doesn’t really matter.” “I have a friend of mine who’s the exact same age as me and he’s married with children. He doesn’t go out and he’s very content, so he’s always asking how I’m not knackered all the time. I just laugh. When you love it as much as I do, it doesn’t make a difference.” Mother is on every Saturday in The Hub in Temple Bar. As long as you’re playing the music that people want to hear, age doesn’t really matter. 25