photo courtesy andre matthews
Miss Raquel
“It’s not just a lifestyle, it’s a business.”
Name: Miss Raquel
Occupation: Media personality
She’s been crowned Toronto’s Paris Hilton of club culture, but unlike the hotel heiress, our blond scene stirrer, who goes by the moniker Miss Raquel, actually works.
She does so by donning a multitude of hats devoted to the EMDS (yes, the booming Electronic Music Dance Scene has its own abbreviation).
First and foremost there’s Scenester Magazine that’s spearheaded by the dance diva.
It’s a free quarterly publication with a circulation of 20,000 people devoted to DJs and club life. It is distributed throughout the major cities in southern Ontario, and as of late, Montreal.
Complementing that is its website, www.scenestermag.com, which receives more than 4,000 visitors a month.
Then there’s her on-air gigs: One as host of the electronica on bpm:tv, which airs on digital cable and satellite across Canada; the other in radio with the broadcasting of Scenester Breaks on Energy 105.1 FM, which will soon be followed with a two-hour EMDS radio show later this year.
Wait, there’s more — the hosting of club events, web communications for Toronto DJ Deko-ze, PR for Fly Nightclub, and the production of a Scenester dance compilation CD due out this spring.
With a non-stop grind of writing, editing, proofing design layouts, liaising with DJs and club promoters, radio hosting, dolling up for the cameras, and, of course, club hopping, there’s little time for sleep.
“I’m often up to 5 a.m. and back at it the next morning,” says Miss Raquel, who spawned the idea of starting Scenester with a friend whilst sipping a 3 a.m. cup of java at Tim Horton’s two years ago.
The venture wasn’t a far cry from her days in advertising, an old job that has instilled her with a no-nonsense air of professionalism.
“It’s not just a lifestyle, it’s a business,” she explains.
As with most entrepreneurs, Miss Raquel divests money from her other jobs into Scenester to keep it afloat, and with a slim team of a dozen or so worker bees, hours are long, but the rewards are in the pudding.
“It’s not just a labour of love, but a love for labour that keeps me going,” adds Miss Raquel, who, at the drop of a hat, spews out a string of her favourite DJs: Chus & Ceballos, Tiesto, Roger Sanchez, Paranoid Jack, Deko-ze, Addy, Nathan Barato, Jay Prez, DJ:TK … the list goes on.
Surely she must get diva treatment or her fair share of ring kissers when she struts into a club, but to this the dance diva replies with a coy, husky purr, “I’ve never had a red carpet rolled out for me. Besides, I prefer a pink one.”
