Today we’d like to introduce you to Kt Mills.
Kt, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been creative my whole life — my mom is a painter and got me pretty deep into the arts growing up. I did a lot of figure drawing and eventually got into photography in college. I met my husband, Hampton, over a shared love of photography. He pretty quickly introduced me to a totally different creative outlet: electronic music. He already had a fairly large vinyl collection when we met; I had a turntable but less than one crate of records. He brought me out to guest DJ at a low-key event or two, and after a while, he encouraged me to DJ at a pretty busy monthly event he used to hold. Once I got comfortable with that, I was good to go. The record collection just grew from there too — I have a feeling we’ve about doubled it since we met.
Please tell us about your work.
I am a DJ, playing exclusively vinyl live. Vinyl is so satisfying because it feels supportive of artists and smaller record labels, and you can have an immersive experience with another person’s work – it adds an element of tactility and ritual to music that is hard to find elsewhere. In addition to guest DJing at shows and events, I am also part of two collaborative projects centered around music.
Disco de novo is a creative project that my husband Hampton and I started about two years ago. We book and promote music events for local and touring acts in addition to DJing. We work with darker, synth-based electronic acts for the most part; we like that, within a range, you generally know what you’re going to get with a disco de novo show. This extends to DJ-centered events that we hold; as an example, we currently have a bi-monthly night called Cuts from the Crypt where we play horror scores and horror-inspired synth tracks together with our friend Gavin Guthrie. We’ve also done some really fun one-off collaborations with our friend Gabe Mendoza, focusing on anything from post-punk to Italo disco.
I’m also part of the DJ collective that I started with my friend Abby (aka DJ Ponyboy) in 2018. We run a night called High Mass, where we play techno, industrial, and dark wave. It has since expanded to five of us, including our friend who reads tarot while we DJ. It’s very witchy and cool and there’s a lot of feminine energy despite playing genres that are pretty dominated by men. I’ve had a lot of fun seeking out female techno producers and even challenging myself to play entire sets by only female artists.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
I am lucky to work so well with my husband, and I’m lucky to have met him! He has been music-obsessed his whole life and has incredible taste – before him, I had been classically trained in piano and liked the music in a broader sense, but had minimal exposure to the genres of music that have since fascinated me. While I tend to have a narrower focus (I like to buy from a couple of distros and shops where I know nearly everything is going to be good), he has a ton of knowledge, does a ton of research, and he shares it all with me – he’s my crate digger! With disco de novo, we are both lucky that our strengths mesh well – I create our flyers while he writes the copy for socials, he networks with artists while I photograph our events. We’re each always doing what we like, and nothing ever feels like a chore. I also feel fortunate to have met our people in Dallas. Our friends have not only been very supportive of both our events and our DJ nights, but have shared their talents with us, playing as bands on our bills, DJing alongside us, running visuals during shows, and a lot more.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a smooth road for the most part; it helps that this is a creative outlet than one I depend on for income. The only struggles I’ve ever really had were with venues not being a great fit or being shady with money (the worst!). Luckily, we’ve found some exceptional venues that we work with a lot: Double Wide and Three Links in Deep Ellum and Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff are a few of our favorites.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@discodenovo.com
- Instagram: @thektmills
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discodenovo/
Image Credit:
Raul Sanchez
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