Misstress Barbara

by Diana Potts A clever play on words and commentary on her personality, Misstress Barbara's pounding sounds catapulted her career in the late '90s. Barbara was born in Italy and moved to Toronto, Canada, when she was eight years old. Her drive for success showed at an early age when she obtained her glider and Cessna plane license as an Air Cadet. Her passion for music evolved at the age of 12 when she started playing drums in bands and listening to classic rock, punk, and any hard music she could find. In 1994, her attentions turned towards techno and the drum kit wassold, and replaced by two turntables and a mixer. She took the name "Missstress Barbara" as a play on her over stressed personality and need to be constantly busy. In 1996, after fine tuning her skills, she received her first booking and didn't stop playing out after that. Though she has stated sex appeal is not her focus, Barbara's talents, mixed with her good looks and individual sound, catapulted her DJing career and landed her a slot on the pounding Swedish label, Tronic Records. Founded by Christian Smith, the label gained a strong reputation for solid pounding techno with a tribal twist from its roster that includes Smith, Cari Lekebush and Adam Beyer. Shortly after the steady launch of her career, Barbara turned some focus to the studio and started producing tracks, but never really finished anything until completing school. Graduating left room to concentrate her focused full-time on making music. Besides releases on Tronic, Barbara runs her own label, Relentless, and aims to start a house label for her house projects under the name Barbara Brown (a name given to her by friends based on her wardrobe). In early 2001, Misstress Barbara released an album on Moonshine titled Relentless Beats. Her label also flourished and shares front seat with her constant touring as a DJ.