Known as the jook and footwork house DJ Qemist, Michael Ivy met us in his hotel in between after parties, DJ sets, and KCOU’s very own studio session. We managed to catch a conversation with Michael the weekend of the True/False film festival in Columbia, Mo. 

“I actually, I got in really late last night, and then we ended up going to an after party for the festival. It was at someone’s house, which was cool. We got to catch a little bit of ESG last night, so it was a nice time,” Ivy said. 

Landing late at night and still catching a good amount of the festival’s energy in town, Ivy’s next day consisted of festival work and performances.

“The event that I’m playing is actually, I can’t really talk much about it. It’s a secret showcase or something like that, so that’s all I’m at liberty to say,” Ivy said. 

Although the event he came in town for is undisclosed to the public, Ivy came into town to connect with the music scene in Columbia in other ways. Playing at a house party and now recording a session that will be available for anyone to tune in, after a KCOU staff member from Memphis reached out to Ivy on Instagram.

“I’ll go in with some original stuff that I have, I’m gonna try to play stuff that I’ve made, and maybe, some tracks from the friends that I have and some some producers that I look up to. So it should be a good mix of maybe, like, some jook and footwork, ghetto, techie kind of vibes to get the day started,” Ivy said. 

Ivy, or DJ QEMIST, and his electric southern sound from Memphis is establishing a foundation in the house and jungle scene as Ivy continues to put out music and tour the world. Before performing at True/False, Ivy had recently finished up performing at Dweller. The electronic music festival in New York City was founded in 2019 to center Black artists in the tech/house sphere. After cold-contacting them year after year, QEMIST completed one of his dreams of performing at the festival this past February. Ivy performed alongside Black electronic power-houses like Zach Fox, Introspekt, keiyaA, Junglepussy and more. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of it. The people who run it, shout out to Frankie and the company that she keeps, [they] really do a great job from start to finish. And I just remember back in I think, 2020 or 2019, emailing them just to see if they would respond. And of course, they didn’t. But, you know, fast forward to now I got an email from them asking if I would like to be a part of the festival. I think that was just a very full circle moment for me,” Ivy said. 

To Ivy it felt like a big family reunion of artists that all have the same drive for electronic music. This program is important to him as a platform to highlight black achievements and artists that he said are pushing forward the sound. 

“I was just happy to be in the fold. I played at Paragon, and it was me and my friend, DJ Nico, downstairs and upstairs. It was Zach Fox and DJ delish. I got to see all of my friends that I have, you know, musically, we were all there. It really felt like summer camp almost, like, paid for,” he said.

It isn’t Ivy’s first time in Missouri, the DJ has performed a handful of times for Materia in St. Louis. Materia is a fast-growing rave collective that takes place at the end of each month at Mississippi Underground, St.Louis’ 20th- century abandoned soap factory turned popular dance venue. 

“Later in my career, when I actually started making music and stuff, I started playing a lot in St Louis through the Materia peeps. So this is actually my first time playing in Colombia. This is, you know, big firsts for me,” Ivy said. 

The Materia collective, that consists of DJ’s Manapool, Nadyr, Umami, Eric Donte and others, is not only a group of artists that directly inspire Ivy, but also some of the people who introduced him to the idea of playing at the True/False festival. 

“I’m looking forward to just meeting some new artists, checking out some music when I get the chance, and really get back in the artist lounge for a while, getting my mind right for the rest of the day,” Ivy said. 

Columbia heard the fast jungle-beat and heart of Memphis in Ivy’s sound. He combines the local type of smooth sounds from the dance style called Jook or Jooking, a slower more methodical ballet-esque glide, with the rhythm of his vocal samples that are usually reminiscent of the Memphis rap tracks he likes. 

“That kind of bleeds into my music pretty well with how I approach footwork and stuff. I want to make sure that I’m honoring the archetypes and the architects of that sound, but at the same time putting my influence on there,” Ivy said. 

Ivy’s orchestration of different sounds and styles flow together into a dance medley filled with cultural richness and expression. For those interested in hearing more of his sound, he reveals to KCOU that he is working on new music. 

“New things are coming, definitely in the genre that I like, footwork, classic stuff like that, that I’ve grown accustomed to producing. It’s on the way,” Ivy said. 

Although he is unable to say when, Ivy wants listeners to know that he is grateful for the continuous support he has received. 

“For everybody who’s been listening and being a part of this journey that I’m on, and, you know, all the support, all the fans, everybody buying the music and pulling up shows, no matter where I am, I really appreciate that. It’s a true blessing to be able to do this kind of work and have people actually like it,” Ivy said. 

If you missed his house performance during the True/False festival weekend, keep an eye out for KCOU’s studio session special with Ivy on our YouTube channel coming soon. 

To listen to more of his music, DJ QEMIST is available on bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, or tune into KCOU’s 88.1FM.