Just call her CJ. Citizen Jane, the award-winning, genre-jumping, Pride-mastering DJ who is headlining Calgary Pride’s September 6th Festival at Shaw Millennium Park, has some advice for other girls just breaking out of the closet.
"I’ve never really had a problem with anybody discriminating (against me); I’m pretty comfortable in my skin, with who I am, but when I first came out at 19 it wasn’t that way. I felt a little weird," she shares. "What are my friends going to think?. . . It’s kind of like you clean house, and find out who the true friends are at that moment, and will stick by you. But I haven’t really encountered any negative things in the [DJ] field because of that. . . A lot of teens go the Pride events, and I tell them to be themselves, and never to hide who they are."
CJ has been trying out different musical styles since she started caring about music.
"The first piece of music I ever bought myself was a Depeche Mode CD. . . [Now] what I do is get different influences from different genres and stuff, depending on the event as well. . . Some people may want Latin music; some people may want me to keep everything open format; some people may just want house music. . . I’m an open-format DJ, which means I can play pretty much everything: either in one shot, or specific to whatever they want.
"As long as people are dancing – that’s my goal. I don’t play for me; I play for the people. I want to see them happy, want to see them dancing. If there’s no-one on the dance floor, then you’re not doing a good job."
CJ mentions that she just got back from headlining Vancouver’s Pride in the last couple of weeks, and that Calgary will be only her second visit to this country. But she is no stranger to travel: she has done gay and straight events in Puerto Rico, Spain, Argentina, New York and L.A. (which are kind of foreign countries), and been voted Millennium ‘Hottest DJ’ (Vancouver), ‘Favourite DJ’ (Pink Flamingo, Miami), and headlined Aqua Girl, Gay Days, (Orlando, Arizona & Las Vegas), and tons of other places, too numerous to mention.
But, enough about HER!
"I do have followers in Canada; I do a lot of major circuit events that a lot of men AND women attend. . . and everybody from all over the world come for them, and a lot of Canadians come down for them. . . So I have got quite a few followers (online) from Canada as well."
Regarding her choices of music:
"I do my research, and I also watch the people. It’s all about watching people on the dance floor and, depending on how they’re vibing, you mix it around. . . I started as a turntable DJ, and it has changed – a lot of digital things, and different effects that you can make on the music while you’re DJ-ing. . . It’s kind of like you’re making music while your mixing the stuff, adding your own touch to the music. . . The evolution of the DJ."
GC has a little fan-boy moment here, contemplating the performances all combined under the hands of an experienced mix-master like Citizen Jane. GC asks about the reality of being a female DJ, and lesbian, in the traditional male DJ space.
"It’s getting a little bit more common now, but we’re still the underdog. It’s more like a man’s world, but the females are trying to kick in there; we’re starting to get noticed in the DJ world."
"Audiences are always going to be different. Everybody’s there for the same reason, which is dancing, having fun; having a great time. Men like different kinds of house music; women like open format; everyone’s into different things. I was actually surprised when I was in Vancouver that somebody came and requested Latin music. I really didn’t think that was something huge in Vancouver, [or] in Canada in general, [but] I’m all about requests. If someone makes a request I’ll absolutely be able to mix it in for you without any problems.
"I’m happy to please everyone who’s on the dance floor. That’s what I’m there for; that’s what makes me happy at the end of the day."
Ms. Jane admits to indulging in strawberries and Nutella at the end of her day which, as you might imagine for a DJ, can be pretty early on in the day, listening to soft ’70s and ’80s pop to wind down.
But first, let’s dance!
