From 17-year-old Houston producer spaceprodigi and a woman who outran the “morality police” in her native Iran, to entrepreneurial producers running their own festivals and fashion lines, here are the women adding a much-needed breath of gender diversity to the largest dance music festival in North America.
*The One to Watch*
Spaceprodigi, 17, opening the main stage on Sunday night is dance music’s Timothée Chalamet.
Instagram: @spaceprodigi (12,300 followers)
Real Name: Mack Bartsch, from Houston.
On stage: This will be her second show ever. (Her debut was with founding generation techno artist Richie Hawtin.) Not many 14-year-old girls ask for Moog analog synthesizers for their birthday, the large hardware that makes her home studio look like the 1970s Dharma hatch from “Lost.”
Origin Story: “Most people think that I have a dad that got me into electronic music, but that’s not true,” she told The Party Report. “When I was eight, I heard a track on a Top 40 radio station, and the sounds blew my mind.” Five years later, she would discover that the tune was Deadmau5’s “Ghosts n’ stuff.”
Off Stage: Spaceprodigi is not old enough to be at the 18-and-over festival … or anywhere else in Vegas. “I’ve never been to EDC or any other major electronic festival before, mostly because I’m actually not old enough to attend them.” She emailed to say “my parents and I are probably going to walk the Strip and check out the desert to go hiking at some point though!”
Mentors and Inspiration: “[Trance artist] Ilan Bluestone, he’s a friend of mine.” Also:”I really hope to meet [Deadmau5] one day and it would be super cool to just hang and talk about analog synths, hardware gear, and his Neve 5088!” (a professionally elite console mixer).
GG Magree
(@GGMagree 55,400 followers)
Real Name: Georgia Magree, from Cronulla, Australia, a beachside suburb of Sydney.
Self Slug: “The girl that plays hard trap like the boys.”
On Stage: She’s best known for “Ghost,” a hit with Jauz that even casual EDM fans would recognize. She launched an open remix competition – truly open to anyone who wants to try making music – for her current single “Bodies.” She’ll spin the winner’s work at EDC.
GG Magree Off Stage: She’s tight with Vanessa Hudgens (pictured on the left). The duo posts pictures together hiking and at the Equinox complex in West Hollywood, a hotspot for talent and others indulging in the non-office job lifestyle. Her manager Lexy Dobbin touts an upcoming GG brand deal with a tech company, one that has previously worked with Chromeo and A$AP Rocky.
Kittens
(@IamKittens – 126,000 folllowers)
Real Name: Lauren Abedini, from Los Angeles.
Self Slug: “Not as soft and fluffy as her name might suggest.”
On Stage: Kittens had an early afternoon slot in the Sahara tent at Coachella last month. Well known in L.A.’s DJ club scene – not the TMZ celebrity club scene – she helped the collective IHEARTCOMIX raise $50,000 for the city’s homeless with a benefit show during the holidays.
Kittens Off Stage: Unlike other L.A. entertainment personalities on the rise, she’s not hawking teeth whitening or shampoos on her Instagram. Instead, she’s leveraging corporate philanthropy to help the homeless. On the side, her non-profit DJ workshops for women benefit women’s shelters.
Dani Thorne of “Master of the People”
(Thorne is one half of the duo with Dylan Jetson.)
Instagram: @dani_thorne – 589,000 personal followers)
Base: Los Angeles, where Thorne and Jetsen are also a couple.
Self Slug: “Hippie positive vibes.”
On Stage: They debuted at EDC 2017 and will play the Wide Awake Art Car at midnight on Saturday.
Off Stage: Bella Thorne is her sister.
Mariana Bo
(@DJMarianaBo – 108,000 followers)
Real Name: Sandra Borrego Mariana Robles, from Mexico.
Self Slug: “The only DJane, musician, and producer in Mexico.”
On Stage: She is a classically trained violinist. At the other big U.S. EDM festival, Miami’s Ultra, organizers booked her for the “hangover show,” slotting her on to the main stage at noon on Saturday.
Mariana Bo Off Stage: Bo landed at #84 on the much discussed DJ Mag “Top 100” list. She may be under-the-radar here in the U.S., but she just got back from touring Indonesia, China and Thailand. Like a few of the women on this bill, she works with a female manager, Yolanda Martin.
The Black Madonna
(@theblackmadonnachi – 60,000 followers)
Real Name: Marea Stamper, a dance music institution of recent decades based in Chicago.
Self Style Slug: “Androgynous Mind, Avenger of the Events at Comiskey Park, Madonna of the Unloved, Housenationalist.”
Addressing historical inequalities in professional dance music with Complex: “I’d say with these ideas [of inclusiveness], there is a utopia built into the ideology of dance music. Has that been reflected in the historical truth of these cultures? No. And let’s not forget it would be wrong to talk about these gaps and not say that they’re magnified by race, class and particular gender expressions. So if you think there’s a gap for a woman like me, tell me about what the gap is like for a black trans woman. It’s a whole different ball game.”
DJ Stephanie performing b2b with Lady Faith.
These friends will be the first female hardstyle producers to perform together live. They scored a peak timeslot at 1:30 a.m on the opening night on the intense Wasteland stage.
Lady Faith
(@djladyfaith – 32,200 instagram followers; 200,000 on Facebook)
Real Name: Faye Leedman, originally from Tehran, Iran.
Harrowing Backstory: Leedman had to escape Iran after “all too frequent encounters with the Iranian Morality Police.” She once went on the run for the crime of “attending a party”. Years later when she got to the U.S., Vice dubbed her the “Queen Bitch of the Hardstyle Universe.”
Big Break: Discovered while spinning vinyl outside of a record store in the San Fernando Valley.
DJ Stephanie (on the left)
(@djstephanieofficial – 43,500 followers, 290k + on Facebook)
Real Name: Stefania Alessi, a producer and vocalist from Bassano Del Grappa, Italy.
Self Slug: “Prime Lady of Hardstyle Worldwide.”
On the state of sexism in dance music: “Being an attractive and amiable woman doesn’t mean that you’ve been in bed with someone to get where you are!” she said in a fall 2016 interview.
Rezz
(@officialrezz – 256,000 followers)
Real Name: Isabelle Rezazadeh, from Niagra Falls, Canada by way of the Ukraine.
Self Slug: A “SpaceMom” moniker and illuminated goggles that block her eyes.
On Stage: Rezz and her hypnotizing satan bass beats weren’t just the only female headliner in the Sahara tent at Coachella 2018, she was the only DJ to headline the famous dance tent. The other two nights were hip-hop acts Post Malone and Migos. Since playing mid-bill at Insomniac’s other festivals only a year ago, no other female producer has matched her upwards velocity. The Party Report named her a “Winner” of Coachella 2018 for her cult following and her ability to make people ask “Who the heck is this?”
Rezz Off Stage: She doesn’t do many interviews. “I communicate most on twitter,” is her sardonic – and accurate – Instagram bio.
Lauren Lane
(@laurenlanequestionmark – 30,000 followers)
From: Philadelphia, New York, L.A. and now a DJ nomad.
Self Slug: “Music & Mischief”.
On Stage: Lane cracked the varsity Ibiza summer scene a few seasons ago. She is a two-time Coachella alum, having played the deep house Yuma tent in 2015 and the Do Lab in 2018.
Off Stage: She has a sunglasses line and runs an Instagram account for her dog, @LifeofBijou.
Mija
(@Hi_Mija – 239,000 followers)
Real Name: Amber Giles, based out of Downtown L.A. via Phoenix.
Mantra: “Fk a Genre”. (It’s safe to count her out for the obsessive pastime of parsing electronic music genres.)
On Stage: She’s a DJ who is also a singer-songwriter. Her big break was an impromptu set with Skrillex at as the sun rose over the Bonnaroo music festival in 2014. Since then, she’s produced her own festival tours with female collaborators Anna Lunoe and Tokimonsta, as well as producer royale A-Trak.
Anime
(@djanimeofficial – 85,400 followers)
Real Name: Barbara Palermo, from Italy.
Aliases: “Femme Fatale” and the “A-Bomb.” Don’t judge her by Kardashian-esque fashion sense. Amongst electronic fans, “hardcore” can be as extreme as “death metal.” It’s not for casual fans.
Anime’s Crowd: These are her people, playing the “Masters of Hardcore” festival in Germany. Note: There are not many XX chromosomes in this crowd.
Charlotte de Witte
(@charlottedewittemusic – 129,000 followers)
Origin: Belgium, where she played her first gig in a pub in January 2010. In fall 2017, DJ Mag put her on the cover under the title “Techno’s Next Superstar.”
Self Slug: “Scorching through a myriad of uncompromising aggressive techno sets across Europe every single weekend.”
On changing her DJ name from the male alias “Raving George” mid-career: “I got bitched on a lot in the beginning, being a woman and very young, it was quite rough actually,” she told DJ Magazine. “If I put ‘Raving George’ as an artist name. I’m not ‘exploiting’ my female side to get more bookings because it’s a male artist name.’”
Jessica Audiffred
(@jessica_audiffred – 41,700 followers)
From: Mexico City.
Self slug: “Not just another basic electronic act but a notable threat on every level.”
On Stage: She produces bass and trap (hip-hop’s take on the genre. The trap prototype is the song “Turn Down for What”).
On Sexism in Electronic Music: “It’s like a double-edged sword,” she told Trapstyle. “You might have a lot of attention just for being a girl, but you also need to prove everyone that you are just as good as anyone else. If you keep on working you’ll get there. It doesn’t matter if you are a female or male, hard work always pays off.”
Soothslayer
(@Sooth_Slayer – 1,217 followers)
Real Name: Caroline Miller, originally from North Carolina.
Self-Styled Slug: “This die hard junglista originally found her way to the 174 bpm mark via downtempo and trip hop.”
At EDC: She plays a “b2b” set (two DJ’s collaborating live) with Nightstalker (a guy) in the BassPod stage on Sunday night.
Off Stage: Miller picked up her first festival paycheck ever from Insomniac, playing “Nocturnal Wonderland” event in fall 2016 and just returned from spinning at EDC China earlier this month.
EDC will stream live around the world overnight on the nights of May 18-20 on livexlive.com and on the LiveXLive apps.
