Right before I turned 50, I decided I wanted to challenge myself to get into the best shape of my life and to do that I set out the goal to be a professional body builder.  There’s no better motivation to tone up and look the best you can by stepping on a stage practically naked with woman half your age. In that process, I reached out to Bret Contreras, who is one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the world, into being my coach.  Which thankfully he agreed. During my fitness journey, I became close friends with about 30 other fitness competitors and one who became my best friend, Bri Alexander, who is also a fitness coach. Bri was the one who actually had the dream to be a DJ and talked about it all the time.  In training, we always listened to music that got us hyped up to lift and we shared hundreds of songs and made playlists from to work out to. Bri was gifted a small controller and wanted to learn to DJ.  I wanted to better support my best friend on her music quest, so I went out and bought a more professional controller and thought it might be fun if I did it with her, with no intention of actually DJing or Producing, I just wanted to support my best friend. 

I reached out to Alina, who is a local legend in San Diego and who runs a foundation called “Church of Music,” she provides a platform for new and very established DJs to play to the masses in the most beautiful locations on Sundays, while raising money for families in need.. Alina gave us both a lesson a the next week, Bri and I played together at a Church of Music event on my 50th birthday. Looking back on it, with just one lesson, it’s funny to think we did that so soon.  

I took to DJing immediately and was obsessed with learning, knowing early on Techno was the music that touched my soul.  Having the controller at my house, I played all the time and never stopped.  In 2023, I decided I wanted to learn to produce.  I met Enamour, who is an incredible producer, who performed at an event I was at and blew me away with his talent. Enamour was hosting a master class producer workshop in Los Angeles. I asked him if I could attend his master class, letting him know I never opened up Ableton (producer software), but I knew if I went it would be the right move for me. He said everyone in his master class would have anywhere from 3 - 10 years experience, but he agreed to let me come. I spent the day in his class, not understanding any of the technical stuff he was going over, but it gave me the motivation and desire to learn to produce.

I did what I think a lot of people do, by watching videos on YouTube. Then May 2023, I got it in my head that I wanted to have one or two songs to play at Burning Man, still only watching a couple YouTube videos and playing around in Ableton.  To fast track myself in completing two tracks, with no idea on what I was doing, I reached out to a local music studio in San Diego, called  “The Music Company.” There the main sound engineers and music producers, Kurtis taught me Ableton.  We would have a one on one lesson, then I would do all I could to create my songs, then go back to him with a list of questions and where I was stuck. This is what worked for me, but I was a quick learner and put a lot of hours in, with little sleep and a clear vision in sight of me playing my newly produced songs out on the playa (Burning Man, August 2023). When I have an end goal... I don’t stop until I get it done.

I love all styles and genres of music to one degree or another. There’s set and setting for such a large variety of music and I enjoy it all. For me, personally, when it comes to performing or producing, it’s only Techno. I grew up in Virginia, just outside of Washington DC.  When I was 18 years old, I entered my first club. It was an old bank building transformed into a club, called “The Vault.” It had a very cold, simple industrial feel and that was my first hypnotic techno experience. It was that moment I truly felt the music take over me in all the best ways, like a drug intoxicating my body and my mind. I still feel that and to having the opportunity to curate the music I resonate with is a gift to share with others.

My creativity and passion all comes from the deep love and connection I have for my husband. We have been together for 32 years and we have 3 grown kids together (26, 24, and 22 years old). We have something very unique that I don’t see many couples have after being together so long. I have so many song ideas running through my head, so I’m taking it one song at a time. My first song came from when I was lying with him in bed, snuggled up close with our skin touching and wondered, where does my body end and his begin. This is where I came up with my first peak time driving techno song, “Dive into My Soul.” The lyrics say, 'melt into my body, dive into my soul, and watch me lose control.' In our relationship and any relationship, the more you let go of your ego and become more vulnerable to your partner, the more you can become uninhibited. When the lyrics come from my heart, I can hear the song play out and visualize us dancing on the dance floor.  

As far as the process goes, for this first song I recognized my limitations in Ableton and not having any musical background. So I went out and bought a Roland TB303 analog synthesizer and taught myself how to sequence it. This became my melody of the song, which was about 3 different acid lines, played along heavy kick, driving bass, and my friend, Kim Abels, who reluctantly showed up at the studio to do the vocals and killed it at first go.  

Over the last couple months, I have focused more on sound design, learning how to create melodies, scales, and mixing and mastering within Ableton. I’ve invested in myself by connecting with the best local producers in San Diego to teach me in the studio one on one. Then I spend hours upon hours dedicating myself to the craft of producing. I have come a long way quickly (less than a year) and feeling more empowered daily in my music production. Once I get a song in mind, I don’t stop until it’s done. 

In January 2024, there was a girl (Valentina aka DJ/Producer Akona) who is one of the biggest techno lovers I know to date who listened to all my Soundcloud mixes and continually told me how amazing I was. There’s nothing more gratifying to someone supporting and lifting you to keep going. I put my song out on Label Radar to a couple producers that I thought were a good fit. Within days I was offered a couple record deals and super excited. Valentina asked me if she could share my song with Viventem Records and they also looked like a great fit. Within one day of them hearing the song, they also offered me the opportunity to be on the label. I immediately said yes and my first song, first release came out February 2024. Just thinking about this fills me with so much happiness and appreciation.  Novem Vivit believed in me and gave me the chance to share my song on his label. It immediately took off into the Beatport charts (top 100) and in Spotify (over 119k downloads). The first release to many more to come!

Yes, we went in June 2024 and my experience was life changing. In Southern California, the techno scene is not a huge part of the music culture. A lot of the music that inspires me comes from producers based in Berlin. My husband and I have been trying to do at least one big international trip and he had his eye on hiking in the Swiss Alps. I sold him on flying in and out of Berlin, which gave us the time to spend two weekends in Berlin. The city of Berlin is beautiful and we met so many new friends that I know will be in my life forever. We spent the majority of our time in Berghain and the Kit Kat Club. The exposure to new music played live in Berlin by producers that I'm obsessed with was mind blowing. The sound systems in the clubs in Berlin were like nothing I have ever experienced. The no phones, videos, or pictures created an environment where everyone can connect to the music and each other. Everyone is free to be who they want to be and submerge themselves into the music. I made so many amazing connections and it expanded my techno taste to sounds and songs I have never heard.  

I’ve always thought of techno music as being not only fun to dance to and let got, but also very alluring, sensual, and sexy. Berlin solidified these thoughts 100%. Mark and I were swept up into the music, dancing for hours, upon hours, feeling so much connection and love.  My next upcoming release is called, "Industrial Seduction", which brings me back to special moments in Berlin, The song brings me back to the sound of vibrating layers of techno throughout an industrial backdrop while we danced and passionately kissed. What an incredible experience! My goal is go to back to Berlin and DJ there in the next couple months. I absolutely loved the city, music and the people.

Definitely balance. I used to always put my relationship, family, and fitness first. The music, creativity, and producing consumes me and I don’t want to stop to sleep, eat, or work. The music feeds my soul and the day job feeds everything else, literally. I have a full time day job that is very structured, stressful and high executive professional, so the music is great creative outlet. But when I’m not sleeping, or working out, or neglecting my relationship, that’s not good and something I need to be aware of and monitor closely.  

Learning and practicing more fire dancing and performing. I have always loved fire, techno, dancing, and connection. They all seem to go together so nicely. I paid a professional film crew and top fire performers in San Diego to produce a 1 hour dark melodic techno set played in a dark tunnel (on my YouTube Chanel). I already had a little fire training, but the having the pro fire performers during my set was incredible. A really neat blend of masculine and feminine with fire and techno. One performer, Ari, was fire swallowing and it was one of the coolest things I’ve seen, so of course I asked her to teach me. I’d like to practice and make another video where I’m fire performing to some of my own music production.

I had my head down in the studio learning and I’m ready to share some of my latest creations with the world. Keep an eye out for my next releases, playing more techno events and making my way back to Berlin to play. When I was in Berlin I saw a couple techno producers perform live with just a mixer, drum machine and synthesizer…it was so good! Learning to play live techno sets really interests me in the future. I figured there’s no rush at any of this, I have lots of time to enjoy this musical journey and I plan to every step of the way.