Singer, songwriter, DJ (and former Big Brother contestant) Bowie Jane started singing and songwriting when she was 16.
"I started in musical theater, then moved into singing in duos, then bands and then started releasing club music which did really well in the U.K.," Jane says. "When those tracks started doing well, I really wanted to be DJing whilst I was singing my original tracks so I taught myself how to DJ, practicing about eight hours a day. That was about 12 years ago and i’ve been DJing ever since! I’ve always been a raver, love carefully selecting tracks to take the audience on a journey and love revving up the crowd. So it’s a win-win! Although I've always had a part in the production of songs, I truly started concentrating on it about five years ago. I also did the Toolrooms Records Production course which was really beneficial in getting super confident and familiar on Ableton. Now I couldn’t imagine using any other DAW!"
Regarding her sound, Jane says that she's a born and bred house music lover, with a twist.
"Because I’m such high energy on stage, I love to bring in some dirty, exciting elements into my track," she says. "I’m using less and less vocals these days and have some exciting new tracks coming out which are a complete change in my style. Dirty house leaning techno, I’ll call it! I love it!"
Jane's latest release is the "Never Surrender" single.
"I wrote 'Never Surrender' in Stockholm Sweden on one of my songwriting trips," she says. "I wrote it with Bondii and Per Aldeheim who has worked with the genius Max Martin, so you can imagine my excitement getting to work with Per. He gave me really great unique direction when recording my vocals and i’m so happy with them! The song is about never surrendering to the pressure of winning. It’s smiling in the face of adversity. Staring it in the face and saying 'C’mon bring it on, I’m Never going to Surrender.' It’s one of my favorite tracks I’ve ever released because it’s a bit darker than what I usually release and it’s not about a broken down relationship! This one is about winning!"
The artist refers to herself as a "gear junkie" and says that she wastes all of her money buying more equipment.
"When performing at venues, I prefer to use the Pioneer CDJ 2000 NX2 or the 3000," Jane says. "Depending on the gig, I also use the Pioneer RMX-1000. I have a controller that I travel with (but don’t use for gigs) -- it’s the Pioneer DDJ-800. Fairly small and as close to club decks as you can get without lugging club decks around lol. Live, I prefer to use CDJs though, with USB. I have four USBs with me at all time which are ready to go in case one crashes. It hasn’t happened to me yet but I interviewed techno DJ Stella Bossi and she said she will never forget the day she was on a massive stage in Berlin and her USB crashed -- and guess what, she didn’t have a back up. So yeah, I’m super cautious and take a few around with me at all time. I use SanDisk USBs. I use rekordbox to organize my music and Ableton to produce. My fave headphones for performing are the Sennheiser HD 25 70.
Looking ahead, Jane has plenty planned for 2024.
"'Never Surrender' [came] out 29 March and following that, I have written a track with the Perry Twins so that track should be coming out in or around May," she says. "We had a lot of fun recording it and it’s a bit different to what I usually do! I am DJing all over America this year starting with Glory LA on 31 March and UCLA 12 April. I performed at EDC Vegas Hotels last year and EDC is coming up again in May this year where I will also be interviewing for Insomniac Radio. They have an unbelievable team so I’m really looking forward to it. We are in the middle of booking my summer gigs at the moment and we are also in discussions with the UK about some possible gigs there. Also I will be DJing Thailand again in January followed by Australia! So it’s a BUSY year! My manager is also in discussions with some venues in Vegas for a regular residency - stay tuned for that one!"
Bowie Jane's "Never Surrender" is out now. Find her on Instagram, Soundcloud, Spotify and TikTok.
