JADEFOX has exploded onto the scene, kicking off her DJ career in late 2020 in the midst of COVID. With no dancefloors or nightclubs to explore her passion for music, Jade took to the internet in search of like minded individuals and a platform to host live DJ sets.
Jade’s Twitch channel garnered a large and loyal following, shooting up to 4000+ followers and reaching status of Twitch partner within 3 months. Jade is the quickest DJ to reach partner status on Twitch, she also has had support on the platform from industry veterans such as EL HORNET (Pendulum), Thess Fischer, R3wire, Kraetus and many more. Shortly after dancefloors returned Jade was quickly snapped up by some of the most prestigious venues and events in Naarm. From Revolver Upstairs to Lucky Ent’s SHETLER Jade has already shared the bill with artists such as Dameela, Caitlin Medclaf, Audent, Odd Mob, Mash’d N Kutcher, Bag Raiders + more!
As a DJ, Jade brings a contemporary edge to her traditional upbringing behind the decks, Jade also brings an unreal stage presence, balancing her love for crowd interaction and engagement with a true rockstar personality. As a LGBTQIA+, Cambodian-Australian woman, Jade hopes to bring a unique flair to the Australian Music scene that would be hard for anyone to replicate.
What kind of audiences do you reach while Twitch streaming & DJing?
Every kind, really. I usually reach a more overseas audience, with most of my viewers being in Europe, the UK or America. The time zones work, I stream here at night and it hits them in their morning or afternoons.
How has techno in so-called Australia changed over the past few years?
I don’t think it has. My view is that techno is not very popular in Australia, I think genres like tech house and house music are more popular, but the techno scene hasn’t changed much, which I think is a bit of a problem. In Naarm at least, the techno is also very small, which isn’t great.
How would you like to see it evolve?
I feel like the artists that are playing techno here have either been around for a long time or they’re quite new to it, and I think they get stuck with listening to the same type of techno to the same BPM.
I want to see it change, I’d like to see people be more open and creative with their idea of what techno can be. People have a strict idea that techno is one type of music, but there’s so many varieties.
I think Melbourne techno DJ’s are very into their melodic, progressive, and slower techno, so I’d like to see people expand and be more creative with it.
If you were to spin anywhere in the world, where would you like to spin?
Absolutely Berlin, Berlin is *goals* for me. Berlin, Amsterdam and Europe in general are so musically and creatively open, and seem to be open to different types of music, so I’d love to go there.
How long have you been learning to mix and produce?
I’ve been learning to produce for less than six months, and I’ve been DJing for a year and a half.
I learnt to DJ during covid, so I bought decks and after a few months I joined Twitch and began DJing live. I put so many hours into Twitch, so like I learnt DJing from going live for 14-16 hours per week.
How would you describe the dynamic on Twitch to IRL DJing?
Twitch is way harder, it’s really complicated and I think people underestimate how difficult it is. The people that are watching my streams are interacting with me via live chat, and they’re constantly talking to me and I’m responding on the mic, so it’s very personal. I have a community of people that come back, I know who they are, and they always wanna talk about whatever's going on in the world.
Because I’m live mixing for hours on end, and doing everything else behind the scenes, it’s actually so much harder and way more exhausting. I would much rather play an hour set at a club where everyone’s fucked off their faces. It’s different, though. There’s benefits of both. When you play live, you get that immediate feedback of people’s reactions to the music that you’re mixing and the energy that you’re creating. Whereas you don’t get that reaction on Twitch, it’s just a live chat. On Twitch, 50% of viewers are there for the music, and the other 50% are there because they wanna talk to me.
So, there’s a parasocial relationship involved? Is that a fine line to walk?
It’s tricky to balance. Being on the internet, you’re always gonna get trolled and there’s always going to be negativity there. I think it’s hard because that negativity is direct and you’re reading it straight away from the minute they’re typing it in. The good community is amazing though, I disappeared for a few months off Twitch, and when I hopped back on, all my viewers came straight back and were really nice.
The term ‘it’s about who you know, not what you know’ gets thrown around a lot in the music industry. Do you find this to be true?
Yes. Absolutely,
Does that affect you?
It affects me a lot, because I’m based between two cities [Eora and Naarm], it’s tricky for me to ‘know’ people. I also struggle because I’m neurodivergent and an introvert, so talking to people is really hard, especially socialising and meeting new people.
What has been your favourite venue to spin at and why?
Playing Revolver was the best, it was definitely a bucket list thing for me. It was the first electronic music club I went to, and it’s like, where I discovered music. My first Melbourne city gig was playing Revs, and I got it through Twitch!
The next thing would be to play Berghain in Berlin, it’s this famous warehouse where you’re not allowed to take photos or film, and people line up for hours and hours to get in. It’s like, the most famous techno club in Berlin, and it’s definitely a goal of mine to to play there.
What drew you to DJing in the first place?
Revs. Revolver got me into music I didn’t even really know existed, electronic music like techno and tech house, then my music taste expanded when I was living in Sydney. Sydney's great, it got me into different music that shaped my taste, which makes me a little different to Melbourne DJs, so Sydney and Revs helped shape that.
FIND MORE JADEFOX HERE
Instagram, Soundcloud, Twitch, Spotify,