LEIA-J
LEIA-J
LEIA-J
How did you first get into DJing and how has the journey been, so far?
I first got into DJing at the back end of 2023, I was in with the drum and bass scene in Manchester anyway and I just really loved the music so I wanted to explore it further. I have a deep love for liquid drum and bass and I really just had a vision to push the music as the scene was (still is bait) highly saturated with jump up.
I just wanted to create something that people would listen to and feel emotion, and I certainly achieved that!
You’ve played at some amazing shows and festivals this year, what has been a standout for you?
Highlights for me was my first “big booking” which was supporting Born On Road for Fadeout Leicester, for me this was super special as I got to play in my home city. I always LOVE playing in my home city. Not only this, winning the DJ comp and playing for Hospitality at Boundary Festival was the BIGGEST pinch me moment.
If you had to describe your sound at the moment with three tracks, what would they be?
Who would be your dream b2b?
Dream b2b would have to either be High Contrast (obvious reasons he is the GOAT of liquid) or Break because again he is just a GOAT.
"I just want to curate a space that people feel seen and heard and feel comfortable to talk about their problems."
You’re also a producer, how did you first get into production?
SO THIS IS FUNNY ...I randomly just moved to Manchester one day because I was bored of living in a small town in Leicester, I lived in Manchester for about a year and all my friends were at uni. I had always wanted to go uni but I never had A Levels, so I was like AH I'll go to college, do an access course. The only access course I liked the sound of was music. So I was just like yeah fuck it , let me learn music, 2-3 years later, I've release tunes, got many tunes on the way and collabing with some incredible people!Short answer, I was bored one day.
How did your release ‘Into The Light’ on Dropjaw Audio alongside Celestial and vocalist Romey?
The collar purely came about just via instagram, me and Celestial met via insta and decided to get a collar on the way. I shown him my ideas and he was so happy about jumping on and collabing. Then after a few months we decided to reach out to Romey to jump on vocals as I'd seen her stuff and LOVE her voice!
How did your event Mind Over Matter first start and why is Mind charity so close to your heart?
This ones a lil close to my heart and I could write a lot about this, but to keep it short, too many people suffer in silence and lose their battle to their brain, I just want to curate a space that people feel seen and heard and feel comfortable to talk about their problems. Losing people to mental health is something I have experienced and I just don’t want anyone else to have to go through that.
Who are some women/gender minority artists, producers or DJs you would recommend?
I’d HIGHLY recommend Not Bad For A Girl simply because their social media presence is exactly what we need for women and gender minority artists. Like yes they're all sick artists, but the messages they send across is so powerful and so so so important for the music scene.
Not only this, some shoutouts would be, YONIC, ABZERO, AANKA, YAZMIN C, AMELIA-LEIGH, VISPERA, ROMEY and KYBER just to name a few!!! (My list could go on)
What do you have coming up for 2026?
I have some EXCITING bookings, GEMFEST being the highlight of my bookings so far this year, alongside plenty of other bookings so far across the north and the south.
And many many new tunes are on the way!
