Godlands, Ruby Chew, Polly Pocket, ISZI: Meet 13 DJs making waves on Adelaide’s male dominated party strip
For Adelaide’s professional party starters and club dance floor-fillers, a night on the decks is an adrenaline rush that can only be brought down by “trash music requests”.
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From the stages of Tomorrowland and touring with Rihanna to the late-night haunts of Hindley St – Adelaide DJs are making a name for themselves.
South Australia’s professional party starters say they run on adrenaline, become an alter-ego on the decks and can only be brought down by “trash music requests” and empty dance floors.
Whether living in Adelaide, interstate or over the world, these 13 homegrown disc jockeies share their journeys breaking the mould and excelling in what was once a male dominated industry.
Godlands (Annabel Hartlett)
Handle: @iamgodlands
Followers: 16.2k
Adelaide’s own Annabel Hartlett is a world-renowned DJ who performed at weekend two of Tomorrowland – a popular Belgium festival – in July.
The 30 year old said that high school was a turning point for her when she was made privy to the Bloody Beetroots – an Italian electronic music project.
“It was probably from that moment on, when I saw that video clip, that I was like, yep, I’m going to be a DJ,” she said.
Annabel started collecting equipment and doing gigs at friends’ parties.
“When I turned 18 a couple of people within the scene reached out to me and I started working as a DJ in clubs in Adelaide,” she said.
“There weren’t a lot of female DJs, there still aren’t a lot in Adelaide.”
About five years into her career, Annabel decided she wanted to start producing her own music.
“I wanted to make music and I knew that making music could be me further in my career,” she said.
Annabel started to send her music into Triple J Unearthed and made it onto the radio.
The DJ, who now lives in Keswick, said playing a Tomorrowland was an experience like no other describing it as “Disneyland on acid”.
“It was a next level experience … it was definitely a pinch me moment,” she said.
“It’s crazy to say that I’ve played at Tomorrowland.”
Annabel said her favourite thing about being a DJ was being able to travel the world, despite how lonely it could be at times.
Keeping energy up at gigs can sometimes be a challenge, but Annabel said the energetic music she plays definitely helps.
“As soon as I get to the venue I feel that adrenaline come in,” she said.
“As soon as I get out on stage its like I’m a completely different human being, it’s like my alter ego comes out.
“All of that other stuff fades away … and you’re having the time of your life with people you don’t know.”
Miki McFayden
Handle: @miki.j_dj
Followers: 1.9k
The 28 year old holds a club residency at Adelaide’s own Wnderland where she spruiks her musical talents.
“I love the craft of it and being able to share great music to crowds and keen party goers each week,” the Mitcham Hills resident said.
The talented DJ is also owns MIKI entertainment, her own private DJing company and is looking to release her own music in the next year.
“I’ve been on and off with production over the years and it’s definitely time to release something of my own,” she said.
Earlier this month, Miki performed at Festival X which she described as “a lot of fun to be a part of”.
Despite a profound love of connecting with people through music, Miki said “the most challenging parts are dealing with intoxicated people on the job who won’t stop asking you for trash music requests”.
DJ Madi
Handle: @djmadiofficial
Followers: 3.7k
DJ Madi is one of South Australia’s high energy DJs and is known for regular appearances at Precinct Nightclub in Adelaide’s CBD. The DJ performed at Festival X in Adelaide at the beginning of December.
Baby Monet (Em Simonne)
Handle: @djbabymonet
Followers: 1.2k
Em Simonne, known widely by her DJ name Baby Monet, has been involved in music since a young age.
“I even performed in the professional production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I was 14, so performance has always been something I’m drawn to,” she said.
Two years ago, Em decided to get involved in the DJ industry where she said she has enjoyed meeting a wide range of people along the way.
“I fell into deejaying after spending time with different DJs and becoming interested,” the 23 year old said.
“I think before I got into the scene, there were a lot less women and it seemed very intimidating and confusing.
“If you told me at 13 years old that I would be working as a DJ as my job, I would be very surprised.”
Em said the most rewarding part of her job is “the energy exchange” between the music, the crowd and the industry.
“There is nothing more sad than playing for an empty dance floor, so having a receptive crowd who are willing to go along the musical journey you have planned is very rewarding,” she said.
DJ Ruby Chew
Handle: @djrubychew
Followers: 6.2k
DJ Ruby Chew plays lively music at events, parties and weddings. This year Ruby was selected as a finalist for the Wedding Industry Awards in the South Australian DJ category.
Claire Knight
Handle: @ck.dj
Followers: 2.6k
Originally an Adelaide DJ, Claire Knight is now based in Sydney and has started spreading her musical talents around the world.
The DJ has been in the industry for 15 years after starting off at The Edinburgh Castle Hotel on Currie Street supporting indie bands.
Claire said her love for “collecting and sharing music” goes back to when she was a kid.
“I was the kid always plugging in their iPod at parties and interviewing bands for street press,” she said.
“DJing and producing was a natural progression from hosting radio shows, writing about music and working as a music programmer for retail stores.”
After being involved in an international DJ search with record label EMI, Claire has toured Australia, went on an overseas tour with Rihanna, recorded music in New York and modelled for clothing brands.
The popular DJ is currently planning a national tour in March to celebrate the release of her new music.
Violet Eve (Simone McFarland)
Handle: @djvioleteve
Followers: 11.7k
Simone McFarland, known by her stage name Violet Eve, has been a DJ for 6 years after a few months of learning the tricks of the trade.
From a young age the DJ has been surrounded by music because of her involvement in competitive dance.
“The contrast of walking into a nightclub for the first time and seeing everyone dancing without a care in the world had me hooked and I knew straight away that I wanted to become a DJ,” she said.
The 34 year old said most of her gigs were in restaurants, pubs and bars on weekends.
“I love these gigs because you’ve got the entire night to create an atmosphere,” she said.
Simone said every few months she took the weekend off to go and play at music festivals interstate.
The young mum compared her job to playing a game or solving a puzzle.
“Very rarely is it about hitting play on a list of the top 100 songs, it’s more of a constant push and pull where you’re playing a song, watching the response and then planning your next move accordingly,” she said.
ISZI
Handle: @djiszi
Followers: 12.1k
ISZI DJs at several venues including Nineteen Ten, an Adelaide entertainment venue. The DJ shares pictures of her gigs on Instagram and occasionally posts sponsored content. The DJ sports colourful hair to accompany her energetic gigs.
Kaelee Idyllwild
Handle: @djidyllwild
Followers: 1.7k
Kaelee Idyllwild said she got back into DJing in 2019 after taking a break to pursue a career in physiotherapy.
The DJ said she found that “life without music really stinks” and decided that it was time to go back to doing what she loves.
“I have branched out in my musical style, adopting hip hop and RnB, and a wider variety of dance genres,” she said.
Kaelee works at a variety of venues around Adelaide but has a standing gig at Plain Jane every Friday.
She also works with an interstate agency which she said gives her the chance to party around the country.
“The most rewarding bits are definitely seeing people have the happiest times of their week because of music,” Kaelee said.
“I love seeing the bonds that form on nights out.”
DJ Rare (Tobi Carelle)
Handle: @therarest.dj
Followers: 11.2k
Tobi Carelle has been a DJ for 7 years and is known by her audiences as DJ Rare.
The 29 year old said she always had a passion for DJing as she “was always obsessed with finding artists that others hadn’t discovered yet”.
At 18, Tobi started to learn how to DJ with a good friend and found that she loved the art of it.
“DJing is one of the best jobs in the world for some and for others it can become the worst,” she said.
Tobi said despite being tough sleeping patters and taking a large amount of fitness and stamina, she loves her job.
“It’s so much fun and I get to play some really special gigs,” she said.
The DJ plays at Holey Moley every Friday and Saturday night and will be the resident DJ at Cherry Nightclub when it opens on Hindley St next year.
Tobi also said she played a lot of corporate gigs this year including Schoolies Festival and Oktoberfest.
DJ Indi K (Indi Klosette)
Handle: @indi_klosette
Followers: 832
Indi Klosette, regular DJ at Mary’s Poppin, has been in the industry for almost two years.
“My biggest inspiration was DJ Polly Pocket another DJ in Adelaide who taught me everything I know and further nurtured my passion for music,” Indi said.
The DJ said the most rewarding parts of the job is being “in the business of making people happy”.
Indi said one of the hardest part of the job is not being able to join everyone on the dancefloor.
DJ Polly Pocket
Handle: @dj.pollypocket
Followers: 7.3k
Adelaide-based DJ Polly Pocket is known for her energetic nights where she plays for Superficial, an exclusive pop and bop party, and specialises in Taylor Swift and Harry Styles night. The DJ travels around Australia performing upbeat music to adoring crowds.
Holly Rowe
Handle: @djholliii
Followers: 1k
Holly Rowe started DJing in the Riverland are taking a liking to DJing when working as a club promoter when they were 18 years old.
“I used to watch the DJs and wish I could do it and then one day I decided to buy my own decks and give it a go!”
The 21 year old said it was in the middle of a Covid lockdown that they really started to teach herself how to DJ.
Holly has been playing gigs since they were 19 but everything took off this year.
“The moment that does it for me is when I play a song and the crowd get excited and start looking at their friends,” they said.
“I also really enjoy the support network I’ve met.”
Holly now has a residency with Cherry Nightclub and is excited to start playing gigs there in the new year.
The DJ performed at Schoolies Festival among many other gigs this year.
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