DJ Tigerlily opens up on living a double life

She’s one of Australia’s hottest DJs, but behind the scenes Tigerlily transforms into 31-year-old Dara Lawson, wife and working mum to her six-month-old son. In a rare shoot for Stellar, Tigerlily ditches her trademark wig to unmask the “real” her.

“I feel like [this] shoot encapsulates that really beautifully because I have my DJ Tigerlily personality, but then I’m also me, Dara, the person,” says Lawson. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

With her blue hair, vibrant style and on-the-pulse beats, Tigerlily travels the globe as one of Australia’s most popular DJs with one goal in mind: to send crowds of revellers toward party nirvana. But behind the scenes, life is much simpler, as she transforms into 31-year-old Dara Lawson, wife to a longtime partner and mother to a six-month-old son. As Lawson joins Stellar for a colourful and cool photo shoot, she showcases modern glam-rock ensembles, throws off her trademark wig and declares, “It’s an unveiling of the new me”

You ditched your trademark blue wig during our photo shoot. How did that feel? We shot both my blue wig and my blonde hair so, yeah, I do feel like it is Tigerlily unmasked in some ways. I really think at this point in my career that we’re at a pivotal moment where I’ve just had a baby and am juggling the travelling DJ/working mum life, and also exploring all of these other elements of my career that I’ve kind of wanted to do for a while but haven’t had the time to sit down and take a breath and really think about… I feel like [this] shoot encapsulates that really beautifully because I have my DJ Tigerlily personality, but then I’m also me, Dara, the person.

“It’s like living a Hannah Montana lifestyle, [a regular girl leading a double life as a famous pop singer,” Lawson says. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Plenty of people would relate to that idea of living in two worlds with a personal and a public persona. How would you describe it? It’s like living a Hannah Montana lifestyle, [a regular girl leading a double life as a famous pop singer, as played by Miley Cyrus in the 2006-2011 US sitcom], which I think a lot of people do when it comes to their work. For me, it really is the wig that I put on and I’m in work mode, “Tiger mode”. I’m really coming to learn that there are these two different sides but there is also so much crossover, and that crossover is where things get murky.

How do you feel physically and mentally? I feel really good at the moment, but this can change at each point in the day. Coming back to work straightaway after having a baby, getting fit again, doing DJ sets, you’ve got to be fit to be up there for 90 minutes running around, jumping around, on the microphone interacting with people, so that has been a big priority for me.

So who is DJ Tigerlily, and where did she come from? I started deejaying when I was 19, so 13 years ago. I come from a really musical background. When I was four, my parents got me into piano lessons, so I’m classically trained and I did musicals throughout primary and high school. I went to a girl’s high school in Sydney and was always told that music wasn’t really an option for a career; you’d be a lawyer or you’d be a trader or a doctor or engineer. So I actually went to university with the intention of studying dentistry because [it’s a] great career.

“I feel like, in my Dara life, I’m the girl next door, focusing on my health and fitness and Pilates,” Lawson says. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar.

How did that go? Little did I realise that it takes about 15 years of study and slogging to be an orthodontist… I changed to media and communications at [the University of] Sydney with a double major in sociology and marketing, and I did finish that degree.

And you went on to become like Hannah Montana, instead? It’s perfect. I feel like, in my Dara life, I’m the girl next door, focusing on my health and fitness and Pilates. I don’t really have influencer friends and I’ve got all of my beautiful friends from my high school days in Maroubra. I’m not into a crazy party lifestyle. Then I’ve got my Tigerlily persona, which is bold and fun and bright and colourful and empowering and standing up on stage wearing a see-through sparkling catsuit and absolutely rocking it.

“I see being a woman in a male-dominated industry as a superpower because, let’s be honest, women are amazing,” says Lawson. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

Your husband, Scott Lawson, works in construction. Does it help that he isn’t in entertainment? We can have conversations about the business side of both of our jobs and it’s really interesting for the other because we have no idea about it, so we have a big learning process. It’s fun that there’s some sense of separation there and I do think it helps, especially him, with my work. He often comes up with ideas and suggestions that I wouldn’t think of, purely because he’s removed from the situation.

You and artists such as fellow Australian DJ Havana Brown have paved the way for women in your line of work. How do you navigate the industry? I see being a woman in a male-dominated industry as a superpower because, let’s be honest, women are amazing, and I feel like I’ve used elements of my femininity, my personality, my outgoing-ness and

all of that combined to create a point of difference so people are intrigued by me and my brand and they see me as being different to what all the other guys can do. To this day, I still have people say that I don’t DJ. You can see the buttons, you can see it all happening and 13 years later, you’re still second-guessing something that I can clearly do. You just have to laugh because if you didn’t, you’d cry.

“To this day, I still have people say that I don’t DJ. You can see the buttons, you can see it all happening and 13 years later, you’re still second-guessing something that I can clearly do,” says Lawson. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar

How do you combine work and domestic life? [My son] Lando has come to a couple of gigs with me. My mum comes, too. I’ve actually just booked my first international show since having a baby, in the Philippines in December, so Mum is coming with us. Fortunately when I’m doing the forward-facing part of my work, he’s hopefully asleep. I’m feeding him before I leave, going to the club, playing, coming back and feeding him again. It does work.

With all of this in mind, what does the future look like? I’m really excited because I feel like I’m still in this moment of pausing and looking around. It’s like a homecoming but an unveiling of a new me, and that lights up the fire in my belly to work harder than ever.

Originally published as DJ Tigerlily opens up on living a double life