Jane Dupree

Last nights dj 's Jane Dupree and DJ 50 was a glimpse of the great things to come. These woman rocked the place with ambient and upbeat music and though the crowd was small, it was like being in an up scale New York club. Can't wait to come back for the next Monday night madness! Oh yes, DJ 50 is one of their regular bartenders....who is equally entertaining as a bartender! - Nashville Scene

Saturday, the Old School Reunion — a dance party benefiting the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce and commemorating our onetime after-hours strongholds — takes place in the Blue Room at Third Man Records. DJs include respected locals Jane Dupree, Lance G, Josh Jones, Daddy Bob, Ashley Power, Keith Windham and at least one special guest to be announced. But what is it that we’re celebrating?

Picture the Nashville nightclub scene of the late ’90s and early Aughts, where Y2K and 9/11 served as giant-ass signifiers for the end of the Clinton era and a stark shift in attitudes toward leisure. The clanging pots-and-pans dubby sound of the X-Beat era had given way to circuit parties — dance parties lasting 24 hours or more — fueled by the fraternal twins of crystal meth and GHB, and the parties themselves started to contract to a smaller, more manageable scale.

We still had the Mother Church of nightlife, The Connection — at least for a little while, before its owners retreated back to Louisville. You have to start with The Connection to get to the story of the after-hours scene, because its existence is anathema to the current micro-focused nightclub experience. It was monstrous, billing itself convincingly as the largest club in the country, with a big theater for drag shows and pageants, a monster dance floor for the biggest in big room house (DJs’ terminology for circuit anthems and U.K.-influenced progressive house with vocal-focused diva turns made in reaction to X-Beat, not to be confused with the sounds that were polarizing the EDM world in 2013 and 2014), and a country bar in front for those for whom line dancing did not mean coke-enhanced dance parties.

Last call at 2:30 a.m. was always a bummer, but it served as the pivot point of the evening. You could go to Cafe Coco or Waffle House if you were hungry. You could certainly go home, or to someone else’s home, and see whether that syncopated boom-boom was the music or the throb of your heart as it careened into what might be love. But let’s say that the music still called to you, that the visceral response that tickled the back of your brain when a disco diva whispered “Maybe tonight, yes?” couldn’t be satisfied by dancing within the boundaries for alcohol sales set by the state of Tennessee. After The Connection, The Chute, The Mix Factory and Graham Central Station had to shut down for the night, we had other options: after-hours clubs.

Some saw fit to tar the entire after-hours scene with one brush, describing its clubs as freak-laden drug dens and havens for polymorphously perverse free-for-alls. These incredibly judgy, reactionary phrases sounded like the rhetoric of people who would never set foot in a proper club to begin with, or worse, people who couldn’t imagine going to a dance club without adult beverages. For those kinds of folks, it was never about the music. The music is what made those nights special, and it keeps the memories of the years when we had The Zone, eXceSs (and its basement sub-club, Orbit), Katatonic and Kiss at the 508 Late Night Lounge alive and close to the heart — and never far from the part of the brain responsible for the shaking of ass.

While traditional nightclubs stuck to house hits, big room boomers, remixed R&B and Eurobeat, after-hours spots had the freedom to get weirder with it, delving into subgenres that got stranger, or more aggressive, or more euphoric. Freed from the commercial considerations of alcohol sales and buoyed by the still-new technology of CD burning — which allowed DJs to bring more variety to their sets as well as streamline the amount of stuff they had to bring with them to the club — whole new vistas were opened up.

If you wanted harder sounds, like proper breaks and maybe some tweaky acid or aggressive house, Katatonic fit the bill nicely. If you thrilled to the prettier side of trance, or the more feminine twirls of Hi-NRG, then Kiss was your destination. And eXceSs/Orbit was where moving between floors popped you into completely different scenes, where speed garage battled against epic circuit vibes, only for a funky Miami-style bass line from Deep South to come in to settle any scores and keep the people dancing ’til after the sun came up.

This was before hookup apps, you must understand. Before perjurer and social eugenicist Rudy Giuliani killed off New York’s nightlife, leaving its death throes to spread throughout the country. Before the extensive proliferation of cellphones and social media. Before bottle service and bachelorette parties took root everywhere. Before the rally and resurgence of drag, thanks to a rebranding by the RuPaul empire that saved the modern gay club as we know it.

This was a time when staggering out into the sun and seeing folks driving by on their way to church felt like a victory against the forces of normalcy and boredom. - JASON SHAWHAN

Cool Women Doing Cool Things: Meet Jane
By: Rachel Bubis

Jane Dupree is at the top of her game.

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Born in Jackson, TN, she moved to Middle Tennessee at age 17 to go to MTSU, and got her start working for the college radio station. Now, she headlines her own shows and has played events with God-Dess & She, Martha Wash, Morgan Page, Questlove, Richard Vission, Bad Boy Bill, Junior Vasquez, The Crystal Method, DJ Funk, Figure, Dieselboy, Star Eyes, BT, DJ Rap, Stacy Kidd, Athens Boys Choir, Superstar DJ Keoki, American Idol Ashton Jones, DJ Trashy, Charles Feelgood, and Vanessa Carlton, to name a few.



You started doing music playing guitar at your church. How did you go from playing guitar at church to getting into electronic music?

I started playing guitar when I was 14. It’s cheesy, but it was after the first time I heard Nirvana. I asked for a guitar for Christmas and took lessons. My mom suggested I play this instrument in church, so I started playing on Sundays. I traveled around to different churches playing with the choir. When I got to college, I was in a Christian rock band signed to Ricky B, the gospel rapper's record label. That was freshman year, and I didn't pay much attention to turn tables. One of the guys I met through Ricky B was DJ Silence. Growing up, I listened to Crystal Waters and the Euro stuff on MTV as well as Liquid Groove electronic music. I always liked stuff like that.

Fast forward to summer after freshman year, I wound up going to the gay bar Connections. I just fell in love with what the DJ was selling and the music. I started buying records from Tower Records. When school started back, DJ Silence showed me the basics of how to use a mixer. I was also in a bowling class with Pimpdaddy Supreme who told me about college radio. At the end of fall semester. l submitted to be involved with the college radio station. In the winter semester I began my short intern period. After interning, I submitted a show proposal and was approved to launch the show House Nation. I started the show barely knowing how to use turntables. From day one of my show I used the radio station’s turn tables to practice every week.

What attracts you to the genre of house, circuit, electro?

I like the way it makes me feel. The experience. It’s about love, happiness, peace, unity. There’s nothing negative about dance music. That’s what I like about it.

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“Nashville’s electronic music scene is growing a lot. It has always been an underground scene, but in comparison to other cities, it’s still relatively small. But any weekend you can go out and find electronic music.”
Who are your biggest musical influences?

Smashing Pumpkins, Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, DJ Pierre, Joey Deltron, Junior Vasquez.

How do you find out about new music/stay up-to-date on new tracks?

I follow several blogs on Hype Machine and am on several promo lists. I give feedback on those platforms. I also use SoundCloud. I search the top three record stores for dance music. I’m also in a record club called Club Killers, based in Las Vegas, and they supply a lot of bootlegs and remixes.

What’s your process like and what technology do you use?

I start on vinyl which is my preferred method. In the clubs I use a Numark controller and Serato DJ. At a bigger festival I use Pioneer CDJ 2000s.

Nashville’s moniker is “music city,” but electronic music isn’t the first thing to come to mind for people. Is it challenging to do this genre of music here? What’s the scene in Nashville like compared with other cities?

Nashville’s scene is growing a lot. It’s always been an underground scene, but in comparison to other cities, it’s still relatively small. But any weekend you can go out and find electronic music. Back in the day there was way less, but you can even catch a show on a Tuesday or Wednesday here now. We don’t have any dedicated electronic clubs, but access to friendly venues like the Back Corner. Canvas and Traxx are my resident clubs.

I imagine the DJ profession/culture is pretty male dominated. Do you experience any discrimination professionally?

Oh yeah, where do I start! I’ll keep it short. For one, I walk into clubs and people instantly assume I’m going to play hip hop. Then, because I’m a woman, they assume I don’t know what I’m doing or know how to hook the equipment up. Also, some frat boy types try to bully their way into my time slot sometimes. That kind of deal. And mainly just assuming I don’t know what’s going on with the music or not as good as the other guys.

How do you cope?

I just mix. I mix and do what I do and there’s no questions after that.

What’s the best advice someone has ever given you?

You can’t please everybody. And have no expectations.

What else are you into besides Djing?

It’s corny but I play Candy Crush haha. I like to drive a lot. Hang out outside. Walk around and go to local bars. Hang out with my friends and to make music.

How do we follow your music/keep up to date with future shows?

I keep my website updated on a regular basis. Also on Instagram and Facebook. - Rachel Bubis