**COLETTE (CANDY TALK, APT)** https://www.djcolette.com/
Chicago native and Los Angeles resident Colette has a unique career trajectory and influence as an international DJ, singer, songwriter, and landmark figure of American dance music.
A founding member of the pioneering DJ collective, Superjane — along with DJ Heather, Lady D, and Dayhota — Colette has been an integral part of the Midwestern underground since 1994. From her first mixtape in 1998 “Floating By” to her 2022 production commencement of her fifth studio album with production by Philadelphia’s deep beat guru, Pete Moss she has blazed her own distinctive trail through electronic music.
Crafting events first as a promoter in Chicago — ones that would see most of Chicago’s 2nd generation of house music artists and DJs graduate to global scales — her Material events at the storied Club Shelter in the West Loop neighborhood were seminal in the development of the 90's house sound of Chicago’s Northside.
An alto since early adolescence, her natural gravitation towards integrating live vocals over DJ sets and songs would become a benchmark of Colette’s pioneering music career in DJ performance and record production over the next three decades. Just two years after she began promoting at Mummy Bar in Chicago, Colette clocked in her first commercial dance music production with two debut features, “Never Knew” and “No Lies”, on 1996’s ‘Moments of Epiphany’ EP, produced by Chicago’s Mazi and DJ Motion on Shroom Records. It would be 2000’s first official mix compilation, “In The Sun” released on burgeoning underground imprint Afterhours, that would broaden her visibility to even wider audiences. After being signed to Nettwerk America, the release of 2001’s “Our Day” mix compilation expanded her mobility to being able to co-host the nationally syndicated radio show “Maximum Rotation.” Until 2004, Colette and her on-air partner, Kevin Dees produced the show from the iconic KIIS-FM radio station in Los Angeles.
2001 saw Colette beginning a 9-Year DJ residency at Smartbar Chicago, leading up to her 2003 "Breakthrough DJ” win at the DanceStar USA Awards. A direct opportunity for a prominent feature in a global campaign, she was chosen to star in Motorola’s 2003 marketing effort alongside Felix Da Housecat and Paul Van Dyk. Consequentially, this same campaign commercial won the “Best Song In A Commercial” award at the following 2004 US Dancestar Awards.
From 2000-04, Colette would be a featured artist on a handful of 12” singles that would see her connecting with progressively larger and more international record labels such as Brique Rouge (FR), Icon Recordings (US), Moody Recordings (US), Nordic Trax (CA), and Classic (UK) leading up to her first single, “Feelin’ Hypnotized”, from her debut artist album, 2005’s ‘Hypnotized’ for San Francisco’s OM Records.
Charting her first Billboard No. 1 Dance Club Play Single with "What Will She Do for Love", the debut long-play effort from Colette became the most downloaded dance album on Apple's iTunes in June 2005, with the title track, “Feelin’ Hypnotized”, being licensed to the soundtrack of the movie, “The Devil Wears Prada”. Not her last silver screen placement, her track “I Like The Way” produced in 2004 with OM Records label partner, Kaskade, would be featured in 2008’s “Sex and the City” movie soundtrack.
2006’s "House Of OM" mix compilation with DJ Heather would kick off a multi-decade partnership and DJ pairing that still holds a remarkable relevance today. As Colette's international touring schedule widened, 2007 saw the release of her second studio album with “Push”, with the single “If” reaching No. 5 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart.
Launching her own imprint in 2010 — a goal she had for the better part of a decade — Colette put together Candy Talk Records as a platform to have more creative control over her music, curation, and collaborations. Running a successful Pledge campaign to fund her third studio album, 2013’s ‘When The Music’s Loud’, featuring the single “Hotwire”, would see Billboard name it one of the top 20 Dance Music Albums of 2013, with Thump/VICE naming it “One of The 99 Greatest Dance Albums of All Time” in July of 2015.
In 2016, LA Weekly named Colette one of “The 20 Best DJs in LA Right Now”, and 2017 saw the release of her fourth studio album, ‘Retrospective’, and the second on her own label. This 2-part album features a collection of remixed works spanning her entire career, featuring production from artists such as Gettoblaster, Derrick Carter, Demarkus Lewis, Local Options, Change Request, and many more.
2020 saw the return collaboration with her OM labelmate, Kaskade, on their single “When I’m With You”, which has been streamed over 5 millions times. 2022 saw Colette starting work on her fifth studio album, releasing a new EP "Message in a Bottle" alongside launching her “Future Deep” tour with Pete Moss, playing select Second City Sessions shows with DJ Heather while performing solo shows for fans worldwide. In 2024 we’ll see more new releases and a studio album set for release!
Event Venue
The Grey Eagle, Grey Eagle Music Hall, 185 Clingman Ave, Asheville, NC 28801, United States,Asheville, North Carolina