Photography: @seekaxiom
A name in dubstep you will be familiar with for a long time is JEANIE. This Brooklyn-based producer is on a hot streak through the bass world in the states and she’s not slowing down any time soon. Her distinctive, heavy production consistently sets her apart from the crowd with every release, making her discography full of heavy hitters from the beginning of her project, to now.
After her strong break into the scene back in 2019, she quickly made a name for herself by gathering support from artists such as Excision, GRiZ and more. Not only did she create some tsunami sized waves in terms of production and live performances, she also launched the all womxn collective, GRL GANG. Through this platform, JEANIE has created a lasting impact on the dance scene in America, committed to empowering and expanding the representation of womxn across all genres.
She powered through the struggles of 2020 by dropping huge releases, such as her Sinner EP and her tracks Rage Fatigue and Doomsday, setting herself up as one of the debut artists on Excision’s new label, Subsidia. As she continues to explode through this new year, her most recent collaboration, Dome, with southgate. on Bassrush Records brightly highlights her dynamic styles in production within the bass scene.
We were able to catch up with JEANIE to learn a little more about her journey, GRL GANG and what she has for us to look forward to.
I’m so excited to be able to pick your brain a bit. Let’s talk about your releases first, what was your favorite showcasing release of 2020?
Thanks for having me! Honestly I loved them all, but my favorite release was definitely my Sinner EP. I put a ton of work into conceptualizing the music, branding and merch and it was insanely rewarding to see it all come together. It was also probably the longest I ever sat on a project, so I was super relieved to finally share it.
What has been the most rewarding experience of your career so far that made you realize that this is the career for you?
It’s hard to choose one thing, but just seeing how fans respond to the music is one of the most rewarding parts of my career. Before I started DJing and producing, I was just a fan (like many other artists), so being able to give people the same feeling I get when I see a good show or listen to a track I really like is so motivating and rewarding.
2020 was a challenging year for all of us, what was your biggest takeaway from this last year that you’ll carry with you throughout your career?
2020 f*cking sucked, but it taught me to make time for the people in my life that I care about. This career can be life-consuming and while it’s good to work as hard as you can, it’s still so important to make time for your family/friends and tell them how much they mean to you.
You’ve created a community that is so important for the presence of womxn in dance music, called GRL GANG. When did you launch that collective and how has that experience been for you so far?
I launched GRL GANG in early 2019, so almost two years ago! When I was first starting out, most of my friends in the scene were guys, so to now have an entire group of womxn who are all so uplifting and supportive is amazing. I’m constantly inspired and motivated by other people in the group and I’m so proud of how much it’s grown.
We saw the epic compilation, Riot drop at the beginning of last year from this collective, what can we expect out of GRL GANG in 2021?
Definitely more releases, live streams and mixes! I’m working on other ways to spotlight more womxn in the industry too, whether it’s Instagram takeovers, interviews, etc., so I’m excited about that.
Needless to say, your Couch Lands 2020 set was one of the heaviest and tastefully curated dubstep sets I’ve heard in a minute. How was that Couch Lands experience for you?
Thank you so much! It was truly one of the most mind-blowing and rewarding parts of my career so far. I’ve looked up to Excision as an artist for a long time and one of my dream festivals to play is Lost Lands, so to be able to play a virtual version of it during such a tough year was seriously a dream come true.
Can we expect any more streams from you in 2021?
Possibly! Even though I’m a producer, I’m pretty trash with technology so recording live streams is always a struggle for me. I would love to do more, but I’m being more selective with them for the sake of my sanity.
You just started 2021 by releasing a massive track, Dome, with southgate. on Bassrush, congratulations on that, by the way! Care to share how that collaboration process was with southgate.?
Thank you! We decided to collab after talking on Twitter and started putting the track together pretty quickly after that. It was a really fun tune to work on because his style is a little different than mine so it took me out of my comfort zone a bit. I definitely see us working on another one in the future!
My personal favorite release of yours is Rage Fatigue on Subsidia Records around the end of last year. Do you have any projects upcoming in 2021 that you can give us a little insight on?
I have a new collab coming out extremely soon with one of my really good friends, and a solo release after that, which is probably one of my heaviest tracks to date so stay tuned for that! After that, I’m just planning on putting my head down and stacking up a bunch of new music and hopefully putting together my next EP.
Is there anything else you have on the horizon that you can share with us?
I’m working on some really exciting stuff I can’t share too much about yet, but it will definitely be a fun year.
Follow JEANIE: Soundcloud / Facebook / Instagram
