DJ J'Adore on Artopia and Why We're Lucky to Be in Denver

Artopia, Westword's annual celebration of art, culture and fashion, returns to City Hall on February 21. In addition to plenty of visual artists and the Whiteout fashion show, the event will feature some highlights from Colorado's music scene — this year, over a dozen groups and artists will perform on four stages. Tickets are $30 ahead of time or $50 at the door. You can also use the promo code "showandtell" for $10 off.

We're checking in with several of those artists about the state of Denver's scene and what you can expect next Saturday. Today: DJ J'Adore, who will perform in City Hall's Main Room. 

Westword: How did you get into music/performing?

DJ J'Adore: I’ve been surrounded by music my entire life. Growing up, I trained as a classical dancer. Music really shaped my life in that way, and I fell in love with expressing myself through music. I became intrigued in the art of controlling a crowd through music in my early twenties. Years later I met my husband, Walt, who is an incredible DJ, and I was so excited to learn from him. For years, I just attended gigs with him and observed. Once he began to actually teach me, I felt like I was home. I fell completely in love with the art form. Walt opened the Global DJ Academy — a DJ and music-production school — in 2012. Learning officially with an incredible curriculum has brought my technique to a whole new level.

How do you describe your music/work?

I have a love for so many different genres of music that I would describe it as eclectic. I really cater each performance towards the occasion and crowd, but the common element in each performance is that it hopefully really strikes my audience and triggers positive vibes. I love to watch my crowd in some of their happiest moments. The sounds that I love and am known for playing are deep and dark electro anthems, deep and tech house sets and trip-hop.

What should people know about what you'll be performing at Artopia?

I cannot wait to be able to bring my authentic sound to stage at Artopia! Artopia is such a fantastic showcase of local talent; our city is really lucky to have such a dynamic event. The goal for my performance is to give the audience a taste of what my unique sound is, and of course to make them smile and dance.
What's your favorite thing about the Denver arts/music scene?

I have such a love for the Denver scene and feel blessed to have my music roots here. No matter where life leads me personally, it will always be very close to my heart. This community has really supported me in becoming the artist I am today by providing a diverse audience and such a hub of incredible artists to grow with. I’m extremely grateful for the people who have supported me in growing into the artist I have become.

I adore the fact that Denver has so much music coming on to our stages. When experiencing what other areas of the country have to offer, it becomes really apparent just how lucky we are here in terms of the local and international talent you can see performing on any given night in the Denver area. From festivals bringing up to sixty huge artists over the course of two days to boutique nightclubs like the new Privé Social Club and upcoming Nativ Resorts featuring international and incredible local talent almost daily, it’s getting difficult to choose which music to experience!

As an artist, I long to see a shift in Denver that will help to showcase and support the huge amount of talented musicians that we have in this city. It’s over-saturated in the amount of talent that we have and I believe that if we grow the music scene as a community to offer our musicians more opportunity — more talent management, venues, performance opportunities and festivals for local talent — it will definitely open the doors for Denver talent to have a stage, allow their voices to be heard and be less competitive with one another.

Anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

I’m so thrilled for an exciting 2015 for my career personally; it’s the year I hope to fully be able to deliver my unique sound to the world. I’ve been dedicating a lot of my energy to training vocally and can’t wait to incorporate my voice into my tracks. I’m also really looking forward to the release of an album I’ve been signed to with international talent later this year!