DJ Paulette is a highly regarded DJ across the UK and Europe, born and raised in (and still resident of) Manchester. Over a 30-year career, she has scaled the heights of dance music fame and hedonism playing disco, house and techno to huge crowds and in cool underground basements.
DJ Paulette went to her first club aged 14 and never looked back. She was resident at Flesh, the mixed/gay spectacular at The Haçienda, a renowned safe space for all corners of the LGBTQ+ community, and a beacon of hope for lesbians and queer women of colour across the north. She said in an interview with DJ History:
“[In the 80s], if you looked even remotely different, you were a f*g, you were a queer, you were a puff. And if you actually were, then it was even worse, you know? You got it in the street, but you didn’t get it in the club. People seemed to leave that outside the door, and once in the club, everyone was alright with everyone being there.
When Paulette started out, there was a glaring lack of representation of female DJs, the industry was ruled by men and women’s names wouldn’t even feature on rave flyers and were rarely given credit for their contributions to the culture at the time - a prime example is the often forgotten designer of The Haçienda: Sandra Douglas. This has contributed to DJ Paulette’s fierce activism over her career and her pioneering role to create space for queer women, lesbians and women of colour.
“I mean, it’s in everything.” She continued. “It’s not just in clubbing. It’s the same in the arts. It’s the same in science, politics. It’s not unusual to clubbing, per se. We live in a patriarchal society. That’s how it is.”
“Everything’s political for me, everything from my head down to my toes... And yes, dance is political."
“I really do see that if we have this platform, it has to have some use. It can’t just be, oh, I’m playing this nice record and then that nice record. If you’re going to influence people, make it count. If you’re going to entertain people, entertain them in such a way that they can take some kind of message away. A positive message, a positive political message.”
“And yes, dance is political. We have a platform that we can use to transmit messages. So, I do occasional bits of fundraising. I will use my music and my platform to transmit that message and to raise money or to raise awareness. And I think we can really make a difference in that way. So yes, dance music is political and it always should be. We’re f*cked if it’s not. We really are.”
DJ Paulette is doing a gig in her hometown of Manchester this August, partying and protesting at the Gay Village Party, where she has a headline slot at the Gaydio Dance Arena.
Find out more about our line-up and how we continue to make dancing a political statement here.
