From Cape Town to Cape Cod: DJ Adien promises aural opulence

For DJ Adien, inserting herself into the testosterone-fueled world of DJs was merely an afterthought. She had, after all, spent seven years working on ships with men as a geophysicist completing marine route surveys for the submarine cable industry. It wasn't unusual, says Adien, to be the only woman on-board.

Music, however, remained a powerful lure, and four years ago she bit.

Now, with just a few years DJing under her belt, Adien has quickly risen from Miami ingenue to heralded circuit head-liner, spinning at such high-profile events as the Palm Spring's White Party to Miami Beach's Winter Party and to her Provincetown debut at David Flower's Summer Camp.

Music even brought her full circle - she just finished a round spinning on the male-dominated Atlantis Cruise ship.

The gorgeous Cape Town, South Africa native will make her way back to Provincetown to spin on Sunday, May 28 at the Paramount during Memorial Day Weekend. She will make a return visit to Paramount during July 4th week.

Provincetown's July 4th week, she says, remains her favorite week of the year. "I love it. It's so quaint and there's so much to do and it's not all about the clubs," says Adien, who is planning an extended stay. The locale even impacts her music.

"My sound is always evolving, but for Provincetown, my sound is energetic progressive beats with melodic breakdowns. Beautiful music, beautiful vocals, but driving beats," she says. As witnessed can confirm, Adien's sets can be unpredictable - mixing the familiar with exotic sounds and thrilling soundscapes.

Last summer, a lucky few were treated to one of Adien's special, after-hours sets during a private party in Provincetown's West End. She spun through the night for the shear joy of it.

Adien made the move from Cape Town to Vancouver when her previous profession put limits on where women could work. She later high-tailed it to Miami to get into DJing - spinning at clubs such as Maze and Space. She now calls Los Angeles home.

She's also at the helm of a new private record label: Sub-tek. "We are doing compilations. They are going to be available as digital downloads. The cost of making a CD vs. people downloading - it's much easier. Masterbeat, Centaur are putting together compilations, marketing to the gay community, but we're going to be more progressive." Still in the process of licensing, Adien expects the first release to be available by the end of May.

She's also turned her attention to a circuit scene on the decline. But, she insists, a turnaround is possible.

"I think the circuit as we know it is dying. The music needs to change and it's time to change. It must become more innovative and we need to evolve. If we do that, we can get it back.

"The crystal problem definitely has something to do with it. If people open their minds to [change], [the circuit] won't become stale. It's become stale, stagnant. Gay music used to be the freshest - it set the standard. We need to bring it back and set the pace as to what the electronic music scene is about. I always have one foot on the dance floor and one in the DJ booth. I know that I must introduce new sounds and new music. We can do it."

It used to be that you could go to an event and there would be a sense of community and it would be high on energy. I'd like to see it come back. We need a more diverse crowd. And something different needs to happen."

DJ Adien spins a For more on DJ Adien and Sub-tek, go to DJ Adien.