Xandra, who released her debut single “Body Say” this summer, teased upcoming music with “amazing artists”
Xandra has been DJing since she was a junior in high school — and knows a thing or two about facing hate for perfecting her craft. Last week, the DJ spoke to Rolling Stone backstage at the U.S. Open Finals Fan Fest, and dished some advice for young women interested in becoming a DJ.
“For any girl that’s looking to DJ, the boys can be mean. They are going to be mean,” she told Rolling Stone‘s Green Room. “They’ll tell you you don’t know what you’re doing because of how you look and honestly, you can bleep this, fuck’em. Fuck’em all. You shouldn’t let anyone ever get you down. Especially not a boy.”
Xandra said she was inspired to become a DJ after seeing an Alison Wonderland set at Lollapalooza as a high schooler. She quickly learned how to DJ and was booked for her first gig: her high school’s homecoming. “I started doing frat parties in Cincinnati, where I’m from … I did my first club at 18 and the rest is history,” she said.
Xandra said she was hesitant to ever put music out at first, but she’s proud of “Body Say,” her first single ever, featuring Gigi Grombacher. “I am such a perfectionist, I will not put out anything with my name on it until I’m clinically obsessed with it,” she said.
As for what will come next, Xandra said she’ll be releasing a bunch more music as soon as she wraps her “Body Say” tour. She shared that she’s working with “some amazing artists” that listeners probably know.
“I’m always looking at the crowd. I’m on the fly. You have to be to be super engaged with your audience honestly,” she said. “You have to be able to switch on the fly. I’ll play a song and be like ‘Oh my gosh this isn’t hitting,’ I’ll be mixing out within 15 seconds.”