DJ Minx

Born Jennifer Witcher on 9 October 1967 in Detroit, the artist known as DJ Minx has been a pivotal figure in the city's house and techno scene since the 1990s, both as a force of nature behind the decks as the founder of the trailblazing DJ collection Women on Wax (formed in 1996) and label Women on Wax Recordings (launched in 2001). She cut her teeth in radio, first engineering and hosting the electronic music show Deep Space Radio on WGPR (Detroit) and later hosting the University of Canada weekly radio programme Steamy Windows on CJAM 91.5 FM. Fuelled by Detroit's next-level electronic music heritage, she was moved to start DJing after watching the talents unfold at Detroit's Music Institute, drawing particular inspiration from a Derrick May set, and in 2000 performed at the first Detroit Electronic Music Festival. She got into production around the same time, dropping her debut Introduction EP in 2001 followed by Airborne that same year, carving out a minimal house success story with "A Walk in the Park" in 2003, released on Richie Hawtin's Minus label. The Fuzzy Navel EP came in 2004 and a collaboration with Detroit house producer Pirahnahead as Animal Trax. However, in spite of her game-changing CV and her regular appearances at Detroit's Movement festival over the years, DJ Minx only began achieving substantial notoriety in the 2010s. In 2018, she was given a Spirit of Detroit award by Detroit City Council for her "exceptional achievement, outstanding leadership and dedication to improving the quality of life." After deciding to focus on music full-time, she swapped her job in the Motor City's world-famous auto industry for a handful of releases, dropping 2020's Violet Groove EP, which contained a new version of "A Walk in the Park," and that same year also turning in a storied BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. She came out as a lesbian in 2021 during Pride Month and released the "Purse First" single with proceeds going to Detroit's LGBTQAI+ Ruth Ellis Center. 2022 saw the release of the new single "Do it All Night," with a remix by Honey Dijon and a Carl Craig edit, while she was also asked to curate her own stage at Movement that year. The "D Town" single arrived in 2023 while "The Throne" was put out on Diplo's Higher Ground label.