We caught up with Deer Jade aka. Jade de Lavareille before a gig in Cappadocia. The Swiss-French dreamer went from traveling the world as a model to DJing at the age of 21 and hasn’t looked back for a single second. Let’s get to know her a little better.
Don’t skip on the opening act
Our scene is opening up once again and this reporter/dancer had his first time on the floor at The Moment, CPH. A festival that WhoMadeWho very successfully arranged. I was looking forward to the organisers and Äme playing live. With DJ Tennis to finish it off it could only be a lovely reentering to my beloved house community. However, the opening act was an unknown name to me. Deer Jade. Now any good raver knows this: You never skip on the opening act. And I have never been happier that I didn’t. Jade took me and the rest of the dance floor on a magical journey through high, lows, continents, decades, genres and had the dance floor buzzing from the second she graced us with her presence. Her massive smile and constant dancing put the floor at ease and made it the best Sunday in many months. I had no choice but to dance and sweat for two full hours. As faith would have it, Jade is a dancer too, so running into her on the floor meant I could personally thank her for the journey and set up this interview. Life works out pretty well sometimes.
From old, old model to young aspiring DJ
At the age of 21 Jade had been travelling the world as a model. New York, Paris, Tokyo and anywhere in between. Living this life for four years took its toll, so she decided to take a break and backpack through South America. During these travels the great Rampue was on repeat in her headphones. She came back from her travels and changes had to come. For some reason music was calling her name.
– Being a model simply wasn’t fulfilling anymore. I needed to go in another direction and music kind of just fell into my lap. My friend insisted that I come along for a DJ gig on new years eve. I was hooked from the first second and haven’t looked back since, tells Jade and continues:
– I went from being an old, old model to a young aspiring DJ almost at the blink of an eye, says Jade with a laugh.
Since her debut on New Years Eve 2018, Jade have made it into the stratosphere faster than Jeff Bezos and that’s without exploiting anybody on the way. Less than four years after her debut Jade is on the bracket with some of the biggest names in the business.
Just a little surreal
WhoMadeWho, Äme, Satori, Rampue, Acid Pauli, Oliver Koletzki and Monolink. These are just some of the names that Jade has headlined or played b2b with lately. For a young and relatively new DJ this seems like a moment to clutch your pearls and be in awe. Not Jade – for her it’s a motivating factor.
– Let’s be honest, it is surreal for me to be where I am in my life right now. Words can’t really do justice to how thankful I am for the opportunities I have had and how they have panned out. Playing b2b with Oliver Koletzki is a blessing and motivation. I worked hard to get where I am and I wanna work even harder to keep developing my skills. When you love your job, it never really feels like work. I feel blessed and I wanna pass that feeling on to the dancers, tells Jade.
Meditation is key
When Jade is behind the decks it is all about spreading good vibes to her fellow travellers in the room. Playing music gave her life meaning after modelling had Jade question her path.
– Exploring music and spirituality was like discovering my greatest purpose in life – it brought so much meaning to my existence. Ultimately we are all on a path to enlightenment, it’s a blessing to be on this journey together. Spirituality means something different to everybody even though we are all trying to find the same things. Spirituality makes me surrender to the music. The two support each other. I never go on stage without meditating first. It takes a little training to be able to do it in a club or on a plane, but that is my favourite part of meditation. It is hard at first, but you can’t really fail it, says Jade.
Meditation is the key that Jade uses to unlock the options that are within music and according to her these options are infinite.
Options x Infinity
There are more than 25.000 nerve endings in the inner ear. It is a powerful organ for interpretation and it is not without reason that music is used in therapy for dementia patients. Music is a powerful tool.
– When a DJ gets behind the decks there really is no limit to what we can do, and that is amazing to me. An infinity of options to express myself through. That’s dreamy. I am so happy that I get to play with the great powers of music, creating a safe space for people to dance and express themselves fully in. It truly feels like the greatest blessing in the universe, says Jade and you can almost hear her smiling over the phone.
If you wanna hear Jade play, follow her Instagram and see if she might be close to you soon. Or jump on a plane to Ibiza where she is the resident every Sunday at Cova Santa for Day Trip. I can highly recommend getting in a 2-4 hour dose of Deer Jade – it keeps you happy and flying high for days to come.
WORDS BY MARTIN ESKESEN
