DJ Moni began collecting vinyl at the age of nine - once her parents bought her a turntable after moving to the US from Colombia. The Caribbean and African rhythms she grew up with were met with the bass-heavy electro, hip hop and new wave sounds of the early eighties. Her love of music and dance moved her to DJ and co-host a radio show in Washington DC 's WVAU in 1991. After graduating college she worked for an independent record label as she explored early house, jungle and trip hop.
In 1997 she moved to New York and worked for songwriter Denise Rich, who at the time wrote songs for Diana Ross, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Mary J Blige and Marc Anthony. Moni was also part of the team that organized amazing events for Ms. Rich with performers and hosts like President Bill Clinton, Stevie Wonder, Bill Cosby, Mariah Carey and Russell Simmons.
By 1998, Moni was booking and promoting club nights downtown featuring DJs, live drum & bass and visual artists inspiring her to return to the decks professionally at her weekly La Chaza party. This was an open format for underground music where she spun alongside Bob Sinclar, Spinna, Jonathan Rudnick, JC (Amalgamation of Soundz), Russ Jones, Smash, Qool DJ Marv, Maurice Fulton, Gamall & Neil Aline.
Moni has since held residencies throughout the city and her clients have included Issey Miyake, Highline Ballroom, Dwell Magazine, TV Azteca and Sephora. She has played at Roseland, Vinyl, Central Park SummerStage, APT, the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, Heyden Planetarium and internationally in Japan, France and the Philippines.
Thanks to Moni’s knowledge and love of numerous musical genres, she was hired as resident of the Highline Ballroom, opening up for acts as diverse as Paul McCartney and Amy Winehouse to Mos Def and Talib Kweli to Greyboy All-Stars and Secret Machines. She has also shared billing with Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, Osunlade, Nostalgia 77, LTJ Bukem, SA-RA, Rainer Truby, Daz-I-Kue, Benji B, IG Culture, Sarah McLachlan, Maceo from De La Soul and N'Dea Davenport from The Brand New Heavies.
In 2003, Moni joined the all-female dj crew, Ubiquita. Soon thereafter, fellow DJ, Reborn asked her to tour nationally with the critically acclaimed hip hop theater show, "Flow," providing a live on-stage score - scratching and mixing on cue to great reviews in the LA Times, Washington Post and a nomination from the 2005 Helen Hayes Theater Awards. She has since worked as Music Director & DJ for numerous theater productions, has been a resident artist in the NY public school system and currently teaches after school arts programs. Her work in theater led her to produce music, creating the original score for the "We Got Issues" national tour and working on her debut release with Gaea for Fall 2007.
In April, Moni was part of the Giant Step roster at the Winter Music Conference with acts like Gilles Peterson, Jazzanova, Simbad and Kruder & Dorfmeister. She recently became the first female DJ to mix the Cornerstone / Fader Magazine Suite 903 series. Moni has been named one of "New York City's 15 Hottest DJ's" and has been featured on the cover of the Village Voice, in the NY Post, Time Out NY, Suede, & Trace Magazines. She continues to spin her unique mix of music her Giant Step radio show, The Spectrum, with the Ubiquita crew and independently at clubs, corporate and private events.
DJ Moni will perform at Axis Jakarta International Java Soulnation Festival 2009 on 31 October
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