Dance Music & DJ Culture

Most of my work to date is about the sounds, cultures, and politics of electronically-produced dance music. My book, Dance Music: A Feminist Account of an Ordinary Culture(Bloomsbury, 2023) uses gender as a focal point for showing how dance floors are a reflection of the social dynamics that exist off dance floors. You can find a full list of what else I’ve written about in my publications.

I have been involved with various clubbing communities around the world and have worked as a DJ in some of them. I got most of my DJing experience in Edinburgh thanks to the accommodations and generosity of DJs, producers, and club promoters who invited me to join their line-ups. They were formative to my research in the field and are acknowledged in my written work.

I expected I would bring my research into dance music to a close soon after my book came out, so that I could focus on my new research area of labour choirs. However I have since returned to dance music in the aftermath of an event that reshaped international politics, which took place partly in a dance music context. I have a publication forthcoming on this topic in December 2026 in a Bloomsbury anthology. In the mean time, I have presented about it at:

• Music and Mediation, Elder Conservatorium, the University of Adelaide (online).

• International Association for the Study of Popular Music (Canada branch), Toronto Metropolitan University.

• Historical Materialism Barcelona.

• Keep it Simple, Make it Fast, Porto (online plenary).