Jayda G

Boundlessly energetic and optimistic, Jayda G produces warm, uplifting house music with a spiritual aura. Her DJ sets are more likely to feature vintage disco, boogie, and soul tunes than the latest club tracks, and she enthusiastically sings along and dances behind the decks — she considers herself more a performer than a disc jockey. While her primary aim is to have fun and connect with people on the dancefloor, her work is also highly informed by her love of nature and concern for the environment. She earned her master’s degree in Resource and Environmental Management, focusing on environmental toxicology, and her 2019 debut full-length, Significant Changes, incorporated the sounds of killer whales into its lush, euphoric rhythms. She earned a Grammy nomination for her 2020 single “Both of Us,” and released her first mix CD, DJ-Kicks, in 2021. She moved toward a more vocal-heavy dance-pop sound with her second album, 2023′s Guy, which was inspired by her late father and based on extensive research of her family’s history. Jayda Guy grew up surrounded by mountains, forests, bodies of water, and fresh air in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada, several hours away from Vancouver. She was trained in classical piano and violin as a youth, and grew up listening to genres such as jazz, blues, and R&B. She began collecting records and learning how to mix in the early 2010s. Jayda got deeper into house music during a brief period of living in Los Angeles, and began to connect with local house DJs after moving to Vancouver. She also began producing her own tracks around 2014. After co-hosting several events with Norway’s DJ Fett Burger, the two of them founded the Freakout Cult label. They co-produced its first release, 2015′s “NYC Party Track,” as well as “Velvet Vortex” with Sleep D, on Australian label Butter Sessions. Jayda’s first two solo EPs, Sixth Spirit of the Bay (1080p) and Jaydaisms (Freakout Cult), both appeared in 2016. After increasingly spending more time traveling abroad for gigs, Jayda relocated to Berlin in 2017. She remixed songs by HAIM and Perel, and continued releasing EPs like Swirl Shake Mix (Geography Records). Following the 2018 single “Diva Bitch,” Jayda launched JMG Recordings with her Sacred Spaces EP. Both featured vocals by her close friend and frequent collaborator Alexa Dash. Jayda earned her master’s degree and completed her debut full-length, titled Significant Changes after the most frequently used phrase in her final thesis. The album was released by Ninja Tune in March 2019, shortly after Jayda hosted a pair of JMG Talks sessions in London, allowing young scientists a platform to engage in a dialogue about their academic work. Double A-side Both of Us/Are U Down appeared in 2020, and the lead cut became Jayda’s most heavily streamed track to date; it was also nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. Jayda’s volume of the long-running DJ-Kicks mix series appeared in 2021. In 2022, Jayda collaborated with Aluna on the song “Mine O’ Mine” and remixed Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero.” She released her sophomore full-length, Guy, in 2023. The album was interspersed with archival recordings of her late father, William Richard Guy. ~ Paul Simpson