LADYMONIX on Why She Left LA and Made Detroit Home | Living for the City Full Interview

LADYMONIX is a Detroit DJ who drove across the country from LA in 2016, spent her first year just going out and dancing, and has held a Sunday night residency at Motor City Wine for nine years. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.

In this interview, LADYMONIX talks about why she left LA — the cliques, the cutthroat energy, the $3,500 overhead that made creativity feel impossible — and why Detroit gave her something she didn't even know she was looking for. She talks about how she got the Motor City Wine gig, why she plays five-hour sets every week, and what it means to build a room where people feel free enough to actually dance. She opens up about DJing as healing work rather than power, why she dislikes the word "fans" and prefers "supporters," and how Detroit's crowd changed the music she makes because they already know exactly what they like.

She also talks about why 90% of her guest bookings are women, why that never needs to be announced, and the lineage of women who came before her in this city — DJ Minx, K-Hand, Stacey Hale — and what it means to keep that door open.

This one is about finding the place where your work finally makes sense.

CHAPTERS

00:29 - Landing in Detroit: Why She Left LA and What She Found Here

03:45 - The Scene in LA vs the Scene in Detroit

07:08 - Affordability, Anxiety, and What Financial Breathing Room Does for Creativity

09:18 - Nine Years at Motor City Wine: How the Residency Started and How It Held

12:02 - DJing as Healing Work, Not Power

14:20 - Reading a Room on the Fly and What Detroit Crowds Demand

17:19 - Digging Every Day and How Detroit Changed Her Taste