Michele Sainte

Michele Sainte
Background information
Also known as	Sainte Michele Techstep Selectoress [1] The Sainte [2]
Origin	United States
Genres	Drum and bass, breakbeat hardcore, jungle, (early) techno, techstep, Witchstep
Instruments	DJ mixer, turntables
Years active	1986–present

Michele Sainte is an American drum and bass DJ and former techno DJ. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

1990–present: Clubs and raves

Sainte is a former breakbeat hardcore and techno DJ ^[9] that is also "widely regarded as one of the States' premiere female drumandbass DJs" according to Dieselboy. ^{[10] [11]} She is known for mixing the techstep subgenre of drum and bass. ^{[12] [13]}

She has DJed throughout North America at clubs and raves as a breakbeat and techno DJ on a regular basis beginning in 1990, dedicating herself exclusively to the Drum&Bass genre by 1995 ^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]} and performing alongside artists such as 808 State, ^[19] Joey Beltram, ^[20] Meat Beat Manifesto. ^[21]

She became a frequent guest DJ at music venues including City Gardens ^[22] in Trenton, New Jersey, Guernica ^{[23] [24] [25]} (formerly Save the Robots) in Manhattan, The Shelter (New York City), and The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Also, she was asked to be a resident DJ at Club Zadar in New Hope, Pennsylvania, in January 1990, introducing techno to the new wave venue. In addition, she became a resident DJ at several venues in Philadelphia including Evolution ^[26] and Skyline. ^[27] She is considered one of the first female techno DJs from North America and has been cited as "the original East Coast female drum and bass DJ". ^[28]

Sainte has acknowledged the support of DJ Lenny Dee. ^[29] Dieselboy has also been known to support her. ^[30] She also convinced Rhys Fulber, after he met her in the “early nineties” when she worked as a Techno DJ, to eventually produce Techno and use his German name as opposed to an alias. ^[31]

1986-1999: Radio

Sainte became licensed by the FCC in 1986, whilst still a high school student and went on to do her first radio show that same year at WCVH in New Jersey. At WCVH, she exclusively played Industrial, New Wave, and Punk. ^[32] She also worked at WFMU (named the “best radio station in the nation” by Rolling Stone magazine from 1991 through 1994 ^[33] ) and WPRB at Princeton University. ^{[34] [35] [36]} In 1995, she created and DJed on a program with live mixing at WPRB that she called Bassquake. Bassquake aired every Friday for five years. It was the United States's first drum and bass/jungle program to air on a commercial FM radio station. ^{[37] [38] [39] [40]}

Discography

DJ mixes

• Fluid Sessions - at Fluid nightclub in Philadelphia, Bioforce Recordings, 1998

Dubplates

• Badlands (1996)
• Pitch Black (1996)
• The Unseen (1997)
• Retribution with 1.8.7 (1999)
• Dreammaker with Rhys Fulber (2008)
• Diamonds from Your Eyes (2021)
• Deadlock (2024)
• Skyclad (2024)
• Roberta Sparrow (2024)
• Killer in the Home (remix) (2024)
• Like Cockatoos (remix) (2024)

Personal life

Sainte is a vegan, regularly advocating for veganism on her social media. She is also Wiccan, having trained in California in person with Zsuzsanna Budapest. ^[41] She lives on the East Coast with her cat.

References

1. Arena One, The Junglist Assault (lineup) at the Winter Music Conference. Miami Beach. 1997.
2. Diesel boy (1996), DrumAndBass Selection USA (album credits)
3. The North Will Rise Again – Manchester Music City 1976–1996, pages 339,340 ISBN   978-1-84513-534-8 OCLC Number: 1103638874 Aurum Press, London, July 2010
4. Lisa Gerson for Project X Magazine, issue 37 (1995). "The Gospel According To DJ Michele Sainte" (Interview). New York. p. 10.
5. Michelle Lolli for Urb (magazine), issue 43 (June 1995). "States Of Trance". Los Angeles. p. 19.
6. The DNB Vault (April 15, 2015). "ON GUARD: IMPERIAL (PHILADELPHIA) (Imperial Promoter's top 5 Favorite memories or milestones)".
7. Sean O’Neal for Philadelphia City Paper (November 8–15, 2001). "Spinning Scents".
8. Jeff "Ikon" Boyle & Geoffrey "GeoffE" Colon, The True History Of The Freight Yard In Commemoration Of The 17th Anniversary
9. 808state.com (1993). "808 State Live Tour Archive".
10. 50\50 Productions (September 2006), C A M O U F L A G E
11. Steel City Jungle, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1997
12. KC Bajai for Audiogliphix (magazine) Issue 20, Volume 4, Number 2 (1999). "DJ Class Of 1998" (Interview). Philadelphia. p. 16,17.
13. Rebel Bass (lineup), East Broadway, New York
14. 12 Step Program (lineup), Philadelphia
15. 50\50 Productions (September 2006), C A M O U F L A G E
16. Nocturnal Trip, Chicago
17. Camouflage at Sin Sin, New York, October 2007
18. Nebulae at Club 1415, Philadelphia
19. 808state.com (1993). "808 State Live Tour Archive".
20. Believe 3 (lineup), Newark, New Jersey, 2015
21. City Gardens (lineup), Trenton, New Jersey, 1993
22. City Gardens (lineup), Trenton, New Jersey, 1993
23. Camouflage at Guernica, May 2004
24. Camouflage at Guernica, February 2004
25. Camouflage at Guernica, August 2004
26. Resident DJs at Evolution, Philadelphia
27. Next Step's Final Step (at Club Skyline), Philadelphia, August 1998
28. Platinum. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
29. Lisa Gerson for Project X Magazine, issue 37 (1995). "The Gospel According To DJ Michele Sainte" (PDF) (Interview). New York. p. 10.
30. Dieselboy (1996), DrumAndBass Selection USA (album credits)
31. "SOUND AND STRUCTURE 12 : RHYS FULBER" (Interview).
32. 50\50 Productions (September 2006), C A M O U F L A G E
33. WFMU in Fund-Raising Drive., Pristin, Terry. The New York Times. March 13, 1996.
34. Princeton Broadcasting Service. WPRB Program Guide – 1996. Princeton, New Jersey. p. 14,15.
35. method-one.com (June 1997), Method One live on WPRB - Bassquake "hosted (and narrated by) the lovely and talented Michelle Sainte" (audio available), Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
36. Konkrete Jungle (lineup featuring Michele Sainte of WPRB). Philadelphia. April 1997.
37. Princeton Broadcasting Service. WPRB Program Guide – 1996. Princeton, New Jersey. p. 14,15.
38. "Drum&Bass Arena asks SDS about his entry point into the D&B genre" (Interview). December 2016.
39. Velocity (live interview and set), New York, August 1999
40. Drum Skool 215 (May 1997). “Trace stopping by Michelle Sainte's infamous Bassquake radio show on Princeton University's 103.3 WPRB”. Princeton, New Jersey, United States.
41. "About Michele Sainte". Facebook .