Read the JAY ME Interview below and share it on social media.

Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?

Hi I'm JAY ME... or Jaime.

I am a DJ from Cape Town, South Africa. When I'm not DJing or doing music I review textbooks and create e-learning content. As you can probably tell, both music and education form a large part of my life.

How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years?

From an early age I gravitated mostly to Frank Sinatra and jazz which influenced me to take on jazz piano later on in life. As I hit my teens, my attention was diverted to local South African music; Pitch Black Afro, Mandoza, Judith Sephuma, Malaika and Brenda Fassie, being some examples. I listened religiously to 'Ultimixes' on a local radio station, 5fm, which often featured artists such as Euphonik, DJ Cleo and DJ Kent - this is where my love for house music was really ignited. I was then, naturally, also a big fan of Soul Candi's compilation CDs.

As I grew older and started to go out more I became influenced by the sounds I was hearing being played by various artists and DJs. When I moved to Dubai and travelled the world as an air hostess, the music that I was exposed to in each place as well as through the numerous people I met has also served as a massive influence. It was actually during my time in Dubai that I discovered that I wanted to elevate my passion for music by DJing and so I downloaded some software and began to teach myself.

What´s new right now?

I have recently done a podcast for a Cape Town based label called The Deep End. It should be released on SoundCloud sometime this week.

I have many gigs coming up between now and the end of the year but one that I am particularly excited about is on the 16th of December at Yours Truly on Kloof where I will actually be playing b2b with my brother!

https://soundcloud.com/jaime-alexandra-symonds

https://www.facebook.com/DJYMEE/

https://www.instagram.com/jaime_symonds/