Las Vegas Weekly

Getting to know… DJ Tatiana

Tatiana! Give it up for the Tao Beats winner!

Photo: Mikey McNulty

Seven talented she-jays. One grand prize of $2,000 and a residency at a Tao Group venue. The competition was fierce—DJs Tina T, Lady Sha, Supra, Madam Filth, Sarah Fab and Miss Dust. But taking home the title at Tao Beats and winning over the crowd was Tatiana, a house DJ who moved to Vegas from LA about a year ago for a residency at a party that quickly pulled the format plug. She was left stranded with a lease and no way to pay the rent.

Tatiana had played gigs in front of thousands—spinning at Coachella and holding down a residency at Hotel Ibiza in Oakland—but she was ready to work at Starbucks and give up on her dream. Then she learned to spin more commercial music and hip-hop, priming her for the June 25 competition on Tao Beach. Tatiana spins Wednesdays through Sundays at Shadowbar; you can also hear house sets from her Fridays at Electronic Music Café.

I’ve been DJing professionally for about eight years.

I grew up with a lot of guys who were DJs and they played raves and parties and were like, “Hey, we want to have an afterparty and we want to get together with these chicks, so will you just DJ some down-tempo stuff?” I’d DJ an afterparty while they’re all macking.

My parents didn’t want me to be in the music industry. My sister died in a car accident, so I was their only one left. They were like, “We want you to go to school, we want you to be a lawyer”… As soon as I got an English degree from UCLA, I was like, “[Music] is what I’m going to do with my life.”

Every one of those tracks I played [at Tao Beats] I love … The people, maybe they saved up for a year to go to a club, maybe they work a 9-5 job and this is their night out—it’s about them, not about me. It’s about giving the people the best night of their life.

If I could play house gigs every single day I’d be stoked. But also I’m a DJ and I’m in love with music. I feel so lucky every single day.