This infectious spirit, paired with enduring curiosity, has helped make JNETT one of Australia’s most respected house music luminaries. Since emerging from Melbourne’s club scene in the early ’90s, she has worked behind the counter at Central Station Records, championed electronic music on ABC TV’s Recovery series and become renowned for her adventurous selections.

Across more than three decades, JNETT has also warmed up for legends like Frankie Knuckles, Theo Parrish, Moodymann, Larry Heard and Honey Dijon. Today, she remains embedded in Melbourne nightlife as music director of Music Room, curating its weekly rotation of local and international talent. In conversation, JNETT reflects on playing alongside her son at Pitch festival, the evolution of Australian dance floors, and her still-burning desire to make more music.

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Hey Janette, what’s been happening?

I’ve just come back to work after some time out, so have been busy with my day job doing bookings at 270 Lonsdale Street [Melbourne]. The building is called Her and it's basically four levels of different venues. There's Melbourne Music Room on the first level, which is essentially a listening lounge, then on the second floor is a bigger room with dance floor vibes that builds up every Friday and Saturday. And then there’s Arbory Afloat which has just reopened for Spring. So, it's all happening.

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You played back-to-back with CC Disco at Pitch Festival earlier in the year. How was that gig?

It was so much fun. We got to play three and a half hours, starting in the afternoon through to sunset. We've never played together before and we didn't plan anything, which is always more fun because you can be in the moment and vibe with what’s happening. I certainly never pre-plan sets anyway and I just knew from the moment CC played her first track, I was like, ‘Fuck yeah, this is going to be fun.’

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And then last year you played back-to-back at Pitch with your son, Otteo. That must have been special.

It was. It was a bit of a last-minute thing. I came home one day and said to him, "Oh, by the way, guess what? You and I are playing on the main stage at Pitch." [Laughs] I think it was a pretty full-on experience for him. But it was daytime and we opened up the stage, which was a good way to ease into it. And we got to hand over to Honey Dijon which was exciting. We played together again just a few months later for the Freeform Festival afterparty and that was one of the best back-to-backs I’ve ever played. We were really in sync. He always surprises me with his digging. Just the other day he sent me this obscure song, which was actually a record I had got when I was living in London, though he didn’t know that. I have no idea how the hell he found it, but there’s a synchronicity between us that freaks me out! Like he’ll play a sample of something I was obsessively into 30 years ago. As I keep saying, it’s genetics, as in JNETT-ics.

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You’ve said your love and discovery of music growing up came from a place beyond your awareness. An energy that seemed already present, not as a direct result of outside influences, but a given. Could you expand on that?

Oh my god, did I say that? I'm practically in tears because it's so true and still exactly how I feel. It’s difficult to explain, but the best way I could describe it is:

Yes, essentially, we're a product of our environment and what we're exposed to, but I do think there's an innate awareness in all of us. A familiarity of things you've never ever been exposed to before, but when you find it, you know it’s always been there. That it has always existed.

I know that probably sounds super trippy! I grew up in a country town in South Gippsland where there was no real exposure to culture. My father is from Sicily and my mother is Serbian, so that traditional music had a big influence on me, but there was no exposure to any other music. As a kid I had an obsession to play the piano and I didn’t let up on bugging my parents until I got one. That’s where my love for music began and along the way, every step I’ve taken has just felt instinctively right.

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You probably get asked this a lot, but how did you land the TV presenting role on Recovery? Had you studied media or journalism?

No, not at all! Basically that came about from all my years working at Central Station Records. One of my colleagues who dealt with merchandise and clothing, her sister was working for the ABC. I was in New York at the time for a convention, seeking out new equipment for the store. She contacted me and said they were looking for a dance music presenter on this new live TV show they were developing. I was like, "No fucking way." I was so awkward in front of people back then, but I figured it was an opportunity to throw myself into the deep end - they could only say no. It turned out all the applicants were from entertainment and modelling agencies, and I guess I was the only authentic one. I got the gig and suddenly I was doing live television. Many times I’d finish a gig at 4am and go straight to the ABC studios without any sleep. Often that was clearly obvious! It was a great opportunity to push the kind of music that I was really into. During the 90s, the ABC was more interested in indie rock; dance music wasn’t really on their radar, nor did they necessarily rate it.

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It's funny to think that, back then, the only ‘dance’ music the ABC or Triple J would consider were the big acts that bridged the gap between rock and electronic, big beat groups like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, even Sonic Animation.

Yeah, or Regurgitator. How times have changed. It was a great gig though. I got to work with some big names like Public Enemy, which was very significant for me. Hanging out in the green room was so much fun. I remember Flavor Flav wandered around the studios and the group thought they lost him for a minute! It was such a great experience and I met some fantastic people.

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You said Apollo Festival was one of your favourite features you worked on at Recovery. Why was that one special?

Because it was so relevant to what I was into. I mean the lineup was crazy; DJ Sneak, Doc Martin, Ultra Nate, Basement Jaxx, Jeff Mills, the list goes on. It was the first electronic festival of its kind at the time. Now, things have well gone in that direction, but at the time there was only the Big Day Out, which obviously had the Boiler Room, but there were no festivals solely focused on dance music. Apollo was the first. I’ve got a bunch of VHS tapes of that time in my shed. I should digitise them.

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You came up as a DJ in Melbourne at the height of progressive house, when genres and parties tended to stay firmly within their own lanes. Is it liberating that things have opened up since then and you can now play almost anything, almost anywhere?

Oh yeah. It's funny how it all comes around. I remember when we got the first Moodymann release when I was working at Central Station. We only had three copies come in compared to bigger releases where you’d receive a bulk of records. It just wasn't the sound that many people were digging at the time. Progressive house was huge at the time, but it wasn’t really my thing. Now, to see Moodymann play Federation Square full capacity, is kinda wild.

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You describe your sound as ‘never the same twice’. Do you think being a DJ who likes to play many genres has been helpful or a hindrance to your career?

That's a good question. I'm still pretty active now, so I guess it hasn’t been a hindrance! And it's not like I'm chopping and changing constantly - it’s predominantly playing house music that I play these days but leaning into different vibes within that spectrum. I was very heavily into jungle when it first emerged, but playing it here was challenging because it didn't have as much relevance as in the UK. To see how huge that UK sound is now, especially amongst younger generations, is pretty sick. I think limiting yourself to one genre too much is just limiting your own self. There's so much great stuff out there. I recently played an eight-hour set which allowed me to be eclectic and venture through the different sounds that I like. It’s all about presenting it in a way that makes sense and doesn’t sound disjointed.

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For your Wildfire EP in 2016, you got to work with Maurice Fulton. How did that come about?

We met while he was living in Melbourne for a period of time in the 90s. We did quite a few gigs together, played Honkytonks a few times. I was heavily into his Eddie & The Eggs productions, which spun him out because those were quite obscure at the time. Still to this day, they are in my top rotations of music to play. 

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I love his remix of ‘Love Endeavour’ by Alice Smith.

He's an amazing producer. Very unique and always has that funk element. When I’ve been working on music I’ll often send it to Maurice for a potential remix or just for his opinion. He’s been a great mentor to have.

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Are you working on any music at the moment?

Yeah, I’ve been starting to. I guess it’s always something that’s been a frustration for many years, because I haven’t dedicated more time to it. But it’s hard to try and do everything at the same time! And there’s always been an element of fear to step out of and know that I can do it. I definitely have a burning desire to make more music.

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As someone who’s enjoyed a lengthy career, is there still anything you’d still like to achieve artistically?

Yeah, I'm going to release an album! [Laughs] It would also be nice to get out of the continent and play elsewhere. And I did do that a few years back, but now that my kids are grown young adults, it’d be nice to do that again while I still can. I love playing in Melbourne and being involved in the community here, but there's certainly some sound systems around the world I would love to play on.

I’m actually super excited to be playing 77 again. It's my favourite place to play in the country. It's a basement, it's dark, and there’s not a lot of big, bright LED screens and lights. It just feels like a nice underground space. And it has an awesome sound system. After I first played there, I came back to Melbourne and said to the people I work with, "Wow, that sound system is just unreal." And it turns out Mickey [Levis] - who's done the sound systems for all the venues that I work for - did the sound for 77. No wonder it sounds so fucking good! So yeah, I’m excited to be coming back. And with Mike Who! He’s awesome.

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