Miss Dre’s Full-Circle Moment with Dirtybird Star Justin Martin

Every artist has a moment in which they realize they want to pursue their chosen craft. Tech house DJ, producer, and vocalist Miss Dre (real name Drea Kaplan) fell in love with dance music watching a set from Dirtybird darling Justin Martin.

Attending the 2014 iteration of Northern Nights in the California Redwoods to hear bass music artists spin, a young Drea was unexpectedly introduced to the heady four-four rhythms of house from the San Francisco tastemaker. Eight years following her fateful journey to music festival Northern Nights, she is now providing direct support for Justin Martin, with the legendary house music mainstay requesting her to open for him and rinsing her tracks in his own DJ sets.

Miss Dre speaks highly of Martin, recalling the path that set her down this course. “It’s honestly synchronicity,” she said during Gray Area’s Spotlight interview. “I met his girlfriend three years ago. I didn't even know it was his girlfriend, we just clicked. She started supporting me and we became good friends. Then he came to a show of mine, and he's just so incredible. He's so nice, so humble, and just a sweetheart.”

Martin’s support of new artists helped Miss Dre to find her footing in the house scene, including him eventually asking her to rework “Lezgo” for the 10-year anniversary remix pack for his debut album on Dirtybird, Ghettos and Gardens. “It's very full circle and endearing,” she says. “He definitely [played] a big part in me wanting to produce house music.”

To other budding house heads, Miss Dre effuses on the impact Justin Martin has had on her love of the genre and eventual career in the music industry as an artist and songwriter. “He makes very diverse music; he's able to be very eclectic,” she says. “How can you not like it? It's very easy to listen to. If someone is a newbie to house music, I recommend Justin Martin. You can't not like him.”