Colette Marino (born May 27, 1975), known as DJ Colette or simply as Colette, is a
house music DJ, Singer and Songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. She is a resident DJ at the SmartBar in Chicago, Illinois (along with
Kaskade and others). She first gained attention when she started singing over her mixes as DJ.[1][2]
Biography
She started DJing in the early 1990s. In 1997, she helped form the all-female DJ group SuperJane with DJ Heather, DJ Dayhota, and Lady D.[3]
During the preparations for her album Push, she married actor/rock musician
Thomas Ian Nicholas in 2007. They have two children, a son born in 2011,[4] and a daughter, born in April 2016.[5]
In 2003, she was, along with
Paul Van Dyk and
Felix da Housecat, chosen to advertise
Motorola's cellular phones. Her song used in this commercial would go on to win Dancestar's Best Song Used in a Commercial for Motorola. She also received "Best Breakthrough DJ" award.[1][6]
Her album Hypnotized was the most downloaded house dance album on
Apple's
iTunes Music Store in June 2005.[7][8] Her song What Will She Do for Love from this album was a
Billboard No. 1 Dance Club Play Single.[7] The title track, Hypnotized, was licensed to the movie The Devil Wears Prada for the soundtrack.[7]
In 2013, she released her third Album, "When The Music's Loud". The album featuring influences of
Italo disco and
Electro. The record received favorable reviews from Spin, Pitchfork and Slant.[11][12] The album, which was recorded in
Williamsburg,
Brooklyn and
Los Angeles featured production of producer
Tim K, who helped her develop the record with her over a three-year span.[13] The record also featured the production of Santiago & Bushido, Nick Chacona and DJ Teenwolf. A studio tour in late 2012 revealed Colette recorded the vocals for the album on a Peluso P-12 and through a vintage recording chain. Sonically, the album made frequent use of
vocoders and
talk boxes.[14] The album featured a sample of
Trax Records artist Adonis, on the second single "Hotwire".[15] The album release date was August 27, 2013.[16] The record was made entirely without live musical instruments.[3]
In December 2013,
Billboard named Colette's album "When The Music's Loud" one of the top 20 Dance Music Albums of 2013.[17]
In May 2022, Colette filed for divorce from Thomas Ian Nicholas.[18]