Unlocking
Jovella
What brought you to San Diego?
Jovella graduated from college and chose San Diego as her home after attending school in Central California. Originally from the Bay Area, she relocated south after important people introduced her to the city. She secured employment at a local homeless shelter while pursuing opportunities in the music scene, which solidified her decision to settle there.
What inspired you to enter the music space?
Music shaped her life from childhood. Her grandfather Joe Vella, a jazz drummer in San Francisco, and her mother, a fitness instructor who played electronic music, heavily influenced her musical exposure. In college she joined KCPR radio station where she learned live mixing and became involved in festival production through a collective. Upon moving to San Diego, she collaborated with Church of Music and Afternoon Umbrella Friends before founding Sisiety.
Talk us through your favorite genres to DJ?
Jovella's DJing style has continuously evolved. She began with deeper, afro and tribal percussion influenced sounds inspired by Marques Wyatt and Keinemusik Crew, and subsequently explored organic house, deep house, tech house, minimal house, and eventually techno and breakbeat. She described her approach as "a bit of a buffet," explaining that the more she DJs, the more she yearns for the challenge of making unconventional sounds mesh together in a cleverly crafted way.
We love your style, can you tell us about your ethos on fashion, art and self expression?
Fashion represents personal empowerment for Jovella. She has prioritized distinctive self expression since childhood, when she wore rainbow suspenders to fourth grade. She favors colorful outfits with funky patterns and prints, primarily thrifting or purchasing handmade pieces from local artists, and says her style is 100 percent her and makes her feel empowered wearing pieces as original as she is.
You're a self proclaimed dance floor enthusiast, so when you're going out dancing in San Diego on a night off from DJing, where will we find you?
While San Diego offers quality music venues and artists, Jovella noted the city needs more active dance culture. She enjoys club experiences in Hillcrest and the Gaslamp but finds her best groove at festivals like Lightning in a Bottle and outdoor renegade events, where she feels safe, respected and inspired, conditions she actively cultivates in her own events.
Walk us through the inspiration that led you to create Sisiety. What are your goals for the collective?
Sisiety emerged from a single event concept, The Gala, held at Revel Revel in January 2022, featuring an all female identifying lineup and production team. Jovella observed that New Year's Eve lineups contained few female artists, reflecting broader industry underrepresentation. Though Sisiety originated spotlighting female performers, it evolved into an intersectional space for a variety of identities who often go overlooked, including queer folks and people of color, providing opportunities for underrepresented artists while fostering community through events, workshops, education and advocacy.
What did playing San Diego Pride 2022 mean to you?
Playing San Diego Pride represented a major career milestone and personal celebration for Jovella. The 2022 festival marked her first Pride fully embracing her queer identity, which she described as one of the most humbling experiences personally as a queer identifying person, allowing her to celebrate community diversity while performing.
That place has such a sentimental draw for me, it's where I fell in love with house and techno music.
Who are your 'ones to watch' from the San Diego scene?
Jovella highlighted several emerging talents: her Sisiety residents Dusty and Sophia, Kendall Mangano and Embher, Veluda's founder Taylor Celeste and featured artists Anastasia and Ana Valdes, LA based Jacob Cardell with Complicit Club, Suppa, and photographer Dakotah Puccio.
If you could play anywhere, at any venue in the world tonight, where would it be?
Jovella chose the Woogie Stage at Lightning in a Bottle, saying that place has such a sentimental draw for her, it's where she fell in love with house and techno music and it inspired her enough to start DJing in the first place.
What are your future plans, and what should we look out for from you?
Currently prioritizing balance and sustainability, Jovella plans to pursue local performances, festival appearances, outdoor events and original music production. She aims to develop vinyl mixing skills and explore creative projects beyond DJing, with her primary focus remaining on developing Sisiety while growing as an artist.
In what ways can the San Diego dance community support you or collaborate with you?
Followers can track updates via her Instagram and Sisiety's account. The collective offers an Intro to DJing workshop and volunteer opportunities, and her music mixes are available on SoundCloud.
Lastly, what's a track you want to share?
Jovella recommended Logic1000's "I Won't Forget," calling Logic1000 a significant inspiration.
Jovella