Get to know J. Worra, the tech-house purveyor with a big party attitude

Dance music and club culture have played a huge role in Jamie Sitter’s life. Growing up surrounded by cornfields between Chicago and Milwaukee, she lived with the fear of being cast out by her family and small, conservative community, and struggled with being gay in small town America. “For the longest time, I felt that it wasn’t OK to be who I am,” she explains. “I didn’t come out publicly until last October.”

Jamie’s life began to change when clubland took her under its wing after she moved to Chicago in 2010. Hearing local legends like Green Velvet and Gene Farris engendered a dance music obsession, and she soon began to pursue a career in music, as J. Worra.

Only a year after first cutting her teeth in both production and on the decks, she entered a competition for a spot on Spring Awakening festival’s line-up in the Windy City. Not only did she win; she went on to win every DJ competition she entered after that. “When I first started, I was still really struggling with who I was,” she says. “Winning those competitions gave me validation, purpose and reminded me how crucial music is in my life.”