Maya Jane Coles: Triple Threat

Maya Jane Coles is a U.K.-based triple threat: audio engineer, producer, and DJ. She makes music under her real name (mostly house), and also plays under the alias Nocturnal Sunshine (dubstep) and collaborates with Lena Cullen to make up the electronic dub duo She is Danger.

Coles started off producing in her teens, with mostly hip hop and trip hop tracks. She expanded to house in the late 2000’s, when she released her first two records under Dogmatik Records. She started making music as She is Danger in 2009 and as Nocturnal Sunshine in 2010.

She is Danger got her experience working with musicians like Ellie Goulding and Gorillaz, but Coles’ real break came in 2010 when she released an EP What They Say on Real Tone Records. She then became one of DJ Mag’s Best Newcomers of the Year, and the EP’s title track became one of the the year’s most-played tracks on Resident Advisor.

In 2011, she landed a cover feature in Mixmag, and the BBC nominated her Essential Mix for Essential Mix of the Year. In the same year, she was awarded Artist of the Year at Beatport Awards, Producer of the Year by DJ Mag, as well as Mixmag’s Best Breakthrough DJ and FACT’s Female Artist of the Year. Coles released her debut album, Comfort, was released in 2013 under her own label I/AM/ME.

Since then, Cole’s discography has been an upward spiral of features, collaborations, and mixes. What They Say also re-gained popularity in 2014 when it was sampled in the Nicki Minaj track Truffle Butter. Her most recent album, Take Flight, was released in 2017.

Keep up with Maya on Instagram and Twitter, and hear her music as Maya Jane Coles, Nocturnal Sunshine and She is Danger on Soundcloud.