Photo by Kelly Anderson
DJ Queen Meabh
DJ Queen Meabh performing at Cactus Club
DJ Queen Meabh’s motto is, “You’ve got to play the stuff that you really like,” and that motto has gotten her far in a short amount of time. The beloved Milwaukee entertainer is locally treasured for her eclectic taste blending electronic genres like deep house and techno with classic disco and dance music. Since launching her career in 2024, Meabh has been a frequent performer at Bay View joints like Blackbird Bar, Cactus Club and Wiggle Room. She has also performed at Canni-MKE, The Sugar Maple, Boone & Crockett, The Mothership, Red Maple MKE, Club Timbuktu and many other spots around town.
A Queen Meabh set might include ‘90s house artists like Crystal Waters or Joey Negro, then get into classic disco music like Loleatta Holloway, followed by some of her personal favorites like Daft Punk or Etienne de Crecy. “I want to make people feel like they’re partying on a French rooftop with a cigarette,” she says.
Whether she is DJing with vinyl or a controller, Meabh embraces proficiency at both, likening it to writing a letter. “If I’m using vinyl, it’s handwritten and a little bit messier, but it’s also more personal,” she explains. “When I’m using a controller, I use all four channels when I’m mixing so I can be more precise and get extra depth.”
Sense of Community
For Meabh, however, DJing is not just about the music—it has also given her a strong sense of community she never quite had before. “I’ve pretty much met most of my friends through DJing,” she affirms. “When you play the kind of music that you really like, and then somebody walks up to you and says it’s great, then let’s be friends! If you like this, then I got tons more.”
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Meabh grew up on 33rd and National, which exposed her to a wide variety of music through her childhood. “We would be hanging out in the backyard and hear mariachi music, or blues music from across the street,” she remembers. “My parents were pretty rock ‘n roll, and their friends were into punk and new wave.”
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But when Meabh first heard “One More Time” by Daft Punk at a grade school dance, she immediately went to her local library to pick up the Discovery CD. “I didn’t really like a lot of pop music, but that was different,” she continues. “I didn’t know anyone else who liked it, so I kept it to myself for a really long time.”
Authentic Connection
In high school, Meabh started listening to artists like Justice, Kavinsky and Death From Above 1979. Once she went off to college at UW-Madison, she quickly found herself connecting authentically with the sweet, simple pastime of going out dancing. “My friend took me to go see Asher Gray,” she recalls. “Seeing him DJ changed my life.”
Not long after that, Meabh DJed for the first time at a college party. Her dad had introduced her to Electric Light Orchestra growing up, and Meabh vividly remembers picking an ELO record from a stack of vinyl and having a blast that night. As time went on, she wanted to DJ again—but did some soul-searching first. “The first step was me having to deal with some really uncomfortable stuff like being sober and then thinking about my gender,” Meabh shares. “I was newly trans, trying to find myself, and I had just gotten dumped so was trying to get myself back into the world.”
In 2022, Meabh had moved back to Milwaukee, and she was ready to start going out dancing again and nerd out about music with folks. Around early 2024, Meabh was eager to find places to DJ. She went to Promises one day, where she saw they had turntables. “My friend Olivia was working behind the bar, and I got the gumption and asked her, “hey, can I do that sometime?”,” Meabh remembers. “She put me down for that Thursday.”
Meabh was thrilled. “I could finally play this 1998 house track that I bought the 12” for like five years ago.” She had a great time, and shortly after ran into her friend Kelly Anderson, who asked Meabh to DJ for his birthday celebration - also at Promises. “That second time, I noticed I was trying to beatmatch more. I was really starting to have fun but really wanted to get better at it too.”
Turntable Tips
Photo by Kelly Anderson
DJ Queen Meabh performing at Cactus Club
DJ Queen Meabh performing at Cactus Club
Honing her craft, Meabh learned a few turntable tips from Asher Gray while also studying French DJ sets. “DJ Falcon is one of my hugest influences,” she mentions. “He can mix four different-genre songs, where he’ll take Blondie with Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk deep cuts and something else he made, and layer it all at the same time—it’s awesome.”
Nothing makes her happier than receiving a fist bump, high five, nod or thumbs up from someone during or after her set. “I got two girls kissing at my birthday party, so that made me feel pretty great,” Meabh laughs. “That’s an indicator that we’re going in the right direction.”
In fact, DJ Queen Meabh is excited to debut her Out! queer dance party series, which will bring in DJs from other cities while featuring local performers as well. The first official Out! party is this Saturday, December 5 at Cactus Club, starting at 10 p.m., featuring sets from Queen Meabh, Gigi Sa3id from Chicago and XEXYZ from Milwaukee. Tickets can be purchased here.
“Out! is a callback to these alt parties that are non-Top 40 and all queer or femme DJs,” Meabh describes. “It reminds everybody how the house scene started, and who it started for—people of color and queer people—so they get highlighted as much as possible.”
For bookings, contact DJ Queen Meabh at thedjqueenmeabh@gmail.com.
