By: Alyssa Leli
Meet Jane Saitova, a passionate DJ and music enthusiast who has been spinning tracks at Maker Park Radio for the past year.
“I have a compelling need to share music,” said Saitova. “It doesn’t matter who’s listening, I do it because I want to play music.”
Saitova, also known as Saint Hartley, has her own show at Maker Park Radio called Stoned Soul Picnic where she plays music from her personal catalog, highlighting her favorite artists that mostly live in the psychedelic realm. She primarily does themed sets but tries to incorporate every genre that she can.
While studying the music industry in college, Saitova joined her college radio station where she started her radio journey.
“It was something that I just did entirely for myself,” she said. “It was just fully built on a past love for radio.”
Saitova had recently left a job that had nothing to do with music and was looking for experience in the industry again when she stumbled upon Maker Park Radio. She had attended the annual record fair, where she was photographed by Maker Park Radio’s own Tom Ferrie. When those photos surfaced, she got in touch with Tom, and the rest is history.
In the year that she’s been there, Saitova has found community within the DJs at Maker Park.
“It’s really great to be able to discover music through them and with them,” she said. “We all get to indulge in each other’s favorite things together.”
Saitova has done countless shows over the past year and recalls her most recent show as being one of her favorites.
“I did sort of a house music theme and that one was fun because I don’t typically venture out into that genre,” Saitova said. “I just pulled a bunch of favorites of mine and people really enjoyed that one.”
She also mentions that one of her shows last month for Black History Month was also a favorite of hers because she got to highlight a ton of amazing artists and play a bunch of jazz and rock.
As for her musical inspirations, Saitova has a long list of musicians that she looks up to. Throughout her teenage years, she was drawn to alternative rock, including bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes. Nowadays, she draws inspiration from Tame Impala and different Aussie psych rockers. But, as she mentions, nobody gets left out of the equation; she feels inspired by everyone.
Saitova hopes to work in radio for a long time. She is currently working as a playlist curator for a music licensing company where she curates playlists from their production music catalog for digital media clients.
”I think maybe ideally I’d like to have my own show,” she said. “I just want the creative expression to share music and meet individuals and maybe have them on my show.”
Saitova’s sets are a reflection of her vast knowledge of genres and artists, and she is not afraid to venture into new territories. Her love for music and radio shines through in her curated sets, and it’s evident that this is what she’s most passionate about.
“The best reward as a DJ is when somebody takes away a song from your set that you didn’t expect them to like,” said Saitvoa. “Now they have a new song tucked away into their catalog because of you.”
Saitova plays at Maker Park Radio every other Saturday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Make sure to tune in to her show!