Sydney Blu

With beginnings in Toronto, Canada performing at The Guvernment, Footwork Nightclub, and the LGBTQ2S+ community, Sydney Blu now tours the globe living life through music. In 2009, she founded her imprint, Blu Music, on the principle of dancefloor-rich house and techno, the following year she extended her brand introducing her legendary Blu Party. Sydney has released music on some of the most recognized labels in the industry including Hot Since 82’s Knee Deep in Sound, Katerblau Berlin’s Katermukke, HE.SHE.THEY, Steve Lawler’s VIVa Music, Desert Hearts Records, Deadmau5’s Mau5trap, Universal Music, Adam Beyer’s Drumcode and Truesoul, Yousef’s Circus Recordings, Kevin Saunderson’s KMS Records, DJ Minx’s Women on Wax and more. Her release “Give It Up For Me” on Mau5trap earned Sydney a #1 hit on Beatport for over 3 months. With multiple top ten records since then, Sydney continues to chart every year including another recent top ten called “Mind Games” on Hot Since 82’s Knee Deep in Sound which was premiered by Billboard Magazine.

Further to Sydney’s success as a producer, she’s maintained a relentless touring schedule as a DJ. Sydney’s North American performance schedule has brought her to headline major venues like Output (Brooklyn), Stereo (Montreal), Space (Miami), Space & Destino (Ibiza), Avalon, Sound, and Exchange (Los Angeles), CODA (Toronto), Sisyphos (Berlin), Club NL (Amsterdam), and more. In November 2011, Sydney performed at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, for the deadmau5’s Meowingtons Hax Tour in front of 35,000 fans, the largest solo headlining dance event in Canadian history. Since then, Sydney has headlined nightclubs and festivals all over the globe including Electric Island Toronto, The BPM Festival Costa Rica and Mexico, Digital Dreams Toronto, Evolve Festival Halifax, Burning Man, and Ultra Music Festival Miami, and enchanted crowds with performances across Europe, South America, Asia, Tunisia, and Egypt.

In late 2021 Sydney launched the #23by23 campaign (now called ‘Change the Beat’) with the help of Native Instruments, Beatport, and a run of A-list dance labels. The campaign’s aim is to help elevate and educate women and gender expansive artists in electronic music. Over the course of the last 2 years, the campaign has turned into a full-time non-profit that has signed over 75 female and gender non-conforming artists and mentored them on their production journeys. To support this initiative, Change the Beat, Native Instruments and Beatport are hosting remix competitions with labels like Mau5trap, Drumcode, Insomniac, HE.SHE.THEY, Anjunadeep, Hospital, Toolroom, Club Sweat, Gorgon City’s Realm, Nervous, Desert Hearts, Poker Flat, Rawthentic, Circus Recordings and more. In October 2023 ‘Change the Beat’ became one of the recipients of The Beatport Parity Fund which marks the commencement of the organization’s next stage—to disseminate their message globally through a series of club events and showcases while also adding an education/mentorship chapter. “Change the Beat” events will take center stage in nightclubs and festival stages, and feature top-tier headliners and accomplished alumni, all with the goal of spotlighting the music cultivated through their program.

One of Sydney’s greatest accomplishments to date has been her recent successful advocation for a new category at Canada’s largest award show ‘The JUNO Awards’ called ‘Underground Dance Single of the Year’. The category was successfully accepted by the JUNO’s in June 2021 and presented its first award in 2022 with Sydney Blu as its Chair.

With no signs of slowing down, expect many new upcoming releases from Sydney Blu in 2024 and a full touring schedule.