Carmen Johnson is an active DJ, singer and actress born in Detroit who performs under the name sillygirlcarmen. She’s played in many exclusive settings around the world. From Detroit to LA, Montreal to Paris. And festivals such as Charivari Detroit, Movement, West Coast Weekender and Miami Music Week.

Carmen is known to craft passionate sets that energize the room and ignite the dance floor. Highly requested, she has played alongside industry favorites such as Louie Vega, Moodymann, MK, Nora En Pure, DJ Minx, Rich Medina, Delano Smith, Will Clarke, Eats Everything, Gene Farris, Green Velvet and Osunlade. She is now focused on her production and original music releases from Nervous Records, Popgang Records and Soul Clap Records. House Legends Karizma and Glenn Underground, among others, have already crafted one of a kind remixes with her original works. Carmen is 100% passionate about music, arts, and all things involving creative expansion.

The real power of creativity goes beyond the artistic vision and the ability to imagine and create something new. Great Artists are also willing to risk failure in the form of negative criticism and the social and financial ramifications that go along with presenting their creative vision.

DJs are not always celebrated for the true Artists they are. Always seeking to recapture what made a performance so special while at the same time, wanting it to feel fresh instead of repeating the same past sets, popular selections or formula. Recycling mixes and drops from the previous time on the decks won’t engage dance floors. Branding, marketing and presentation along with knowledge of the craft are now key elements of the business. Music selection, performance style, and skills are the new currency and your pure unique sound and ability to connect with the audience is where you will ultimately make your bank.

Sillygirlcarmen is a newgen idealist when shaping her sets. Her approach is unmarred by purists’ notions of what device or technology makes the DJ. Hers is a focused appreciation of the music, and its delivery in the mix, with the goal of making the audience center stage. It is the people on the dance floor and their connection with the track selections that will create the memory of the night. Your brand flourishes delivering these good times, and those present will tell the stories.

In a world where technology appears to make it possible that “anybody can be a DJ now” and at a time when everything musically is available to everyone, you must find your niche and something that sets you apart from your contemporaries. Just like each generation of DJs before, new DJs are brimming with fresh ideas and a unique perspective. As one of the newest members of the Detroit DJ legacy taking her seat at the table, Sillygirlcarmen is a glimpse of where the DJ world could be. She brings a multifarious Artistic approach to her direction as DJ/Producer/Graphic Artist/Actress/Model. Instead of likes and followers, the goal is authenticity and connection. 

Sillygirlcarmen is uncompromising in her journey with the music and its history. She has youthful insistence and a voracious drive for consistent discovery of old music to present in the context of a contemporary mix while also keeping her finger on the pulse of new music. Each set that she delivers is more about the collective and experiential rather than the individual delivering. Detroit born sillygirlcarmen aka Carmen Johnson is the daughter of Todd Johnson, an early pioneer DJ and promoter of Detroit dance music culture and one of the principles of the annual Charivari Detroit Music Festival.  Her childhood was filled with full access to mixed CDs from the best of Detroit and many Detroit legends (Delano Smith, DWynn, Terrence Parker, Eddie Fowlkes and others are decades long family friends.)

Sillygirlcarmen passionately embraces the culture. A sillygirlcarmen set doesn’t flow with intent; it could be better described as unfolding more in reaction to her feeling in the moment. In these moments, is where her groove becomes more deliberate over time, more urgent, and sometimes intense while progressing. She makes selections to respond to the crowds movement as needed, at times sonically alluring and ambiguous, and other times absolutely in your face. The collision of DJ, music, and craft sparks a mesmerizing energy in her dance floors. She is always focused on the process while never losing sight of keeping the communication clear with those in motion. She delivers the soundtrack for the experience that you came to hear.  Sillygirlcarmen is one of the new DJs of this generation with a message that the legacy of this culture is in good hands to all those who care to listen. Sillygirl “ I’m looking forward to playing more, creating more, being a part of more. I’m so grateful for the chance to share my expression thru music and shared spaces. These are the most ideal moments for enjoying life.”

The future will see the scene shift and current and new Artists will musically lead the way. That process cannot be routine or always traditional, but more thoughtful about the different ways that this music and events can be presented. It will require a more inclusive approach along with leadership, partnership and community. DJ culture is an artistic route of creative music delivery that has strong collective histories and memories; but it’s also the path into new extraordinary articulations of music, dance floor magic and community possibility. Sillygirlcarmen is out there grinding and banging to be part of making the destination possible and audibly pleasing. And there is nothing silly about that.