In a college town like Amherst, full of pop-up parties and student-run shows, it’s not easy to stand out, but GRLBIZ takes the cake. Grace Lei and Julia DeMarco, UMass Amherst seniors and DJ GRL and DJ BIZ, have been on the rise in Amherst’s party and fashion show scene since last spring. Mixing pop, hyperpop, rap, and classic 2010s music, the duo brings a fun, lighthearted vibe. “A lot of what we do is very unserious,” said DeMarco. “We just want to play things that people want to dance to.”
Becoming GRLBIZ
Lei, a Public Health and Economics major, and DeMarco, a Legal Studies and Psychology major, originally met through mutual friends at a party that DeMarco was on aux for, with Lei joining in on the queue. “And we were like, ‘Wait, we’re kind of good at this,’” she reminisced.
The first informal GRLBIZ occurrence was at Lei’s birthday party last April, where the two had originally planned to each have their own set, but ended up helping each other out. They found that they worked better together and planned to make it a recurring thing: “After her birthday party, it was pretty consistent, like every weekend since then,” noted DeMarco.
WMUA, the student radio station at UMass Amherst, which Lei has been a part of since her freshman year, gave her access to the DJ board, which is how Lei and DeMarco taught themselves to mix and DJ as of last spring. This semester, Lei has a radio show called “Round Table (for 2)” where she is also known as DJ GSLEI. She co-runs this show with her friend every Monday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“The two of us like to go out, but we don’t go too crazy,” said DeMarco. “Both of us really just enjoy listening to music and curating music, so it’s fun to be behind the DJ booth.” They also said that their music tastes are similar; they can come together with more unique songs rather than on their own.
The pair also credited Jimmy DuBon and Slayn Stacy for their success. Both individuals hosted several events featuring GRLZBI which highly contributed to getting them into the party scene last year. They also credited Walkd1gital, a close friend (with whom they DJed with almost every event), for helping to get them into this scene as well. “They were like the vessel for us being able to DJ,” said DeMarco.
They also noted that most of the Written events, hosted by DuBon and Stacy, were male-dominated since that was the group hosting it, but they tried to branch out to others, like GRLBIZ.“That’s part of why Jimmy and Xander would encourage us to play at their shows,” said DeMarco. “They had a lot of boy DJs, which are all very talented and awesome, but they were like, ‘Come on, you guys gotta play something for the girls.’”
The GRLBIZ experience
GRLBIZ’s has since DJed at several independent fashion shows and events, some of which had over 200 attendees, and their first official appearance was in May 2025 at an afterparty for a Written brand fashion show. “They were the ones that were like, ‘Give us a DJ name, we’ll give you a space to play and you’re always welcomed,’” said Lei.
Their first show this fall semester was on September 20th at the Bulkhead, which was a more intimate show with around 50 people. They also DJed at the UPub on September 25 and at the Sex on the Lawn event on September 26.
DeMarco reflected on their recent events, saying “Both went pretty well… we’re still getting on our feet with the semester starting; we definitely don’t have as much time to practice this year but we’ll make it work.”
Lei also reflected on this, saying that despite having less time, “the first time we played this semester at the Bulkhead, it showed we didn’t really need to. It’s good to but we can just freestyle. It’s in our blood.” The two said that freestyling as they go is usually when they have the most fun DJing — “You pick a song, I pick a song, and if we mess up, we giggle about it and just slide it over. Just keep it moving,” said DeMarco.
The future of GRLBIZ
With both DJs graduating this year, the future of GRLBIZ is uncertain, but they’re hopeful for the future. “I would love to keep DJing,” said DeMarco. This is all the more reason to go out to see them perform before the year ends! To stay updated on events, follow them on Instagram. Lei’s WMUA show is also on Mondays on 91.1 FM from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m..
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