⬐ Amplify ⬎
DJ Ca$h Era
It is difficult for CaSera Heining, known as DJ Ca$h Era, to be silent when confronting the seemingly automatic limitations her gender, queerness, and Blackness have had on her career. A constant effort was needed to get gigs at Chicago clubs, even in the seemingly accepting Boystown neighborhood, “You walk in and nine times out of ten it was a white guy. I never saw a girl DJ, unless I went to Hydrate for the drag shows.” Heining reported. A sad truth that is hopefully, especially with the current movement, going to start to change. An outspoken advocate for the equitable booking of DJs in the city, Heining is no stranger to taking to task the cities club scene for it’s rare bookings of Black DJs, Black queer DJs, and Black Trans DJs. “I’ve never been booked at a club in River North. I’ve never been booked at a club that has a dress code or a high ass door charge, and from what I hear no one that is queer has been booked at any of these clubs. It’s rare they have Black DJs at these clubs. They love to book White DJ’s to play Black music. That’s bullshit. If it’s good enough to play us in the club, hire one of us to play the shit in your club,” she said.
Over the years she was able to get her foot in the door in Boystown playing Replay, Scarlet Bar, and DJing the “Unfriendly Black Hotties Show” at Splash Chicago, but she still gets approached at gigs by people surprised to see her performing. “Even now, some people will approach me and say, ‘I’ve never seen a Black DJ in here.’ That’s crazy. Or they’ll say ‘I’ve never seen a female DJing here.’ Wow, that’s crazy, the fact that people are still noticing that shit after all this time says a lot. It’s getting better, but it definitely needs to grow more… They’re missing the mark.” With an impressive resume including being the Official DJ of Young Chicago Authors and their popular Louder Than A Bomb series, her work as a producer at WGN radio, and various bookings with the likes of BET and a commercial for AT&T, it would seem any club would be lucky to have DJ Ca$h Era but the struggle continues for Heining. “I used to try to get booked in these clubs, but then I just said fuck it. If you don’t see the value of me being in your club, that’s your loss. There are other venues that do want me to spin. I stopped trying to get booked in those clubs because it’s clear they don’t want me there.”
Born on the South Side, as a toddler she moved with her Mother and maternal Grandparents to Sauk Village in the far South Suburbs, and attended high school in nearby Crete. After college she took over her childhood home, where she now resides. As a teenager she had dreams of becoming a forensic scientist, but with her interest in music she decided to switch to studying radio in her senior year. As a Freshman at Columbia she took a DJing course as a lark. “It was an easy A class, you can just coast through it, and it was already in the building with the rest of my classes. I took the class, and it was the start and foundation of everything else.” Heining said.
Her instructor DJ Inc became her mentor. He even helped in getting her first booking. The first four years she saw DJing as a hobby, a feeling she attributes to the affection she has for the art: “It’s always been, and I hope it always will be, just the love of doing it.” Some of her inspirations include Boi Jeanius, Timbuck2, DJ Billa, DJ Ash B, Sahar Habibi and “of course” DJ Jazzy Jeff. “Most DJ’s look up to him in some shape or form.” Heining commented.
When not gigging she produces for WGN radio and independently on The Corner Store Podcast. She loves her job and is proud they are so supportive, even if she wishes there was more diversity in her field: “Radio off rip is a very white male dominated field. Much like any other field. Outside of that they are very accepting. They really understand my work as a DJ and they respect it. I don’t know anywhere else I could work that I could tell them ‘Oh, I would pick up that shift but I have a DJ gig.’ And their response is ‘Ok, perfect, go for it.’”
In the world of DJing, having regular gigs is essential and Heining’s resume boasts being the Official DJ for the Northwestern Mens Football and Basketball teams for 3 seasons a few years ago, and her work with Young Chicago Authors (YCA), also as their Official DJ. “Honestly it means the world to me. YCA will always hold a special place in my heart, because they were the first people to give me a chance to DJ… I say time and time again, that I would not be who I am, or where I am, without them.” she said, “Now I’ll have kids that go from Freshman to Senior year with me at Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB). And at times, when kids are about to graduate they tell me ‘ I wasn’t going to do LTAB this year, but I did it because I knew I was going to see you at my bout.’ Or, ‘I’m going to miss LTAB but I’m really going to miss seeing you DJ the bouts that I’m in.‘ Knowing that is a thing, it really touches my heart every time. For them to tell me that I am one of the things they look forward to.”
Though for her it goes beyond just DJing to be a part of YCA and LTAB. “Knowing what I represent to the kids. When I was in high school I didn’t see anyone that was Black or Queer or a Woman, let alone all three, DJing or working in the arts of any sort. I can only imagine what it means for these people in high school to feel themselves represented in a field that you are intrigued by or interested and infested in.” It’s one of things she is most proud of.
One day a YCA gig led to a once in a lifetime opportunity as a photographer noticed her outfit and took some photos. Weeks later she got a DM asking her to meet with an ad agency to be a part of AT&T’s Area
Code advertisement and represent Chicago. “That’s how it happened. Because I wore a blue velvet durag and some custom Air Force Ones to a gig one day.” And the wheel of fate landed her another dream gig performing at the premiere of BET’s show Twenties, “That was nothing but pure fate and Black women believing in me.” she laughed. After a series of missed emails and misunderstood messages, the gig was set and she ended up having an hour set after the premiere of a show about someone like her, “I think it made it more special to see a Black Queer Woman DJing a set right after the show.” Henning commented.
📷: Rena Naltsas
Quarantine presented its own challenges to every artist but DJ Ca$h Era has been keeping up with her residencies. Doing brunch from 11AM - 1PM on Twitch every Sunday and her residency at Harbee’s every third Friday of the month on Mixlr. Or surprise sets out of the blue, “Random days when I’m sitting around the house bored I’ll hop on.... With Ms. Rona shutting everything down, I went into a super determined mode to still DJ. I can’t DJ in public but what can I do? I lost all my gigs, like everybody else, but I decided to look at different avenues.” she says. Like battling with her friend Ryan on Zoom and inviting their friends to the party. You might catch her on Instagram, but the IG police are out to get DJs on the platform so she generally stays away these days.
As the Black Lives Matter movement has moved into the mainstream public consciousness she feels the time is right to focus on getting Black DJs booked saying “If you are involved in the nightlife scene, put on Black DJs, specifically put on Black Women DJs, put on Black Trans DJs. There’s enough men, in general, who work everywhere… If you have the capability to do that, do it. Also share more Black art… Talk about that shit with your friends.” And there is work to be done with your thumbs and influence, “Encourage your friends to follow artists. It sucks but a lot of people get booked based on how many followers they have. Do that shit, follow these people. Engage and interact. It’s free to retweet or like these people,” she says. “During this time people are actually coming forward and saying ‘You know what? You’re right. This is fucked up and this shit needs to change.’ It’s beautiful to see. I think a lot of good work has come about because of it. There’s been a lot of good work done, there’s more that needs to be done. It all literally happens one person at a time, one day at a time.”