Sara Tea

In 2020, she had planned on releasing her first solo EP titled Soft Revenge, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the release until 2021. The EP was originally going to be recorded at High Bias Records in Detroit with Chris Koltay (The War On Drugs, Akron/Family, Deerhunter), but due to the pandemic, Sara produced it herself throughout 2020. She was inspired to self-produce by a conversation with Heba Kadry.

In December 2020, she was accepted into Giphy artists.

In 2015, she was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a form of dysautonomia. This caused her to have issues drumming and performing basic tasks, leading her to take a hiatus from 2017-2020. Her first solo EP Soft Revenge is expected to be released in 2021.

In 2015, she moved back to Los Angeles and lived there until 2017, when she moved to Michigan. She took a 3 year hiatus due to her illness and played her first show in March 2020.

In 2012, she joined the Chicago all-female Beastie Boys tribute band, She’s Crafty, as the group’s first DJ. They met at an all-women comedy showcase at the Book Cellar called The Kates. She remained in the band until 2013 when she moved to Florida.

In 2011, she hosted a show on Indie 103 called NXT LVL, before moving to Chicago, Illinois later in the year.

In 2011, she was the drummer of the band The Hildegard Knef. She left the band later that year due to medical issues, which ended up being diagnosed as dysautonomia in 2015.

In 2011, she began her podcast, Sara Tea Time. It has featured guests from comedian Aparna Nancherla to Broad City’s Ilana Glazer to Ben Roy. The focus of the podcast is interviewing creatives about “their world and how they manifest” and their creative process. As of January 2021, there have been 15 episodes of the podcast.

In 2008, she moved to Los Angeles and in 2010, she was listed on LA Weekly’s “Top 5 Hottest L.A. Lady DJs”.

From 2008 to 2009, she was the drummer for Josh Taylor’s Friends Forever.

In 2007, she created the soundtrack of the play 1001, a postmodernist take on The Arabian Nights, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Director Ethan McSweeny felt that they needed more than one artist’s take on the play, deciding that a DJ could provide a “cultural smash-up” of different genres, generations, and cultures. Sara was recommended by the sound designer due to her reputation with Danceotron.

In 2007, she started a band called the Little Heads, now known as Clotheshorse.

In 2006, she was named one of The Denver Post’s “Six DJs you ought to be dancing to” and was described as having an “electro-booty synth” style. She was praised for introducing audiences to new sounds and evolving to develop more than one style.

In 2004, she received awards from The Denver Post for Best Underground DJ and from Westword for Best Dance/Electronic DJ.

In 2004, Sara opened up a boutique shop called Chielle in Denver. At its original location, it served as a clothing shop, selling local literature and music and hosting occasional concerts. When they relocated, they started hosting performances by artists like K Records founder Calvin Johnson, Michael Hurley, and Dear Nora. In 2017, Chielle was listed on Westword’s “10 Bygone Alternative Spaces That Shaped Denver Underground Music.”

She was the drummer for the band The Hot House from 2003 to 2005.

In April 2002, she started "Denver's No Bullshit Dance Party,” Danceotron, at Hipster Youth Halfway House. "I put up rules like 'Leave your attitude at the door' to make it clear that this night was for dancing.”

In 2002, Sara worked in the sound department on the movie The Next Industrial Revolution.

In 2000, she moved to Denver, Colorado. There, she got her first DJ residency at the Snake Pit.

In 2000, she was the drummer for the indie-pop band Clever Elsie.

Sara first began playing the drums in 1999 after a mentor gifted her a drum set. She had tried several instruments throughout high school like guitar, keyboard, and cello, but none “clicked.” She took a month of drum lessons and two months later was playing shows. Around the same time, she began songwriting and producing.

After graduating from high school, she moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1996. She began working as a preschool teacher’s assistant and in video production until she landed 2 on-air radio positions in 1997 - KUCB (now popularly known as Radio 1190) and the online radio station gogaga.com, one of the first online radio stations in the country. Around this time, she got involved in Boulder’s rave scene and going to underground dance parties.

Sara Tea (born May 13, 1978) is an American musician, DJ, artist, and producer. She is best known for creating Danceotron, Denver, Colorado’s “No Bullshit Dance Party.”