During the late 80's, CJ strayed from her music briefly to attend to personal matters. She
donned her extremely infamous alter ego (only known by a select few) for 14 years, but the
passion of music never died. She found some enjoyment in the latin hip hop/ club music
scene, but she needed more. One day, some colleagues invited her to the Trocadero in
Philadelphia to hear Robbie Tronco, a pivotal event in CJ's life. The sound and the
atmosphere created by Robbie Tronco burned passionately deep in her psyche forever
changing her. CJ's hunger led her to New Brunswick, NJ to a club named Todd's, where she
began a friendship with Resident DJ Robert Perez, becoming his backup dj. As their
friendship grew, Robert brought his "little sister" to his favorite hangouts throughout NYC,
leading her to become a familiar guest fixture at the legendary For The Record record pool
owned by Judy Weinstein and Dave Morales. She spent many days and nights, absorbing
knowledge from Darrin Friedman and Jeffrey Allen. CJ accompanied them to many venues,
also being schooled by Frankie Knuckles, Junior Vasquez, Johnny Vicious, Danny Krivit,
Danny Tenaglia, Baby Hec Romero, Hex Hector, Bill Coleman, and Gant Johnson. They saw
"Connie" on a regular basis and allowed her to learn the craft.Still hungry, CJ came across DJ Rick Miko at a record store in Western NJ, who invited her
to her first rave. This was her first exposure to a harder edged style. Her next step was
attending a rave in Philadelphia after a day of shopping. When DJ Dozia Blakey of the Black
Banana was a late show at the Silk City rave, DJ Jay Goodwill put CJ on the decks. As
"Connie" spun, Dozia showed, liked what he heard, and let the newbie spin for half of his
set. CJ became a regular guest dj at the Freightyard in Allentown PA, spinning with
Residents GeoffE, Miko, and Ikon. She also started playing the East Coast rave scene
officially using her own name, CJ Peak.CJ still frequented NYC and found a middle ground in both music scenes. Bucking purists
on both sides, CJ was one of the first djs to successfully spin what is known as "hard
house". One dj impressed with her fusion style was Dj Manny Ward. He invited her to hang
out with him at his various club nights, which led her to becoming Manny's warmup dj at
Sound Factory Bar, including New Years 1994. When Frankie Knuckles arrived, CJ and
Manny moved to the downstairs lounge, repeating the cycle for many months.CJ embraced the "family" atmosphere of both cultures and felt it was time to contribute.
Another budding dj, Emily Ng, was introduced to CJ, and the two became like sisters. Emiy
and CJ put their heads together, and with the help of scene Celebrity/Goddess Jacquie
Bacquie, threw Mix Up, their first party as the House Of Musique. Supported heavily by her
Allentown "family" and introduced to the elite of NYC, CJ's career began its rise. CJ traveled
with Eightball Records to San Francisco and met DJ DRC, striking an empowering
friendship. In 1994, DRC introduced CJ to promoter Alex Carson, which found CJ
becoming a guest DJ in Atlanta for different events, spinning with J-Luv, Debbie DeLeo,
and Mike Music. CJ was also introduced to Vicki Ori, a Chicago promoter, and was invited
to spin at a Chicago warehouse party. Vicki's party merged with Miss Cookie's party, and all
their djs got thrown in a crazy mix with DJs Justin Long, Traxx, and one exceptionally
humble dj who shared his set with CJ, Derrick Carter.Word of mouth brought Gabriel (The Prophet) to CJ's door. After experiencing CJ's passion
with the music, Gabriel offered to showcase CJ and her choice of DJ's. Seeing an
opportunity to push the image of "a good dj is a good dj", CJ set out to amass a collection
of DJs that would break sterotypes. The first House Of Musique Tour took place with the
talents of DRC, Sista Spinsta, Devil Girl, Michele Sainte, Rachel, Emily, CJ, and an unknown
Canadian, Miss Bianka. A special bonding took place, and the next leg of the tour made
HOM international. Miss Bianka organized the tour for Ottawa, Ontario as Heartbeat, a
benefit for the Heart Foundation of Canada. During the planning of the event, circumstances
brought Devil Girl, Rachel, Emily, CJ, and Bianka closer, strengthening the core of HOM.
As time went on, many more were added to the list of HOM's beloved friends and family,
including Acid Maria, Misstress Barbara, Dose The Alien, The Prophet, Shortee and Faust,
Manny Ward, Jay Goodwill, Eric Figlioli, Lockheart, and Panda, to name but a few. The
Friends and Family of the House Of Musique have touched every continent but Antarctica
(we might melt it). Always in mind were the other two components of HOM: the promoters
who painstakingly put together the events, and the party-goers who fueled the fires, the
love embodied in the House Of Musique, transcending boundaries. This is CJ's family, she
is the Mother of the House.This profile was edited with The CricketSoda Myspace Editor
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