Star DJ Maya Jane Coles pulls into SA

Meeting people you've only heard of spoken in wonder-struck tones is often unsettling.

As a general rule if you spend more than 30 seconds with them, you begin to notice some of their Ozymandian qualities - how their legs are made of social media likes and marketing fluff.

Given her diminutive frame and soft-spokenness you may even venture to think that the musical PR machine would have a little problem bending Maya Jane Coles into whatever shape it found most profitable. If you did you'd be making a mistake.

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For more than a decade Coles has been carving out a niche as a creatively uncompromising artist, something of a Margaret Thatcher in producer's clothing.

"With my creativity I don't feel like I've ever compromised. I think that's how you build a long-lasting career. The moment you start compromising you have to carry on compromising and that would defeat the point of being an artist," she said.

Coles, repeatedly named one of the world's best DJs and producers in the past decade, was recently in South Africa to promote her new project with Boiler Room, an online underground music platform.

The project, which culminates in an EP to be released in the coming weeks, has seen her collaborate with South Africa's Culoe De Song as well as other producers from Russia and Spain.

"This is the perfect experience, especially visiting South Africa and a city I've never visited before. Because I travel so much, coming into new territory doesn't happen a lot," said Coles.

In a world in which music is as disposable as those goofy semi-plastic cameras we used to carry around, Coles is determined to make sure her brand of sound doesn't get swept away by the prevailing trends.

"Making music that's listened to and respected and that lasts is my primary ambition," she said.

Perhaps that's why she made the trip to the bottom of Africa. Despite our voracious appetite for house and dance music, South Africa remains something of an unexplored "Cave of Wonders" for many international producers.

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"I've only heard good things about the crowds here. From what I have heard there's definitely a real scene for house music in South Africa, which I didn't expect at all," she said.

Some of the good things she's heard included Culoe De Song's work.

"I had heard some of his [Culoe De Song's] stuff and so when it came to picking someone to remix me, his sound stood out. I liked that he carries the vibe of the traditional sound here and crosses it over with other elements of house," she said.

The result of their collaboration is likely to have fans sweating beads of ecstasy and will hopefully be a lesson about the potentially delicious value of not compromising.

•To see Maya Jane Coles and Culoe De Song play in Johannesburg, or for more information, visit boilerroom.tv.

•This article was originally published in The Times.