Before Eve Salvail was a dance music DJ, she was a globe-trotting Canadian supermodel whose bald head and striking features graced the covers of Vogue and Elle fashion magazines.

But when this former muse of French bad-boy designer Jean-Paul Gaultier strutted off the catwalk and headed behind the DJ decks five years ago, the move was met with some derision.

'I felt discriminated against as no one believed I could play,' says Salvail, 35, who will be spinning in Powerhouse dance club tomorrow, on the phone from Miami.

'They didn't tell me but I could feel the vibes. But it didn't stop me from what I had set out to do.'

Now, having earned her stripes and brandishing a new moniker DJ Evalicious, she is a familiar face in New York's club circuit.

Salvail, who lived in New York for 16 years and is now based in Miami, says there are advantages to being a woman in a male-dominated industry.

'There is less competition,' she quips.

The 1.78m-tall clotheshorse, who sports a Chinese dragon tattoo on her shaven scalp, started modelling in the early 1990s after Gaultier spotted her pictures displayed in a cafe in Montreal.

But modelling did not obscure her love for music. One of her biggest influences is American club DJ AM, also known as Adam Michael Goldstein.

'When I first saw him play, I told myself I could be just as good... or even better,' she says.

She is one of a growing number of fashion models who has moved to spinning music. Others include British model Sassy Pandez, who played in a street party here last month, and Scottish lingerie model Catherine McQueen, a regular guest DJ in Hacienda bar in Dempsey Road last year.

Salvail says she is all 'geared up' for her first club gig in Singapore.

Her appearance is part of the inaugural three-day Lah! Mardi Gras Festival, which kicked off yesterday at Powerhouse and The Bellini Grande in Clarke Quay.

The event is co-organised by nightlife chain St James Holdings and talent agency Fly Entertainment.

Fly's chief executive officer Irene Ang says she engaged Salvail as she is 'one of the hottest female DJs in New York' who is versatile in many genres from R&B and hip-hop to pop and dance music.

Mention Singapore and instead of citing the cuisine here like most other visiting artistes, the DJ, who has visited the city five times on holiday, raves: 'I love Sentosa... the beaches are so beautiful.'

But the androgenous looker declines to discuss her private life. Two years ago, she caused a stir when she spoke about being a lesbian on The Tyra Banks Show.

Asked if she would embark on an acting career, she sounds non-commital as she says: 'I had roles in Fifth Element and Zoolander but I'm not that good getting into the emotions, although I have studied method acting.'

You get the feeling she would rather emote through her tunes from behind her DJ console.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.