At Electric Zoo, we took some time to catch up with Alison Wonderland, an amazing DJ and female role model. EZoo was her first show back after having a baby boy in June 2023. Here’s what she had to say about motherhood, her career, and festival fashion.
iHR: How has becoming a mother changed your life as a DJ?
Alison: I’ve been playing a lot of music to my kid. There’s actually a video of me the other day testing out unreleased music on him. It hasn’t really changed that much, it’s just made it more fun…I’m stoked to be back and I feel really energized after having a child. I’m super ready to go hard again because I was playing the whole time I was pregnant, but I was obviously really careful. Now I feel like I can rage again. This kid’s gonna have to deal with videos of his mother online for the rest of his life so I just need to play a really good show and set a good example.
iHR: What first got you into making music?
Alison: I’ve always been a musician my whole life. I was a cellist before this, then I played in punk bands. Then one day I heard a song called “Silent Shout” by The Knife when I was working in a nightclub and I lost my sh*t. This electronic music felt very emotional and I felt very connected to it. I thought “that’s what I want to be, I want to change everything and I want to start making electronic music.” I saved up and I bought a laptop and I basically tried to copy The Knife. That’s how I learned to produce. When I did it, I never knew it could be a career, it just made my heart happy.
iHR: Who would be your dream collab or B2B?
Alison: My dream collab would be Lana Del Ray. My dream back to back would be like Aphex Twin or someone I looked up to when I started. I did back to back with RL Grime already and he was one of my dream back to backs.
iHR: When it comes to festival fashion, how would you describe your style?
Alison: Big t-shirt! My whole career has just been me in a very large t-shirt…I usually have no pants. I feel hot and cool in my favorite vintage t-shirt. I did a collab with iHeartRaves, it was awesome.
iHR: What is next for Alison Wonderland?
Alison: More music!
