Alison Wonderland has always been somewhat of a mystery to me. Seemingly out of nowhere, she burst into the forefront of electronic music after building a loyal fan base in Australia behind the scenes. As someone who has focused on the country's producers for the past two years, I was curious to find out:a.) How she'd evaded my ears until this Leaderboy remix showed up on my SoundCloud eight months ago.b.) If she had what it takes to go from the Hypem fad to a household name."I never aimed to get famous, I kind of just stumbled upon music" Alison admits over Skype from a sunny Sydney office, "I ended up focusing hard on production and DJing because it made me happy. At the time, it was one of the few things that made me happy, so I did it for the love." It wasn't until Alison politely asked if I didn't mind her eating a bowl of spaghetti that I realized the brand she had built for herself—an approachable, sincere girl that wants people to have fun—really struck me as being true to herself. In the current climate, many artists bounce from being one-love reggaeton producers, to trap dons, to sad boys in a matter of weeks. Finding an artist whose brand reflects who they are is as rare (and rewarding) as finding that perfect Dorito at the bottom of the bag.If not the result of an inner desire to "make it big," then where could her inspiration to succeed in music come from? Alison is open about her strong friendship with What So Not, her nightly Skype calls with Jessie Andrews, and her family in famous bands. It's obvious that music occupies every facet of her life, but she admits, "The reason I bought a Macbook Pro was to start producing. When I started, I used to produce under the name Whyte Fang. When I heard "Silent Shout" by The Knife, I listened to it over and over, and that's how I learned. Something really spoke to me sonically. I always used to get goosebumps."Since its release, I've been curious to learn how "I Want U" came to be co-produced by LA producer Djemba Djemba, a man we've had an enormous amount of respect for since day one. The single, taken from Alison's brand new EP has been a hit in every sense of the word, but the connection between the two still confused us. Sparked by a conversation from Garth Crane, Alison's manager, Djemba Djemba agreed to meet her at the Mad Decent headquarters in LA during her most recent trip to the States. The two clicked, exchanged beats, and as luck would have it, they met up the following week in Australia while Djemba Djemba toured there. "I Want U" and "Sugar High" were completed and the results were phenomenal. Alison's collaboration with Lido on the EP, Cold, involved a bit more butting of heads. "We were funny in the studio because we would have little snaps at each other the whole time," she said, "but we worked extra hard and really pushed each other. I was going through some really fucked up shit at the time and we put that into the song. We get along really well and actually talk all the time."Alison Wonderland's latest EP may only be available in Australia at the moment, but she recommends you do whatever you can do to get it into your iTunes.Rip it. I don't care. Just get my music out there #yolo RT @dashiell: @cjfisherr @awonderdj http://t.co/39kbbjbT2q— Alison Wonderland (@awonderdj)July 3, 2014Ziad hates raves and loves Instagram. Send him stuff: @bluuuuueeeeeee
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