ALISHA is an underground house music producer, DJ and name that is firmly keeping her proud home city of Peterborough’s name on the map in the scene of house music, as she regularly steals the show in some of the industries most respected hot spots and their respective parties. In a scene that has become so competitive and saturated it goes without saying it is difficult for anyone to showcase their talents regularly – but Alisha’s unique style, high energy and technical ability that she injects into every one of her sets, ensures she secures her name on mammoth line ups and turns the heads of so many promoters, party goers and nowadays even the most established selectors and creators. Ahead of her performance for Toolrom at their Eden Ibiza residency, we caught up with her for a quick chat…
Where are you right now and what are you doing?
In my studio working on some current music!
The last few years have seen your career go from strength to strength- can you remember any defining moment/track/night you went to where you resolved to make music your career?
Honestly it’s all gone so quick I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to make it my full time career. I was hungry for it at the start and just made sure I did everything in the right way to achieve everything I have so far.
Sometimes a lack of confidence can hinder someone’s ability to put their work out there in order to be heard- can you offer any advice to people who feel their stuff might not be ‘good enough’ and how you yourself combat feelings of self doubt?
I had and to be honest still have this feeling. But I’ve realised you have nothing to lose and to just go for It, you will have more no’s then yes’s but its how you deal with it which is most important. Most big names in the industry now will listen to your music / advise etc etc. Send it to your friends in the industry who are going to give you HONEST feedback before sending to labels & DJ’s. Honest feedback is so important.
What do you think you would be doing if it weren’t for music?
Probably still working at the Harvester carrying on working my way up and taking advantage of the salad bar 🙂
We read that you come from Peterborough in the UK- what is the music scene like there and do you have any favourite nightclubs?
The house music isn’t great at all apart from one event ‘Mixology’. Once a month they bring the biggest names in the house music scene to Peterborough. That is the only event here, which is a shame but they’re doing amazing and have really helped me gain that local support. Hopefully in the future I’d like to throw my own party for sure.
If you had to pick only one thing to do for the rest of your days, would it be mixing or producing?
Producing definitely. I love it and you can create so many new sounds and ideas without meaning to. Really gets your mind going and also there is no better feeling than creating music.
Do you have any releases planned for 2019?
Yes! I cant say which labels but I have a track on a VA and also a 2 track EP which is coming out in Novemeber which I’m really excited about.
What do you use to make music with? Do you have an established workflow when approaching ideas for a new track or do you prefer to just see what happens?
I work on Ableton. At this moment external software is something id love to learn in the future but as of now my workflow is better within the DAW. And yeah I never sit down and decide what I’m making just what happens, happens!
Who are you listening to on repeat at the moment?
I don’t really listen to many things on repeat. But East End Dubs’ latest mix is unreal.
If you could be on a line up with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Well it would be the big boys, Marco Carola, Jamie Jones, The Martinez Brothers, wAFF etc but we’re all playing a BPM together which is unreal to share the same lineup as them!
Finally, a random potluck question- do you have a signature dish you can cook? If so, what is it?
Lol, people that know me reading this will know I cant cook. But I can cook a very good steak, sautéed potatoes, grilled peppers, peppercorn sauce. Lovely!
ALISHA plays for Toolroom at Eden 08 September – for full line-up and tickets head to…
