Photos courtesy of BLOND:ISH
Ahead of her Santa Monica Beach Clean Up & performance in downtown LA this Saturday, September 14th, we caught up with producer/DJ/label owner/philanthropist BLOND:ISH to hear about all that’s going been going on in her world this summer in Ibiza and beyond, Bye Bye Plastic, and more.
Questions by Ethan Kung
Q: I really love seeing your social media posts that chronicle the weird stuff that you see at your shows, like the cowgirl entourage that you saw in Ibiza and the gender reveal that a couple did during one of your festival performances. What was the most interesting or weird thing that you’ve ever seen from your fans during a performance?
I love it when the crowd brings the energy, or their passion, or something to add value to the energy of the party. Obviously it’s my job to keep the energy levels up with music and holding the space, but when you add on the layer of the fans and the crowd – that’s where you start to get real deep on long lasting vibes and memories. It could just be an infectious smile. It’s the small things that make the diff.
Q: In just the last few months, you’ve moved to Ibiza, and become a mother (congratulations, by the way)! How have you gone about handling these big life changes while still performing and making new music?
This is an easy answer – I have two rocks. That combination gives me the freedom to stay creative, and limit my mindshare on things I’m not good at, like planning :). My wife has a crazy talent for planning and logistics – she’s a wizard. She remembers all my dates in her head at all times, and even knows the best dates to play everywhere, at any time of the year. Whenever she tries to speak about dates with me while I’m driving, or we’re walking to a dinner or something, I stop her, and I’m like, “Listen… I need a calendar in front of me.” So grateful, everyone needs a planner in their relationship. Her and all her girlfriends are planners, I could make endless memes of them for sure. Behind a successful DJ is usually a wife or partner that’s a good planner. Like if you wanna go granular, what made it really easy was:
- We had a realtor friend in Ibiza helping us look for places, and we were sent photos, videos etc. on WhatsApp.
- I had my creative director, who’s based in Ibiza, go jump on the beds of our favorite choice.
- We saved time, ‘cause the house was furnished, so we didn’t have to spend time shopping, or bring much luggage.
- Liana got a baby guide from a friend which literally outlined everything you need for a baby, and she ordered it before the move so we didn’t have to spend time in Ibiza getting it.
- We found a nanny. Nanny’s are much more affordable in Europe than they are in the U.S.A..
Also have to shout out to my tour manager Gabriel. He is a beast. I’ve had my fair share of absolute FAILS for tour managers who just used me to get girls, or get drunk at a show, or tried to make money on the side blatantly upcharging flights (this is super normal in the scene by travel agents especially), or just being horrible at logistics. Gabriel is meticulous with making sure everything is super on point with our schedule, flights, and logistics, so we’re super efficient with time. Jis attention to detail and my computer science, super efficiency algorithm brain helped us become a solid team and always take the minimum time to be traveling. We could write a book :). He even sends gate numbers to my WhatsApp and always walks me to the gate, even if his flight is later. He’s a true team player.
Q: I’ve read about how your new song, “Never Walk Alone”, was meant to feel like a friend in a time of loneliness. Was that something you felt like you needed as you were making it, or something that your fans needed to hear right now?
I don’t know what people need, I don’t want to assume. It’s just my feeling, and I decided that I wanna make music that provides value. So I injected it with that intention that the listener, if they wanna go deeper with the track past listening to it, can open up the door to a crazy journey to being their own best friend. ‘Cause that highway exists, a lot of us just don’t know how to find it. That’s what “Never Walk Alone” is.
But more on the loneliness stuff – I’m always on the DJ side of the dancefloor, which always feels like the opposite of lonely, but I’ve been hearing on the dancefloors how alot of people are lonely. It’s just a general consensus. A couple people in my family had mental things to deal with like depression/anxiety growing up, and it’s honestly just ‘cause of the way the system we are raised in is meant to always have us in the rat race and survival mode. Everything from the food system, medical, school – it’s all the same. They just didn’t have the tools, so they fell into it. So I did everything I could to get the tools. It started with meditation, going to Burning Man, seeing a different way to approach my thoughts, breathing exercises like qigong, tai chi, wim hof, and kundalini (there’s infinite types of breathing), being grateful, not comparing myself to others, doing an exercise like ikigai where you can find your own unique power in this world that we all have.
And the most important thing – eating healthier and literally learning about all the ingredients in the food. It’s crazy when I’m in Europe – it doesn’t matter what I eat, I feel good, more or less. But if you eat the same organic food in America you feel sick and heavy. That’s when you know there’s shit hidden in U.S.A. food. So many mental issues can be fixed by looking and detoxing your gut. Especially take a look at your microbiome – that’s the secret sauce. So what does this have to do with “Never Walk Alone”? It’s just a feel good track, that’s the intention!
Q: Your Bye Bye Plastic initiative is gonna be coming to Santa Monica for a beach clean up on the 14th. Now that it’s in its fourth year of operation, what would you say have been the most important things that BBP’s done so far?
- Having helped events and venues efficiently reduce their plastic footprint like Seismic Dance Event, AREA15, and Avalanche.
- Having created an entry door into sustainability for nightclubs, not only outdoor events.
- Having gathered 24 French nightclubs around a pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic water bottles at their venues!
- By the end of 2024, BBP will have helped prevent 140.000 single-use water bottles from production, and about 70,000 single-use cups.
- Empowering thousands of DJs and artists to be the voice of climate action through the Eco-Rider.
- Having started a landslide cultural movement!
Q: To add onto that, what’ve been the most challenging aspects of helping run BBP?
The age-old system is the toughest. We’re going against the biggest conglomerate in the world, Fossil Fuels. It’s deep of lobbying, paying people off, corporate soulless entities that have endless money to give to festivals. But on the bright side of that, we get to find the good eggs of people in the festival industry in the process, and we make moves that way as a larger voice 🙂
After the clean up, you’ll be bringing your Abracadabra show back to Los Angeles along with Nico de Andrea and Malóne. What made you want to pick those two to join you for this show in particular?
They are my bros!!!!!!! But more than that, they are super talented and the world needs them. We’re fam, and LA is famjam too.
Q: What do you see as the futures of your many careers – from activism, to music, and now to parenthood?
- Abracadabra evolving into a church (it already is a church in America), and it’s more of a meme, but not. But we’re a community that just wants to reach our full human potential while balancing it with parties, lol.
- Abracadabra helps us get there, we just wanna go to happy, happy world, and that’s a place of freedom, happiness, and abundance 🙂 Having the best time on the way to getting there!!!
BLOND:ISH Presents Bye Bye Plastic Beach CleanUp – Santa Monica
Saturday, September 14th
9AM-12PM
Exact Location Coming Soon
All Ages
RSVP: https://partiful.com/e/NvJ1FcgHUEEgffHZYLql?
BLOND:ISH Presents Abracadabra
Saturday, September 14th
5PM
21+
