Last up in our road to Unbound series is London based producer and DJ, Aurora, who we’ve previously included in our artists to discover feature. Launching her Spectral night just over a year ago – where she has booked the likes of Anu, Debonair, Sybil Jason and MLE – Aurora has been invited to play for Room 4 Resistance, Hope Works, The Queens Yard Summer Party, Hyponik and Mantissa to name a few. This weekend, Aurora will be playing the third edition of Unbound with Sync 24, James Newmarch and MLE as well as residents DJ Winggold, Dr. Blowfin and DJ Paramedic. Ahead of the show, we caught up with Aurora to discuss her fast rising success over the past year, her influences growing up, why she launched Spectral and how clubs around the world can combat some of the industry’s biggest issues.
We’ve been following your career for a while now, having first encountered each other through a selection of music Facebook groups – it feels like things have really progressed over the last year, how has it all been for you?
Pretty overwhelming to be honest. Over the past year, whenever I’ve felt like a vague path was emerging – life went in the opposite direction and surprised me. I don’t really have much time to reflect and like to keep things moving and stay in the present but it’s been amazing seeing Spectral grow as a party, regularly writing for RA, starting to make and putting out my own music and take DJing more seriously. Wish the me of 3 years ago could see where I’m at now and know that it gets easier, there’s definitely been a fair share of dark moments to get to what I’ve achieved in the past year.
How did your relationship with music begin? Was it something you naturally fell into?
I was always really heavily invested in music – I used to play everything from Iron Maiden to Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite on vinyl in the flat as a young child and annoy the neighbours. R&B was a huge source of love when I was young too – I was obsessed with Destiny’s Child. I played the piano for a while but I was a pretty impatient/impulsive child so I wanted to play the drums and the violin and a whole host of other instruments too… but I never did.
What inspired you growing up?
Testing my memory here… not musical but nature was a huge influence. I was always around a lot of forests and parks and when I spent time with my family in Scotland being on desolate, cold beaches and walking through windy fields, it gave me time to think clearly which I loved. There’s a castle near where my family lives in north Scotland that was the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula and seeing that then gave me inspiration. I think being around lots of different nature settings which were a bit unsettling/weird or lonely always felt connected to music for me. There was definitely a period where I would visit a forest near my house and take my iPod with me and listen to music walking through the trees.
Do you think living in London has helped your career progress the pace that it has?
Definitely. But London centricity is something that I’m mindful of when it comes to running a party – most of the people I book from the UK are from places outside of London. I also did a party in Leeds and definitely would love to do a Spectral in another location – somewhere in Scotland would be an absolute dream.
How about shaping your sound?
I think it just came naturally and I started to notice patterns in the records I was playing, similar production quirks or sounds that kept cropping up. Over time, my sound has definitely got weirder and weirder – helped along by starting a party with that musical philosophy. I once described the music I was putting together for some gigs as “icy, robotic tracks w melting centres” and that’s pretty accurate. I definitely go for the dreamy, robotic, bleepy and strange.
What has been the most vital part of building your career? For example was it connecting with the right people or regularly attending the events you wanted to play at?
I’d say going to clubs regularly has helped inform me as a writer, DJ and promoter. I feel like it’s the best way to learn anything about dance music – going to the club and watching DJs and dancing. I spent a lot of my early days in clubs observing everything around in the club, including the DJ and I don’t think I’d have the same perspective or analytical eye without spending most weekends at the club for a few years. I don’t go to the club as often now when I’m not DJing, which is partially just to keep my mental and physical health in check, but when I do, it’s a big source of inspiration and motivation for me career wise!
You’ve started releasing your productions on Bandcamp, how would you describe your sound?
Spacious, squeaky techno that’s pretty weird.
https://soundcloud.com/aurora-mitchell/vampire-crab-subterranea
When you’ve hit a wall, is there any routine or ritual you follow in order to get back into a creative flow?
Drinking coffee, lol. Walks help too when I get the time. Also getting a lot of sleep. I think people think I never sleep but I get at least 8 hours a night and it has helped work life a lot. If I’m stuck on something, I usually leave it and go to sleep.
When it comes to your bookings, how do you decide which are the right parties to play? Is it important for you to look into the ethics behind the party before confirming?
I definitely deeply research any party that asks me to play for them and would decline a booking if it was clear it wasn’t in line with my ethics or seemed shady. Generally, the people who ask me to play tend to be on the same page.
You’ll be playing for Unbound on Saturday, a relatively new London party, as a London promoter yourself what advice could you give on growing your brand and attracting the right audience?
Book who you want to see in your audience… reach out to/invite people who you’d want to be at your party. There’s only so much audience control you can really do and I know it’s a difficult one for a lot of people.
What inspired you to start Spectral and what have you learnt from running your own night so far?
I started my party because I felt alienated from a lot of club nights in London and I wanted to create a space for other people who felt alienated too. I don’t know if I’ve achieved that but if I have then I’d be very happy. I also wanted it to be a place where DJs and dancers could be their weirdest selves. I’ve learned that if you can promote a club night in the midst of food poisoning, you can do most things. Regularly booking people from marginalised groups is nowhere near as difficult or impossible as some people seem to think it is. People love weird music… a lot and they want to go out and dance to it. But I think the biggest learning point is realising just how unsustainable and expensive it is to run a club night… you really have to pace yourself and be smart with money if you want to run a regular night. Either that or have a shit load of money to burn.
How do you think parties in London and perhaps globally could tackle some of the industry’s biggest issues such as harassment and gender equality within lineups?
The DJs are there – clubs, festivals and nights need to book them more and pay more respect and attention and most of all, PAY THEM THE FEES THEY DESERVE. Also investing in equipment for people to practice/learn on… how can you expect to tackle a problem if you don’t give people the tools to solve it? I honestly think that if there was more investment in places with accessible equipment from people who can afford to invest that money, a wider representation of DJs would follow. I know many DJs who’ve jumped into DJing and the first time they touch equipment is when they play out – usually using software to practice or make mixes on before that. Not everyone has the confidence to do that, some people want to be able to practice before.
Harassment is an incredibly difficult one. It’s been great to see more clubs take initiative and make active decisions to minimise club harassment. The sad truth is that even with safer space policies and anti harassment initiatives, there will always people who will harass other people at parties. But the more that people make clubs and parties an unwelcome environment for harassers, the more likely that the problem will at least be minimised. Having people to go to at the club who are not security is a huge one in my opinion. A lot of people feel uncomfortable reporting incidents to security so having someone on the dancefloor/around at parties they can confide in, whether that’s you as a promoter or someone else, would make people feel more comfortable reporting harassment.
5 tracks that you’re loving at the moment?
- Atom TM – Ich Bin Meine Maschine (Boys Noize Remix)
Heard this one on anu’s last NTS show and been obsessed with it ever since. It’s got everything I love about music in it!
- Privacy – Make Yr Transition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaso3J9PBnk
Bouncy, jacking electro with a touch of acid that I’m dying to play out more.
- Justin Cudmore – Moment
Him and Tin Man are the masters of acid for me at the moment. I play tracks from every Justin Cudmore release but playing this around sunset in the garden at ://about blank was a really special moment.
- tchan – cuica
I loved this one because it’s got a great robotic stomp to it but then I loved it even more when I found out that the high pitched sound in the track was a “cuica”, which is a Brazilian drum that’s usually used in samba and at carnivals. “It has been called a ‘laughing gourd’ due to this sound. Many also liken its sound to that of a monkey,” says Wikipedia.
- upsammy – Another Place
I freaking love upsammy! Incredible producer as well as DJ. I saw her play in an upstairs room of De School last December while the sky was getting lighter in the morning and it was so lovely. This one makes me feel quite emotional, I feel like it would be perfect to listen to on the night bus while thinking about life.
Buy tickets to Unbound here