20 Questions With Aluna: ‘I Needed to Know That I Left a Pathway for Other Black Women to Walk Down’

Aluna has scored a lot of hits in her decade-plus career, but she doesn’t feel like things really started for her until more recently.

After making music as one half of AlunaGeorge — singing on smashes by that group along with hits by artists including Disclosure and Jack Ü — the British producer/singer/songwriter says going solo is the proudest moment of her career so far. This pivot, marked by the 2020 release of her debut solo album, Renaissance, meant for her that she was “essentially starting all over again, but this time with my full self-intact.”

Indeed in tandem with that album’s release, Aluna — who’s of Jamaican and Indian descent — became an outspoken voice on racial inequality in the dance world, writing a 2020 open letter on the industry’s “extreme double standard” of racial inequality and advocating for Black artists and fans within a scene that remains overwhelmingly white and male-dominated.

It’s not just talk. Aluna has again made good on her ambition by coalescing a group of Black and LGBTQ+ collaborators and allies around her for her latest album, MYCELiUM, out tomorrow (July 7) via Mad Decent. Taking its name from the foundational, interconnected, creative network formed in nature by fungal root structures, the 14-track house-focused project features creative, interconnected work from Brazil’s Pabllo Vittar, South Africa’s KOOLDRINK, Panama’s Roofeeo and U.K. stars TSHA, Chris Lake, and MNEK, altogether forming a foundation of diversity that’s the core of Aluna’s mission.

This summer and fall will find her supporting the album on tour, with club shows across the U.S. and festival dates including Higher Ground, North Coast and III Points. Her advocacy work has continued while on the road, with Aluna working with groups like Melanin Ravers to help Black fans find each other at festivals and shows, spaces where audiences can often be largely white.

“I still have to perform in predominantly white audiences,” Aluna said in a recent post. “The way that I get through that now is that I think about all the other Black ravers that I know exist, and then I can get out on stage and I’ve got my army of people in my mind and in my heart, so I’m never alone.”

Here, Aluna talks about MYCELiUM, and what it means to her.

1. Where are you in the world right now, and what’s the setting like?

I’m in Brooklyn, New York. The sky looks like Armageddon from all the fires in Canada, it’s 85 degrees and I had to clamber through the whole storm and airport shut down to get here … people are still stranded from that!

2. What is the first album or piece of music you bought for yourself, and what was the medium?

It was probably The Bends by Radiohead on CD.

3. What did your parents do for a living when you were a kid, and what do or did they think of what you do for a living now?

My mum was a careers advisor, which is ironic since she would never have advised anyone to follow a music career path. She struggled with it for all the years that I looked like I was gonna be a crazy starving artist — around eight years from when I first started vocal lessons [with] a pipe dream.

My dad never had a full time job — he’s a photographer, but he didn’t crack the code of how to make a creative career to sustain himself or his family. That really left an impression, and a pressure on me to make it work holistically … a drive that perhaps neither of my parents understand. They both support me, but a music career is hard for any parent to fathom, because there’s literally no way to help your kid win. Well, unless you have lots of money!

4. What’s the first non-gear thing you bought for yourself when you started making money as an artist?

It obviously wasn’t anything awesome or I’d remember. I just needed to pay rent and eat.

5. If you had to recommend one album for someone looking to get into dance/electronic music, what would you give them?

Neptune’s Lair by Drexciya. It’s absolutely insane the amount of creativity in the whole concept and album!

6. What’s the last song you listened to?

“Off My Mind” by Coco and Breezy.

7. Do you have guilty pleasure music?

I don’t actually; I definitely stand by all the music I listen to. I might be conceited, but I think I have excellent taste!

8. The new album is MYCELiUM. What’s the significance of the album title?

As I’ve been working in the dance electronic genre simultaneously making music, building community and advocating for change, I came across mycelium and the way that it works as an interconnected cell network sharing information, energy nutrients to create the organic ecosystem around us. Music is an ecosystem too, and I wanted to signify the return of core values that created this genre and would have kept it healthy rather than turning into the monoculture that it has become — devoid of soul, diversity and respect.

9. You’ve called working with Black and LGBTQ artists on the album the “most life-affirming experience of my career.” Did this experience bring out different facets of your artistry?

Absolutely. Talking about the history and what the pioneers were doing when they invented the genre with my collaborators always creates this new excitement in the studio. It sparked ideas really quickly, we felt like we were tapping into something that had always been there but we’d not explored before.

10. You’ve talked about creating communities of Black ravers. Who are the people who’ve come together under this banner, and how have they influenced the album?

My Black ravers are my champions-whether I’m with them or not they are in my heart when I write or advocate for change – @Melaninravers, @femaleraversunited, @Basslollipopp, @Givemeplur, @cookievalentine have been working hard to look after the ravers who brave going to festivals, often isolated, sometimes completely alone. There are so many Black producers and artists who have remained on the outside of the industry, but creating with the little resources they have, and we try to support each other with international online groups that are invite only. And then there are the event communities who have been creating smaller safe spaces for Black communities to dance together such as Moonshine, Set de flo, Ascendance and Hoodrave.

11. You’ve also spoken about being the only Black artist at festivals and in industry settings. Are you seeing any meaningful shifts in the scene at large in terms of diversity and inclusion?

Anything I have seen has been created by individuals working, with no help from the industry or those with the power to do so. The problem is without the real integrity of a desire for change, most of the efforts I saw after George Floyd fell away. There is a widespread, complete lack of care in the live show business, not just for Black people, but for the festival goers in general. I think that comes from a lack of diverse voices in charge. On the industry side, I regularly talk to large companies who want to work with me, yet they don’t have a single Black female employee.

12. In May you made an announcement on Instagram about helping Black ravers link up at festivals. What’s been the response from your community? Are you hearing great stories of people meeting up at events?

I’m not the first person to try and do this — I would say Melanin Ravers are the leaders in that area — I’m simply adding my energy to the cause. The response has been huge, with many people having never even braved a festival for fear of being the only Black person there, or going alone. I am hearing stories of people meeting up — I have a private community that is specifically designed for that on the Geneva app, anyone who would like to join just has to go through me! It’s important to me to keep my group safe and focused, since there are lots of places online to meet up that get overrun by scammers and people looking for hookups.

13. What does success for this album look like to you?

I hope this album serves as inspiration and solace, a virtual place that people can escape to whoever they are and feel more themselves, more alive and free.

14. The most exciting thing happening in dance music currently is?

Amapiano.

15. The most annoying thing happening in dance music currently is?

Festivals and promoters not taking more risks, and continuing to underestimate the audience’s hunger for more diverse lineups and more inclusive spaces.

16. What was the hardest moment of your career, and how did you overcome it?

The hardest thing was being sexually assaulted by a musical peer who I respected and trusted. I don’t think I’ve gotten over it, and it almost destroyed my career. But I’m here now because my work wasn’t done; I needed to know that I left a pathway for other Black Women to walk down, not just be an exception to the rule.

17. The proudest moment of your career thus far?

Going solo and essentially starting all over again, but this time with my full self intact.

18. What’s the best business decision you’ve ever made?

To learn how to calculate whether a live show will be in profit or be a loss. I almost went bankrupt in 2016 because I didn’t understand this.

19. Who was your greatest mentor, and what was the best advice they gave you?

[Performance coach] Shelly Mitchell. She taught me that creativity can also be reached through joy and serenity, not only pain and self-destruction. She destroyed the myth that artists can only be creative if they’re tortured, and that allowed me to embrace working on my mental health wholeheartedly.

20. One piece of advice you’d give to your younger self?

Take care of yourself, ’cause no-one else will.