Who is alison wonderland

Miss Wonderland, born Alexandra Sholler, knows the tune. Then, she breaks into song. We concur. And, every portion of the hardware is utilized as she plays. Songs are scratched, back spun, teased in with EQ, stuttered via the cue button and more as she shapes the set, making it less a linear experience and more a twisting and wild beast that breathes. Through it all, Alex is a tiny kinetic ball of energy, climbing on tables, snatching the mic and running toward the front row to sing, collapsing to her knees, hands thrust forward to throw up her signature W.

And to see like a bunch of people feeling that with you, it feels like you're a part of something a lot bigger than just playing a show. Back in Australia, she was a principal cellist in the Sydney Youth Orchestra and also played bass in an indie rock band. Alex, you see, cops to precociousness. She speaks about music during this time with certain tenderness, the way others might talk about a first love.

Outcast and without much sense of belonging, music in various forms gave Alex something to grasp onto as she navigated the choppy waters of teenhood and all the awkwardness it brings with. Without pause, after finishing school in Sydney, she packed up her cello and left. Alex went straight to Europe where she found herself on her own, living in the attic of a German family, traveling on weekends to different cities for punk shows.

I think as soon as I left and traveled the world alone with my cello I learned how to carry myself and to be comfortable with who I am. I'm just really, truly myself. I do owe a lot of my nomadic lifestyle to that. Though leaving Sydney is what gave the young artist strength to be true to herself, it was ultimately a hometown experience afterward that shoved her toward her calling.

Afterward, Alex immediately bought a laptop. She wanted in. I kind of wanted to write about not entertaining toxic things anymore, or identifying with things that are not good, or not falling in love with anything not good for me. Again I just wanted to remind myself why I was here, because it's obviously a self-worth thing. It's about gratitude and gratefulness and it's a real rebirth.

I really wanted the music to represent that. Today, I am grateful for a lot of things. I'm honestly really grateful for my very small amount of close friends, because this year's not been easy, and they've been very, very loyal and good to me. You have a big role in the new Underplayed documentary, which explores gender inequality in the dance scene. Obviously it's a complicated issue, but in your opinion is there one thing that needs to happen to create greater gender equality?

I just think the less of a big deal people make about you being a woman -- and I know this is going to sound bad, I don't know how to explain it -- and they accept you as an artist rather than a female artist, the less stigma there's going to be about being a female artist, in this scene especially.

If people stopped calling people "female DJs" or "female producers" and just called them "artists" or "producers," then I feel like it wouldn't be a discussion about their gender as much. There are so many women playing major roles already and releasing dope music.

Some of us are now headlining festivals, and I think the more that that's just an accepted thing and it's not "oh and she's a woman! And again, if anyone is reading this and they are a female artist, feel free to DM me with questions.

I've been there, and I've been there during the tough times, and I'm happy to shed some light on it. For me, the thing I would say most is don't compromise yourself. If something doesn't feel right, don't do it.

Stick to your vision. The reality is that you're going to have to work hard and you're going to have a thick skin, because a lot of people are going to comment on your gender. That's just how it is. The doc also focuses on the challenges of being on the road, the exhaustion and the mental strain.

I'm wondering, has quarantine been good for you in offering time to rest? A thousand and ten percent. I've been touring heavily for many years, and I've never been in the same place for this long since I can remember since finishing school.

I realize the importance of having a home and of making sure my personal life gets to a point where I have a personal life and I can have a relationship, because that's obviously been difficult. I'm realizing the importance of balance and being able to ground myself. I'm also writing a lot of music. It's easiest for me to write music when I'm not on the road, so I am taking advantage of this time. For a while it was hard to feel creative in this zone, but I've actually been able to pool a lot of inspiration recently from this year, and it's finally kind of coming back to me and I'm feeling my creative juices flowing again, which is great.

It was pretty low-key. SG Lewis - Sunbar Tomorrow. Taiki Nulight - Shady Park Tomorrow. Kyle Watson - Sunbar. San Holo - El Rey Theater.

Relentless Beat of the Week: J. That steady rise represents the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to crafting ethereal and engaging escapist music befitting of her evocative moniker.

She architected the foundation for this world as a child. The classically trained cellist split her formative years between the Sydney Youth Orchestra and playing guitar in local bands before diving into production and DJ-ing during