Electronic artist Alison Wonderland takes us through her musical firsts - from the first track she ever made, to the first record she ever bought, and that time she met Alanis Morissette in an elavator.

Australia-born electronic dance music producer, DJ, and singer Alison Wonderland started this year off with bang: releasing new track “Fear of Dying”. Emerging in 2009, Alison has career highlights many would dream of. She’s secured the No.1 spot Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums twice in a row with debut albums ‘Run’ and ‘Awake’; achieved over 500 million streams; and received the highest female billing ever for a female DJ at Coachella. With an exhaustive back-catalog, it seems Wonderland shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

 

“Fear of Dying” was debuted at the artists 2021 Red Rocks shows, during which she explained that the song is: “about my fear. And I thought that if I wrote about it, I would kind of feel better that I said it out loud. So you know, nothing is guaranteed, so I want you guys to be really good to each other. Please. And you know, give each other a hug.” This emotional vulnerability and commitment to kindness is typical of Wonderland, praised for using social media to speak openly about her struggles with mental health, hoping to help others who may be having similar experiences.

 

We caught up with Alison to find out her musical firsts – from the first track she ever made, to the first record she ever bought, and that time she met Alanis Morissette in an elevator.

First song you ever made?

It was a new disco song (never released) where I sampled a Will Smith acapella! I didn’t really have many tools back then, so I just experimented with what I had.

First song you released officially?

A song called “Thy New Sound” by Whyte Fang (My Alias). I didn’t even tell anyone it was me, and it was cool because it was played on BBC radio 1, they had just found it on SoundCloud.

 First CD or record you owned?

The Offspring – Smash

  First time you realized you wanted to be an artist?

Honestly, I have always wanted to be an artist, I can’t remember wanting to do anything else.

First festival you played?

Splendour in the Grass in some tiny tent during the day.

  First time you faced an obstacle in your career?

At the start I wasn’t taken seriously, so I really had to work twice as hard to prove myself.

 First instrument you owned?

A cello.

First time you felt like giving up?

Too many times for me to pinpoint which one was the first 😊

 First time you felt starstruck?

When I saw Alanis Morissette in an elevator when I was super young.

First time you ticked off a bucket list goal?

My first American show being Coachella, 2 weeks after my first album debut #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic charts!