When it comes to American dance music culture, few events carry the cool cache of a HARD party. Founded on New Year's Eve of 2008 by DJ and former label A&R Gary Richards, the name HARD has become synonymous with taste-making, offering fans an enviable mix of influential headliners and cutting-edge up-and-comers.

HARD parties have been a breakout platform for luminaries like Justice, Skrillex, deadmau5, and more, and the HARD Summer festival is one of the brand's most celebrated flagship events. In 2017, HARD was absorbed into the Insomniac festival family — the same company that brings fan-favorites EDC Las Vegas and Electric Forest to life — which ensures the stage production, on-site activities and other ancillary fun are sure to be supersized. How many festivals do you know that offer a Ferris wheel and a swimming pool?

Coming to Los Angeles' Hollywood Park near SoFi Stadium on Aug. 3 and 4, this year's lineup continues the tradition of blending authoritative artists, legacy DJs and unique back-to-back headliners with buzzy newcomers in a variety of genres and styles. 

Whether you wanna rave out with club king Jamie xx, bang your head to bass with Zeds Dead, get tropical with Major Lazer, see what it sounds like for UK grime star Skepta to DJ, or just sing along to mid-2000s belters courtesy of dance-pop crossover queen Nelly Furtado, there's something to please every palette. Of course, in true HARD tradition, we seriously recommend exploring the undercard, because the biggest name in electronic music tomorrow is probably playing one of the HARD side stages today.

While you wrap your head around the stacked lineup, check out a quick guide to 10 must-see acts below.

A legend on the decks who can play blissful disco or teeth-shattering techno with a smile, Boys Noize is a must-see on any lineup simply because he loves doing the job. He recently teamed with Skrillex on the anthem "Fine Day," and released an entire EP with alt-rap icon Rico Nasty. He's also the producer behind Lady Gaga's beloved Ariana Grande collab, "Rain On Me," and Playboi Carti's "Unlock It," but he's likely to unleash a massive set of hard techno bangers for the L.A. crowd — though you never can tell which direction he'll take you in next, so come with an open mind.

As the top-billed headliner for Saturday night, Disclosure should need little to no introduction to any modern dance music fan — but that doesn't mean you should sleep on their set.

Howard and Guy Lawrence emerged on the scene as seemingly an instant success. The brothers' debut album, Settle, almost single-handedly changed the landscape of popular dance in 2012, moving the taste du jour away from the big-room EDM and bass-heavy trap sound toward a UK garage revival that still carries, and helped launch Sam Smith's career in the process.

In the 12 years that followed, Disclosure has continued to push the envelope — and themselves — working with cross-genre heavyweights including Lorde, Khalid, Miguel, Kelis, Slowthai, and The Weeknd, as well as incorporating international sounds and styles into their club-driven house grooves. Earlier this year, Disclosure returned with the dance floor-ready single "She's Gone, Dance On," announcing themselves as arbiters of disco-laced funk and good-time DJs for 2024 crowds. Surely they'll be in top form come HARD Summer.

If you like your dark techno to come with a side of hip-shaking Latin rhythms, Miami-bred duo INVT is the experimental sound machine you can't possibly pass up. Luca Medici and Delbert Perez have been best friends since they were kids, and that closeness comes through in their tight experimental sets, blending booming bass with glitched-out techno synths, cumbia rhythms, dembow beats, and acidic edge.

INVT are — as the name may imply — extremely innovative, leaning into their own productions and edits to curate an approach that feels hypnotic, exciting and unique. If you're not afraid of beats that go really hard and get a little weird, this is a set that can set your wild mind ablaze.

What happens when you put two of the most unique and hard-hitting producers in electronic music together on one stage? Deadmau5 is one of the scene's leading icons, and Rezz (who released her debut album of deadmau5's Mau5trap label in 2017) shifted bass music culture with her gritty, techno-fueled, half-time sound. The two share a love of dark, stomping, left-field noise, and after years of teasing possible collaborations, those shared interests merged on the 2021 collaboration "Hypnocurrency." Two years later, they released the booming, dystopian 2023 single "Infraliminal" — not just a brilliant rework of deadmau5's 2012 track "Superliminal," but the official introduction to Rezzmau5.

Rezzmau5 haven't released anything since, and live performances from the duo have remained few and far between. But the monolithic duo just warmed up their trippy joint live show at Tomorrowland 2024, which was set in "the mythical realm of Silvyra," a world "filled with creatures, plant life, and people living in harmony." Whether or not their HARD set follows the same storyline, it's certain to shake the skulls of every dancer at Hollywood Park. Prepare your body for something deep, dark and maniacal.

There aren't many electronic acts that bring the same level of frontman energy that Elderbrook boasts on stage. A multi-talented performer, the UK artist sings and plays instruments, creating a rock-show experience unlike most sets at heavily electronic festivals like HARD. He leads the crowd in heartfelt sing-alongs to hits including "Numb," "Something About You," "Inner Light" and, of course, his megahit CamelPhat collab "Cola."

Bouncing between his microphone, synthesizers and keyboards, samplers and drum pads, his one-man band performance is sure to draw a serious crowd. If you're ready for a break from the hard-edged rave noise and want to ascend to heavenly heights, Elderbrook is the man for the job.

Nothing is more fun than watching two best mates go absolutely nuts on the decks. And when two stellar DJs go back-to-back, everyone wins, because they spend the whole set trying to impress each other. 

Chris Lake is one of the most influential producers in tech house. Fisher is one of the most unhinged and energizing DJs one can ever witness. Together, the besties deliver an over-the-top party with an arsenal of mind-numbing drops, weirdo grooves and just-plain fun vibes that make you wanna hug your friends and dance 'til you sweat. The set is called Under Construction, but make no mistake: these two have completely mastered the blueprint.

If you like your sets to be playful cross-genre explorations of sounds from around the world — tied together by booty-shaking beats and booming bass lines — JYOTY is sure to check all your boxes. She knows how to lead a great party because she spent her childhood frequenting the unmatched clubs of Amsterdam. And with an ethos built around playing whatever the heck she wants, she's comfortable dropping a bit of hip-hop into some Brazilian bops, mixing it up with hard breakbeats, blistering rave synths and more.

If you don't know your history, you're doomed to repeat it, but no one brings the house down quite like Kerri Chandler. A pioneer of the original deep and garage house movements, Chandler was a foundational DJ of the '80s scene, holding down a residency at the legendary Club Zanzibar in New Jersey and founding the MadHouse Records label. If you want to feel the soulful spirit that made electronic music what it is, Chandler's dreamy mix of feel-good melodies served over kickin' club beats are a direct line to house music's roots.

You know how Mary Poppins had a magical bag that held everything from a hat rack to an ornate mirror, a house plant and a Tiffany lamp? Well, California DJ Mary Droppinz comes equipped with a magical USB that's positively bursting with mean beats and original edts.

This woman can blend everything from grimy bouncing bass to ethereal orchestral house, Spice Girls reworks, drum'n'bass bangers, reggae upbeats, '90s R&B remixes and chart-topping hits of the moment twisted into face-melting heaters. You can try to guess where she'll go next, but it's better to just let her take control and follow the vibe through all the devious twists and turns. The one thing you can count on? You'll leave her set dripping with sweat.

Disclosure aren't the only brilliant UK brothers on the HARD Summer lineup. Overmono's Tom and Ed Russell hail from Wales and make some of the most inspired club records of our time.

With backgrounds exploring hard techno, drum'n'bass and rave, the brothers combined their talents in 2015 and have since created an enviable blend of soulful atmospheres and frenetic breakbeats that feels nostalgic and sentimental, but still very heavy. Overmono's 2023 album Good Lies is a great play from start to finish, and a good way to get prepped for their critically acclaimed live set. If you need a big-name co-sign, Overmono was recently featured on Fred again..'s "Stayinit" with Lil Yachty on the vocal. That's the caliber they're rockin' with — and the prestige they'll bring to HARD Summer.

Let's start with the essentials: house music is Black music. House music was born in the United States; Chicago to be exact. House music is one of the core foundational styles of electronic music; as important as Detroit-bred techno.

House is an upbeat genre characterized by a funky, repetitive 4/4 beat (also known as four-on-the-floor) and a danceable tempo ranging from 115 to 130 bpm. House is often made with synthesizers and drum machines — like Roland's classic TR-808 and TR-909 — along with samples. Vocals are common in house music, with the most classic iterations being female diva vocals that harken back to house's disco roots, or distorted, pitched vocals that give a sample new life.

The foundations for house music were bubbling in the '70s in the Midwest and East Coast, particularly at celebrated underground New York clubs like Paradise Garage and David Mancuso's Loft, and in Chicago's house party scene. Larry Levan, the star DJ of Paradise Garage, played an eclectic mix of tunes — particularly disco, R&B, new wave and proto-house records from the likes of Arthur Russell (as Dinosaur L and Loose Joints) and Gwen Guthrie. This New York underground sound would have a huge influence on house music, and was imported to and adapted for Chicago by the Bronx-born Godfather of House Frankie Knuckles.

While disco and funk thrived in the New York club scene, the short-lived post-Saturday Night Fever national disco craze led to its over-commercialization and oversaturation. That came to a head on July 12, 1979, when radio shock jock Steve Dahl led the Disco Demolition Night at the Chicago White Sox's Comiskey Park. The underlying racism was unmasked as mostly white attendees brought all sorts of non-disco records from Black artists for Dahl to blow up, culminating in on-field riot. 

The impact was swift and far-reaching. As the Guardian pointed out, 13 out of 16 of the No. 1 hits in the U.S. from the first half of 1979 were disco tunes, while just one disco tune topped the chart for one week during the second half of the year. Radio stations pivoted back to rock music, labels stopped investing in disco and even the Recording Academy canceled its Best Disco Recording category after one year.

While the commercial and pop culture appetite for disco had soured, people still needed music to dance to. The future of dance music would be created by innovative DIY producers. Aided by the exciting new technology of drum machines, Casio keyboards and other relatively affordable "bedroom producer" equipment, young people in Chicago — many of them Black and queer — made music that would soon be called house. Named after its first home, Chicago's Warehouse, which opened in 1977,  this music not only soundtracked sweaty dancefloors, but would influence electronic music the globe over to this day.

The history of house music — from its foundations in the Windy City to its global explosion, and evolution to the current day — is as rich and varied as the genre itself. This timeline, while not an exhaustive list, will take you through some of the biggest key moments, tracks and players that have shaped house over the last four decades.

House Music Is Born In Chicago

By 1980, The Warehouse was in full swing under the helm of its venerated resident DJ Frankie Knuckles, a.k.a. the Godfather of House. The Bronx-born DJ was a close friend of Larry Levan and also got his start in the queer NYC underground, bringing his disco-rich, classically omnivorous New York club sound to what would become his devoted Chicago fanbase. 

As disco singles dried up, Knuckles needed fresh tunes to mix into his sets and turned to reel-to-reel tape to craft his own extended remixes live in the club. Later, he'd produce his own original house tunes, like the kinetic "Baby Wants To Ride" featuring legendary house vocalist Jamie Principle in 1987. Knuckles famously called house music "disco's revenge." 

In late 1982, Warehouse admission price doubled and Knuckles left to start his own club, The Power Plant, where he introduced drum machines into his sets. Knuckles closed his venue in September 1987 and moved back to NYC. Meanwhile, The Warehouse was renamed the Music Box, and Knuckles' big shoes were filled by the frenzied, eclectic sets of new resident Ron Hardy. Another vital early house DJ, Hardy would play young local producer's tracks and make them hits — yet his untimely death to AIDS at age 33 in 1992 and limited production output have left his legacy oft under-sung. Smartbar, which has remained a purveyor of house music to this day, also opened in 1982, spreading the house club scene to Chicago's North Side.

The nascent genre was technically born in 1984 with the release of Vince Lawrence and Jesse Saunders' "On and On," one of the first original house tracks. With its jittery, repetitive loops, catchy, clapping hi-hats, simple, playful vocals, disco samples, and use of recently introduced drum machines, the track is a perfect representation of classic Chicago house. The pivotal track inspired a rash of other young house-heads to try their hands at production.

Other important '80s Chicago house tracks include Mr. Fingers' (a.k.a. Larry Heard) deep house classic "Can You Feel It," which was made with just the TR-909 and JUNO-60 drum machines, and Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body (the House Music Anthem)" — the first house track that used piano — both of which were released on Trax Records in 1986. Other crucial releases include Lil' Louis' frenetic, deeply influential 1989 track "French Kiss," Steve "Silk" Hurley's "Jack Your Body" in 1987, and Ron Hardy's "Sensation" in 1985. Phuture's "Acid Tracks" in 1987 marked the launch of acid house, characterized by DJ Pierre, Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr. and Herbet J's trippy, sputtering experiments with the Roland 909 drum machine. 

Chicago record stores such as Gramaphone and Imports Etc. played a vital role in promoting and distributing house music, and served as an educational and meeting space for DJs and ravers.

By the mid-'80s, house music was expanding beyond Chicago and its environs. Frankie Knuckles was in demand overseas, and even held a summer residency at a London gay club called Heaven in 1987. Led by techno forefather Kevin Saunderson and Chicago singer Paris Grey, Inner City showcased the joyful house music coming out of Detroit and the impact the two scenes were already having on each other. The group also showcased house’s global pop potential, with their classic 1988 debut single "Big Fun" scoring them a No. 1 hit in the UK and on the U.S. dance chart. 1988's "I'll House You" from New York rap group the Jungle Brothers and DJ/producer Todd Terry showed that New York was ready to bring their flavor to house.

Europe, UK & NYC Go House Crazy; Chicago's Second Wave Artists Emerge

House music continued to thrive in Chicago in the '90s as the next generation of pivotal Chicago artists cropped up , including Derrick Carter, Ron Trent, Paul Johnson and DJ Sneak, while the originators continued their quest to make house happen on a broad scale.

In 1992, house rebel Curtis Jones (performing as Cajmere) dropped the eternal dance floor heater "Percolator" and launched his influential Cajual Records. In 1993, he'd add Relief Records into the mix as an outlet for Green Velvet, his neon-green-mohawked acid house and tech house alter ego and, as Bandcamp put it, "early releases by future legends of the second wave." The popularity of Jones' music and labels helped put Chicago house on the map globally.

Read more: Dance Legend Curtis Jones On Cajmere, Green Velvet & 30 Years Of Cajual Records

In 1995, newcomer Derrick Carter teamed up with Brit Luke Solomon to launch London house imprint Classic Music Company, which is still running today under another iconic UK house label, Defected (established in 1999). 

In 1990, DJ collective The Chosen Few DJs, which includes Jesse Saunders, launched their annual house head reunion picnic. The Chosen Few Picnic and collective are still actively spreading the gospel of Chicago house today. In 1997, Chicagoans DJ Lady D, DJ Heather, DJ Collette and Dayhota made history with the U.S.’s first female DJ collective Superjane.

Dance remixes, many of which were undeniably house, proliferated in the '90s. New York remained the source of these in-demand producers, with Masters at Work (Louie Vega and Kenny Dope), C&C Music Factory (David Cole and Robert Clivillés), François K, David Morales, Todd Terry and Danny Tenaglia at the forefront. New York-based Strictly Rhythm and Nervous Records, both of which are still active, released countless house classics.

In 1991, Frankie Knuckles released his debut album Beyond The Mix, featuring the breezy classic "The Whistle Song." He brought his DJ sorcery to New York with residencies at clubs Roxy and Sound Factory, the latter which brought Harlem's liberatingly queer ballroom culture to the downtown club scene, via NYC house legend Junior Vasquez. In 1998, Frankie Knuckles fittingly won the inaugural Best Remixed Recording GRAMMY Award (then called Remixer Of The Year, Non-Classical), and was nominated again the next year, but David Morales took home the gold.

Masters at Work’s impact on ‘90s NYC house can’t be understated. Some of the dynamic duo’s big tunes from the era include Barbara Tucker's 1994 No. 1 Dance Club hits "Beautiful People" and "I Get Lifted," along with Harddrive’s (a.k.a. Vega) "Deep Inside" and "The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind)" by the Bucketheads (a.k.a.  Dope). Other big '90s house tracks that came out of NYC include Robin S.' enduring "Show Me Love," which hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, Ultra Naté's ever-uplifting, Mood II Swing-produced "Free" from 1995, and Armand van Helden's 1999 classic "U Don't Know Me."

At New Jersey's influential Club Zanzibar, a deep and soulful rendition of house was being perfected by Brooklyn-born Tony Humphries and Jersey-bred Kerri Chandler (one of the progenitors of deep house, alongside Larry Heard). Demonstrating the porous borders of house, Jersey house singer Adeva teamed up with Knuckles for a joint album in 1995, going full gospel house with a backing choir. 

The '90s also saw more house coming out of Detroit, with a more minimal, often spacey touch, reflective of the city’s empty buildings and techno roots. Moodymann showcased his singular lo-fi funk-laden sound with his debut album Silentintroduction on Detroit techno legend Carl Craig's Planet E label, while Theo Parrish, Chez Damier (who got his start in Chicago), Stacey Hotwaxx Hale and DJ Minx all began making their mark on house. Of course, there is no rule that techno artists can't make house, and many Detroit legends did, including Kevin Saunderson, Carl Craig, DJ Minx, "Mad" Mike Banks and others.

Read more: Planet E's Carl Craig On Keeping Dance Music Black & Expansive New 'Planet E 30' Album

Mainstream European audiences have generally shown more openness to dance music than Americans, with dance tunes regularly topping the pop charts in the UK, Sweden, Germany, and beyond. Eurodance was at its euphoric peak in the '90s, with key tracks such as Technotronic's "Pump Up The Jam" (1990, UK), La Bouche's "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams" (1995, Germany), Haddaway's "What Is Love" (1993, Germany), Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer" (1992, Germany), Real McCoy's "Another Night" (1994, Germany) and Corona's "Rhythm of The Night" (1993/4, Italy). Many of these singles also charted in the U.S.

The UK, and London specifically, have always had an affinity towards house music and putting their own spin on American sounds. In the '90s, soulful house from New Jersey inspired the bassline-focused UK garage (and, later, its faster cousin speed garage). Tech house was born in London in the mid-90s by acid house DJs; it soon became London's de facto club sound following Terry Francis' appointment as club fabric's first resident DJ. London club Ministry of Sound opened in 1991 with an award-winning sound system, bringing New York house legends like Larry Levan and David Morales across the pond. The club also spurred the phenomenon of superstar DJs like Carl Cox and and promoted UK acid house explosion via the likes of DJ Harvey.

Global Dance Comes Stateside

The seeds for EDM's (electronic dance music) popularity in the U.S. were sprouting in the 2000s. The most mainstream offerings in a broad and previously underground scene, EDM is characterized by big drops and pop tendencies like shorter track lengths and catchy vocal hooks. The new millennium also saw the ever-expanding sound of house officially take root globally, with international artists exporting a glossy version of the sound back to the U.S. 

In the early aughts, tracks like Italian Benny Bennasi's "Satisfaction" in 2002, Swede Eric Prydz's "Call On Me" in 2004 and Frenchman Bob Sinclair's "World, Hold On (Children Of The Sky)" in 2006 cracked U.S. dance charts and solidified the artists as big-name mainstage DJs for years to come. The first two represented the electro house sound that would remain popular into the next decade. Prydz's 2008 hit "Pjanoo" marked another very Y2K sound: driving, trance-y progressive house.

The 2000 breezy "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Italian DJ Spiller and British dance-pop queen Sophie Ellis-Bextor was an Ibiza hit that made its way to American clubs and pointed to the popularity nu disco would have in the '00s (as seen by Ellis-Bextor's "Murder On The Dancefloor" and Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" in 2001). UK garage went mainstream as acts like So Solid Crew and Craig David incorporated the genre into chart-topping hits. Black Londoners like Supa D and Crazy Cousinz mixed house with elements from genres across the African diaspora into the captivatingly percussive sound of UK funky.

While French touch/filter house — the Parisian interpretation of house with funk and disco elements popularized by Daft Punk — was bubbling up in the '90s, it really took off around the year 2000. The genre is exemplified by 2000 singles such as Modjo’s "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)," Demon's "You Are My High," and Superfunk's "Lucky Star," featuring soulful vocals from Chicago's Ron Carroll.

In Berlin's underground dance scene, a melodic, intricate version of house was taking shape outside of minimal techno’s dominance. This was exemplified by M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade 2006 smash "Body Language," alongside fellow Germans Henrik Schwarz, Âme and Dixon launching their hugely influential label Innervisionsin 2005, expressly indebted to Chicago and Detroit. Beatportal named Âme’s 2005 song "Rej" "the defining track of a whole era," one that led to the global dominance of what is known as melodic house and techno today. 

Underground scenes in San Francisco and Los Angeles blossomed, with the likes of Chicago transplant Mark Farina and the Sunset Sound System crew, and DJ Dan and Marques Wyatt fostering the respective local rave scenes. While Chicago had a bit of a slower creative period than the prior decades, Brooklyn-born DJ Heather was building her legacy as a Chicago house purveyor. Felix Da Housecat (who had released his first single back in 1987 at just 15 with mentorship from DJ Pierre) saw mainstream success in the '00s, getting tapped for remixes from the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, and Rökysopp. 

Windy City native Honey Dijon was working her magic in New York's queer dance music underground andfashion scene. In 2008, queer DIY New York collective Hercules and Love Affair, led by Andrew Butler, dropped the sparkling nu disco gem "Blind," bolstered by a remix from the one and only Frankie Knuckles. On Aug. 25, 2004, the section of Chicago's Jefferson Street that was home to the original Warehouse was renamedFrankie Knuckles Way.

 House Goes EDM

In the 2010s, dance music finally took off in the U.S. mainstream in the form of EDM, and its influence on pop is undeniable. Big room house — essentially house-indebted EDM — gained popularity via songs such as Martin Garrix's "Animals," Kaskade's "Don't Stop Dancing" featuring EDX and Haley, Calvin Harris' "We Found Love" featuring Rihanna, Swedish House Mafia's "Save The World" and Avicii's "Levels."

In 2011, massive EDM festival Electric Daisy Carnival moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, signaling  how popular dance music had become stateside and the unofficial start of the rave industrial complex. Coachella added the clubby Yuma tent in 2013 with the goal of focusing on underground dance music while expanding its original DJ-centric Sahara Tent. The following year, Harris drew the second-largest Coachella crowd at his mainstage, non-headlining set.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, house’s queer roots were blossoming. In 2013, The Blessed Madonna became smartbar's first woman booker after serving as a resident DJ. Eris Drew and Octo Octa, both trans women, have been expanding the bounds of house and bringing classic, eclectic rave energy since they got behind the decks, while Shaun J. Wright and Alinka have been keeping Chicago house queer and Black with their Twirl parties and label.

Read more: The Rise Of Underground House: How Artists Like Fisher & Acraze Have Taken Tech House, Other Electronic Genres From Indie To EDC

Two UK acts, Disclosure and Jamie XX, would bring classic house, specifically UK garage with a modern touch, to the U.S. charts and GRAMMYs with their debut albums, Settle in 2013 and In Colour in 2015, respectively. Disclosure's success was swift and far-reaching, winning the GRAMMY for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Settle; lead single "Latch" remains their biggest hit and turned then-unknown Sam Smith into a pop star.

Midway through the decade, tech house — which blends elements of techno into a four-four house beat — would begin to take over as the dominant sound of EDM, making superstars of Chris Lake, Hot Since 82 and Patrick Topping and inspiring the next generation of global DJs. This trend was largely driven by Welsh house purveyor Jamie Jones, whose label Hot Creations, producer supergroup Hot Natured, and Paradise Garage-inspired, Ibiza-bred Paradise parties helped popularize a groovy version of tech house. 

Elsewhere in Europe, Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje kept the spirit of Ibiza's breezy Balearic house and nu disco alive on his instant-classic debut single "Inspector Norse" in 2012, made using only an ARP 2600 synth. Cinthie, "the Berlin Queen of House," was keeping the spirit of classic-yet-fresh Chicago house alive in the techno-loving city with her all-vinyl sets and label 803 Crystal Grooves.

South Africa'sBlack Coffee became a global flagbearer for Afro house, a vast umbrella term representing an innovative and disparate group producers and subgenres from the African continent and diaspora, further cemented by Drake sampling his 2009 tune "Superman" on 2017's "Get It Together," naming him as a featured artist alongside singer Jorja Smith.

Read more: Black Coffee On New Album, 'Subconsciously': "Music Is Life To Me And I Want You To Feel That With Every Beat And Melody"

House: The Bedrock Of Multiple Mainstream Smashes

In 2022, ill-informed headlines claimed Beyoncé saved house music with the release of the euphoric GRAMMY-winning single "BREAK MY SOUL" and album RENAISSANCE.

House music didn't need saving, but it did reach a wider audience and become the sound of the summer while sparking important conversations reminding people that house is a Black American genre. The 32-time GRAMMY winner did her homework and enlisted a bevy of producers, including Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon (who worked on "COZY" and "ALIEN SUPERSTAR"), and samples to pay tribute to dance music's Black queer roots on RENAISSANCE. Honey Dijon and T.S. Madison— whose "B**ch, I’m Black" speech was sampled on "COZY" — made history as the first Black trans women to earn a Billboard hit.

Learn more: Obsessed With Beyoncé's 'Renaissance'? Keep The Dance Party Going With Albums From Frankie Knuckles, Big Freedia & More

Drake also brought house (and its rapid-fire cousin Jersey club) tunes to the top of the charts on Honestly, Nevermind with help from Gordo (who previously made EDM as Carnage). Keinemusik heads Rampa and &ME brought their wildly popular driving, melodic, Afro-house-infused sound to "Falling Back" and "A Keeper," and Black Coffee and Gordo deliver the breezy, Jersey club meets deep house "Currents."

ARC Festival launched in 2021, as Chicago's answer to Detroit's long-running Movement electronic music festival, featuring local legends and big-name DJs from around the globe and reinvigorating the Windy City as a dance music destination. In 2023, the city finally protected the West Loop building that once housed The Warehouse as an official city landmark.

A younger generation of DJs, such as South Korean Peggy Gou, British TSHA and Aluna, Canadian Jayda G and Detroit-born-and-raised DJ Holographic continue to keep the spirit of house alive and fresh. The likes of Aussie Dom Dolla, Chicagoan John Summit and Brazilian Mochakk have become tech house biggest rising stars while coloring outside of the lines.

In the early 2000s, Taking Back Sunday were just some dudes living in Long Island, New York. Vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarist and vocalist John Nolan, guitarist Eddie Reyes, bassist Shaun Cooper, and drummer Mark O'Connell all were working day jobs, but they were trying to make the music thing work, organizing DIY tours up and down the East Coast when they could. Unsure what to call their first demo CD, the quintet labeled it with a title that would eventually become fortuitous: "Tell All Your Friends."

It was a marching order for those with a copy, in hopes that the demo would land in the right hands. As fate would have it, the five-song CD was eventually heard by an A&R representative for Victory Records in 2001 — and the rest, as they say, is history.

Tell All Your Friends was officially released as Taking Back Sunday's debut album in March 2002, featuring 10 songs in total and introducing the band as one of the early forebearers of the decade's post-hardcore and emo movement. Though Taking Back Sunday reached their commercial peak with their third album, 2006's Louder Now, Tell All Your Friends is the fan favorite, and is seminal to both the band's career and the emo era as a whole. Millions of people around the world connected to the heart-on-the-sleeve songwriting and raw emotions conveyed in tracks like "Cute Without the 'E'," "Timberwolves of New Jersey," and "You're So Last Summer," all of which became huge hits on both radio and MTV; soon kids everywhere were growing out their bangs like Lazzara, wearing studded belts, and using lyrics as their AIM Away Messages.

Two decades later, Taking Back Sunday is still going strong. In 2023, they released their eighth album, 152, and on October 19 and 20, they will return to the When You Were Young Festival in Las Vegas, where they will play Tell All Your Friends in full. Ahead of the fest, GRAMMY.com caught up with Nolan to reminisce about those early days of Taking Back Sunday, and the memories behind every song on their debut album.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you remember of that time in your life before Tell All Your Friends was released?

We had signed our deal with Victory Records months before we went into the studio. When we were recording the record, we did it in Jersey City, but we all lived on Long Island. Adam, Eddie and I all lived in the same apartment at that point.

We were all working day jobs, so we were driving back and forth — which, you know, Long Island to Jersey City, depending on time of day, can either be a half hour or 3 hours. [Laughs.] So that definitely added a bit of complication to things.

But we were just so excited by the whole prospect. Anything that was challenging about getting there and back and juggling jobs didn't really matter. We were just so psyched about everything.

How did these songs come about for you guys? Had you been playing them for a while?

The first year or so of the band, we had a different singer and a few different bass players. Everything was kind of rotating. We finally got the lineup that we had on the album probably about a year before we recorded the album. During that time, we were writing and playing shows. As soon as we were done writing a song, we would play it live, because at that point, everything was new to everybody so it didn't matter. That was a cool thing to be able to do, because we were able to develop them live months before we ever recorded.

We also did a demo that had 5 songs from Tell All Your Friends on it that we started selling at shows. Those songs were the ones that were really established before we recorded.

When we were going into the studio, we didn't really have to put together an album because at that point, we had about 10 or 11 songs. We had written an album's worth of songs just kind of by chance. Some of them had been written more recently while others had been around for a while.

Listening to Tell All Your Friends 20 years later, is there anything in particular that stands out to you about the record?

The thing that jumps out to me the most is, we've been playing live for a very long time to a click track, so everything is very tight and on point. It's always interesting to me to hear the live versions of these songs where it speeds up and down. It's very inconsistent and very raw sounding because of that. I think it's part of what accidentally gave the album a certain level of excitement and made it stand out a bit.

You can definitely hear that raw energy on a song like "You Know How I Do," the first song on Tell All Your Friends. What makes it a good album opener?

That was one of the ones we had finished writing not too long before we went into the studio. So it was a new song in our mind. That was part of it. It felt like starting off with something that was new and exciting to us made sense. It just had feeling that felt like a good way to kick off the record. It has that intro with the one guitar and then everything kicks in.

After that comes "Bike Scene." Tell me about that song.

That one was one of the ones we recorded on the demo that we put out before the album. It had been established for a while. I don't think there were too many changes from the demo version to the record version. My sister Michelle sings on the bridge of that one. It was one of the songs that we started seeing a good reaction to at our shows pretty quickly.

So you guys honed that one on stage?

Yeah, that one didn't really go through many changes. We had that one locked in.

The next song on the record is "Cute Without The 'E'" which was a big single for you and a fan favorite. How did this song change things for the band?

Just getting signed to a record label was a huge accomplishment, and it was about as far ahead as we could think in terms of what our band could do. So, to be hearing our song on the radio and seeing it on TV not much longer after signing was mind blowing. I felt very surreal. It was very hard to believe that it was all true and actually happening.

I don't honestly remember how "Cute Without the 'E'" was chosen as a single. I don't remember any of us having a sense when we wrote and recorded that song that "this is the one," you know? It was a song on the album that we liked just as much as any other. For that one to take off the way it did was a bit of a surprise.

Is it true you don't rehearse this song anymore?

That is true, yes. We've played it at every show, I think, ever, from the time I was in the band in the early 2000s and then when I came back in 2010… that's a lot when you add that up. [Laughs.] That's one we don't really have any reason to rehearse, so we don't.

Next is "There's No 'I' In Team." There's a bit of a story behind this one, involving a falling out between you and a former bandmate, Jesse Lacey of Brand New. At this point, do you even still think about the drama that inspired song anymore? Is it hard for you to play?

No. I mean, it's so long ago. The actual emotions from the time, it's so far away. I find when we're playing these songs live, I will tap into something more current emotionally that I can channel into the song, but it's not the same events or emotions that originally inspired it.

There was a time, around the first six months or year that we played it, where the emotions of it and the circumstances around it were very real and very raw and new, and it was very intense and an emotional experience. I think that's part of what people responded to. I would say after that initial time, a lot of that stuff died down.

Tell me about "Great Romances of the 21st Century."

That was one of the first ones we wrote with the new lineup of the band. Our drummer, Mark, had actually come up with the guitar parts for that. I remember him showing it to me on an acoustic guitar one time in North Carolina while we were staying at someone's house before playing a show there. I remember just being really taken back by it, because I didn't even know he could play guitar. It was this intricate picking thing, and he was doing all these kind of weird chords and stuff. We then took his guitar parts, and got together and made it into the song.

I very clearly remember we were in our basement rehearsal space, which was at Mark's family's house. When we were finished writing and playing it, I remember feeling like something had really clicked and that we were onto something. There was something about that song that set the direction and tone for what the band was going to do.

We ended up making a music video for that one before we were even signed. We had a friend who made music videos and he wanted to do it. He ended up doing the "Cute Without the 'E'" video as well.

Because of the way it came together and how excited we were about it, we were like, this is the single, which is also sort of funny now because there's no normal structure to it. It would not make much sense as a single or something that could be played on the radio. But the song definitely caught on quickly when we started playing it live. We got a big reaction to it. It's funny now to think about how we were looking at that like, This song could be a big hit.

Read More: Remembering When We Were Young: Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Eat World & More Bands Reflect On The Peak Of Emo & Hardcore Ahead Of Vegas Fest

"Ghost Man On Third" feels like an important song on the record. What can you tell me about it?

That one was a newer song when we were going into the studio. A lot of the lyrics and melodies on that one came from Adam's experience at the time. I remember when we first started playing it live being really taken back and amazed by the emotion that he was putting into it. It felt really powerful when we first started playing it live. It was before people knew the song.

That was really something to me,  to have a song that you're playing in front of people and they don't even know it yet but it's still really powerful and you can see it grabbing everyone's attention. It has a different feel than a lot of the other songs. So in the context of the album, that one is very important for changing the mood up and keeping it from getting too much of the same thing. I think it's a key point in the album.

Why do you think fans connected with that raw emotion and honest songwriting? Do you think it was something that wasn't really there in rock music at the time?

It was interesting because nu-metal was still very popular and had been from the late '90s into the early 2000s. Then pop-punk was starting to become a lot more mainstream. I think when we were making that album, yeah, a lot of it was not in line with what was popular at that moment, but for whatever reason, things were kind of shifting in that direction. Thursday was a big part of that. They were getting nationwide attention. There was this shift away from that more pop-punk thing and whatever the nu-metal thing was into something a lot less polished and a lot more openly emotional.

And that kind of leads us into "Timberwolves of New Jersey" which touches upon the post-hardcore, emo scene in the New Jersey right?

Yeah, a little bit. It was something that I had started on my own on an acoustic guitar, and I brought it to the band. Then they made it into what you hear on the album.

When I was working on it, it didn't really sound like something that would make sense for the band, but then everybody got into it. It was somewhat based on our experiences with our first singer and old band members. It's kind of a mean-spirited and cocky song. That's where I was at at the time, I guess.

How old were you when you wrote it?

Like 22, 23. I was little older than some of the other guys, so I don't have as much of an excuse. Adam was only 18 or 19, I think.

I mean, that's how we all are at that age right?

[Laughs.] Yeah.

Read More: The State Of Pop-Punk: A Roundtable Unpacks The Genre's Past, Present And Future

Moving on to "The Blue Channel," I read somewhere that you guys weren't thrilled with the final mixes, is that right? How do you feel about the song now?

I play a piano part to introduce the song – this Wurlitzer sound – just very slow and that's how I played it in the studio. I did it on my keyboard to a MIDI track, which means all the notes are there digitally, and the producer is able to change the sound after the fact, and the notes can be manipulated into anything they want.

I recorded it, and we didn't hear it until they gave us a mix of the album. They made it twice the speed that I had played it. They cut it in half and made it double-time, basically. They changed the sound to a real piano sound, which kinda sounded fake. It was just completely shocking. We had no idea they were going to do that.

When I hear it now, it sounds fine. It's not really bad or anything like that. But when we called the studio and talked to the producer about the changes that we wanted to make, they were like, "Oh no, that's the album. That's the mix. We're out of time and we are over budget. The album's done."

There were a lot of things like that on the album that weren't necessarily what we wanted or asked for or were involved in choosing. They were just like, "That's it, that's the way the album is."

I guess you were so new at the time that you couldn't be like "no we want it this way," right?

Yeah, maybe we could have, technically, but that would've involved really stepping up, talking to the record label, and making a big scene over it. I think we did kind of feel like being a young new band that that was not our place. We were also on our way out of town to start one of our first real tours. So, we were not really in a place to spend a whole bunch of time fighting to get that done anyway. We kind of just accepted it.

It obviously didn't hurt the record.

No, apparently not!

Next, we got "You're So Last Summer," which, I mean, come on, That song rules. It's no wonder it's become one of your most memorable songs.

That one we had more of a sense of the potential for it to be a popular song. It's also kind of funny looking back on it, because I forget now but I think we put it like 8th or 9th on the record…

Yeah, it's the penultimate.

Definitely an odd choice to put that song towards the end, but I think it does hold up now to have something more straightforward and poppier come towards the end of the album. It's nice for the pacing of it, and it's unexpected.

That one got a very big reaction very quickly. One thing I always think about with "You're So Last Summer" is I had written the line, "The truth is you could slit my throat/ And with my one last gasping breath/ I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt," and when I wrote it, I was making an exaggerated point that was honest but I also thought it was funny.

It's a great line.

Yeah, but after it got popular, I always second guessed it. A certain amount of people just thought it was straightforward, complete dramatic teenager type of thing. I always had this love/hate relationship with that part of the song.

I've realized now it doesn't matter, because if something resonates with people, then that's good. You don't have to worry about why it's happening or what it means.

Finally, we got "Head Club." I love the way it closes out the record.

I always have mixed feelings about this song. We included this on our original demo and the ending of it – the big outro part – was different. I think I was the one who suggested changing it, and I wasn't always sure if that was the right choice or not. The other people in the band all kind of second guessed whether that was the right move or not. But I mean, nobody except for the people on Long Island or early fans who had the demo would even be able to make that comparison. For most people, it's just always the way the song was.

I always think about the drum intro. It's an interesting way to start the song to begin with, but then the producer put a flanger on the drums, which is really interesting and weird. I don't know if I've ever heard that before or since. It was an odd choice.

It works though!

It does! It's one of those things I don't even think about anymore, and probably anybody who listens to the record doesn't either. But the first time hearing it we were like, "What is that? That's weird."

So how are you feeling about playing all these songs in full at When We Were Young?

I think about half of the record are songs that we play on a regular basis, and the other half there's a bunch that we hardly ever play. There's definitely a few in there where it's been years since we've played them. We did one tour in 2019 where we were playing our first three albums, but a lot of the songs we haven't played since then.

It's always interesting going back and playing a whole album like this, because we get to see the live reaction to songs like "Cute Without the 'E'" and "So Last Summer" all the time, but it's always interesting to see the crowd respond and sing along to album tracks that are less-known. It's always interesting to see which of those it'll be. I'm still never sure.

Halfway into my video call with Sara Landry, the electronic artist who has come to be known as "The High Priestess of Hard Techno," a lamp casting a subtle green glow within the frame of her iPhone begins flashing. Most people would consider this electrical surge a forgettable occurrence. But not her.

"This light will flash at me sometimes, and whenever it does, I take that as a sign from a spirit that I'm speaking the truth," Landry says. "That's how I know that I'm on the right path."

The results of her current path are notable. This summer, Landry became the first hard techno artist to play the main stage at Belgian festival Tomorrowland; she sold 9,000 tickets to her sold-out double-header in Los Angeles, her 2023 Boiler Room set has over 6 million views; and, on Oct. 4, Landry released her debut album, Spiritual Driveby. The album is out on her own label, Hekate Records.

Landry is assured and has been pushed forward by spiritual signs on numerous occasions. A few years ago, a hypnosis session transported her to what she is absolutely certain were past versions of her life. She experienced being burned at the stake, like so many fellow women who struck fear in men, back in 1600s Salem. Before that, she was a priestess in the temple of Sekhmet, the Egyptian lion goddess. She arose from that deep state with a clear purpose: to stand in her power as an artist, even if it disrupts the status quo. 

"Creating a way for these healing frequencies to reach people on a large scale — it's always been very clear to me that's a big part of what I'm supposed to be doing in this lifetime. As an act of service and a contribution," Landry says of hard techno. 

Though it might not seem like frequencies built on a rapid-fire kick drum are particularly healing compared to, say, ambient frequencies (to which Landry listens on her own time), fast-moving music authentically resonates with her.

"I have hummingbird energy. So, the fast tempos have always felt very natural, as chaotic and intense as they can be," Landry says. By making and playing intense, chaotic music, she creates a space for herself, her collaborators, and the thousands of people who flock to her sets to "safely channel, shepherd, and express intense emotions: euphoria, rage, grief, sadness, anger, frustration."

The 12-track Spiritual Driveby is the cohesive, on-demand version of that space. "It's intended to be an altered state of consciousness that's a safe space to experience [emotions]," Landry says. "Electronic shows were where I really was able to first experiment with expanding my consciousness. The music was such an important part of that." 

Spiritual Driveby spans a wide range of emotions, which Landry taps with an intricate and assiduous musicality. The somber and symphonic title track — co-produced with GRAMMY winner Mike Dean, who’s worked with pop stars like The Weeknd and Beyoncé — combines solemn choral layers and ringing piano chords. "Pressure" feels like pure joy, and features Latvian British artist LEGZDINA, who provides oscillating rap verses over galloping rhythms, harkening to Landry’s affinity for playing hard techno hip-hop edits during her sets.

"How can I surprise whoever's listening? How can I surprise myself as I'm making it? How can I create something that's interesting and engaging enough to really feel something different than what everyone else is doing?" Landry questions. "I like taking these normal, beautiful things and bringing them to this chaotic, otherworldly place." 

Landry spoke to GRAMMY.com about exploring her full range of musical interests on Spiritual Driveby, making every track with a collaborator, and her role in bringing a historically underground genre to the mainstream 

In the opening track, "devotion 396hz," two keywords are repeated: "freedom" and "devotion." How do you relate those words to your album and career?

Freedom and devotion are about creativity and being unafraid to do something different, even if people don't understand it at first, which has been a really big part of my creative journey. 

Devotion is also an important part of being an artist. Developing a skill set and taking the time to reach a mastery level in something musical, which I feel isn't as common as it used to be. Now so much of the musical, creative, artistic, and technical process of being a musician can be outsourced.

I've spent all of this time and effort to be able to create art in this format. Sharing that ethos and creating a body of work that captures those feelings, emotions, and the chaos of the way life has been for the last few years. In order to truly push the bounds, it has to be authentic. You can't shortcut or cheat your way through real material. Forward-thinking, artistic innovation, or real creativity comes from within.

Oftentimes, very fast music discards traditional musicality; it’s all about raging. What is it like for you to know you can explore all your musical inclinations through your chosen genre?

That's the most exciting part for me. We're at such an incredible point in the advancement of music technology. Only for the last 10 or so years have we had this entirely new world. Every year the world gets larger.

As much as techno, hard techno specifically, is about good drums and good audio engineering — I think of that as pouring the foundation for a house. You have to pour the concrete, and you have to let the concrete set and make sure that everything is up to code. Only then can you build the house. But once the foundation's poured, you can build whatever type of house you want. The limit is really your imagination. That's my favorite thing. I get these drums done so I can actually cook on this sound design and see what comes through. 

It felt so good after being on tour so much to be able to lose myself in that creative exploration process again and enjoy letting my autism [loose], which is really a big part of music production for me.

How do you feel about being a central figure in taking a genre that has only ever existed in the underground to larger, more visible forums?

It's really exciting. I'm incredibly grateful that people enjoy it so much. I never would have thought that my hard techno tracks would have me sitting here doing a GRAMMY interview. 

I think the energy of the music and the ability of the music to provide a safe and healthy space for people to be wild and chaotic and frenetic during a wild and chaotic and frenetic time is part of the reason why it’s become this cultural tour de force for this new generation of ravers. It's a really special thing to be a part of. It's provided such a place of solace and acceptance for me, and I hope it makes other people feel the same way.

As we get further from the pandemic, I feel like the younger kids who are now just going to their first raves are searching for music that allows them to release their pent-up emotions from that harrowing time.

I think so too. It's this unleashing of this collective consciousness. I had the same energy coming out of the pandemic myself. 

It's also a safe space for that energy. Because otherwise, where does that energy go? Internet chat forums? That never ends well. Leave it on the dance floor. That's the best and safest place for that. I’m happy to be of service. Providing a space for controlled chaos has always been my thing.

I think people expect my music to be very dark or weird or satanic, which it's not at all. I put a lot of healing frequencies and meditative stuff and mantras and chants and ohms that are intended to be an energy-healing type of scenario. It’s intending to be uplifting and mind-expanding and beautiful and supportive — as opposed to being an overcompressed kick and a Satan vocal.

A defining moment in your career was a hypnosis session where you accessed different versions of your spirit across different times, who then assured you of your mission as an artist. When you were making this album, did you transcend time in a similar way? And if so, like, where did your spirit go?

I feel like my soul connects to whatever energy is intangible. It’s this almost euphoric, religious type of experience. "Chaos Magicka" was one. Whenever Godtripper and I were together, we tapped into some realm. I don't know how we get there, but we end up with these insane, chanty, spiritual, esoteric tracks.

That's always the feeling that I'm trying to cultivate. It really is about aligning to the creative frequency and being open to receiving whatever creative message is coming through instead of trying to be like, I'm gonna make this. 

A big part of why I was able to access that state so readily is because I had the joyful energy of working with friends, which is a healing and up-leveling energetic experience.

How do you think those different versions of yourself you accessed when you were hypnotized would feel about where you are now?

The messages I received from all the work that I've done and all of the successful attempts to receive these types of divine downloads have always been clear: This is what I was supposed to be doing. I'm supposed to be helping to elevate the energy levels of people who wish to connect to this new frequency. 

It feels like that's really happening. And so it feels very authentic and in alignment, which is why I think the music is able to keep coming through and keep pushing these boundaries while having that overarching theme and tone.

If it stops working, that's a sign it’s not in alignment. But thankfully, as things have continued to snowball, that feeling has just increased, which is a really wonderful thing. I feel so blessed to be able to spend the time and make the music that I do and also share it with people and have it make them feel better, provide comfort, or provide joy. 

Beyond elevating people spiritually, you are also literally inspiring people, especially women, to go after what they’re supposed to be doing when they see you playing these massive stages.

I think about this notion all the time. How many female Mozarts [were there], whose music did we not get to hear because they were limited by the societal norms and the expectations of the time? We would probably be so much further if women had been able to have our creative contributions be valued and weighed the same as men's are.

It's important to be able to stand up and say, "You can choose to live for yourself. You can choose your own path. Your life can be whatever you want it to be. All you have to do is be able to visualize it and tell everybody to go f— themselves when they tell you you can't do it. Then one day you'll get there."

When TSHA was 21 and struggling with depression, she had a vivid nightmare that she fell through a frozen lake and sank to the bottom. The striking imagery and heavy emotions of the dream stuck with her over the years, even as she pulled herself out of that dark period. 

On the cover of her soon-t-be-released sophomore album, Sad Girl, TSHA revisits the frozen lake. This time, she's floating triumphantly above it, lounging like a glittering goddess atop a small iceberg. (She posed on actual ice for the stunning Theirry Mugler-inspired shot.)

Out Sept. 27, Sad Girl is the soundtrack to the in-demand British DJ/producer born Teisha Matthews' coming of age in the small, mostly-white town of Fareham. She's come a long way from her difficult teen years thinking she'd never make it out of her hometown, but the album brings her back to that bedroom, where she found solace and escape in the radio. 

In spite of its name (a wink at emo MSN screen names), the album is overall upbeat, optimistic and rich with TSHA's intricate productions. With a healthy dose of '90s and '00s dance music, R&B and pop, TSHA deftly  transmutes these formative sonic influences into modern dance pop bops, filled with reminders to her younger self that it's going to be OK.

Read more: 5 Emerging Artists Pushing Electronic Music Forward: Moore Kismet, TSHA, Doechii & Others

"Girls" is an electro bop celebrating the healing power of going out with your girlfriends, while the sweeping instrumentation that opens "Green" evokes the triumph of Cher's 1998 classic "Believe." On "Green," "In The Night" and “Fight” TSHA debuts her own vocals, further proof that she's really come into her own as an artist at the forefront of emotive dance music

TSHA has received countless accolades for her music, which she debuted in 2018 with the self-released Dawn EP. Since then, she's played nearly every major club and festival on the global DJ circuit, been named MusicTech's 2022 Producer of the Year and BBC Radio 1's first-ever "Future Artist" in 2021, gracing the covers of dance imprints Mixmag and DJ Mag, and winning the latter's Best of British Awards Best Album for her debut album *Capricorn Sun.

Amidst a never-ending DJ schedule, TSHA has  found more balance and presence. She makes   time to do something outside of her hotel in every city she plays and is focused on self-care and  the things she can control instead of external validation. A move from London to sunny Ibiza — where she's a regular at DC-10, Hï and other major clubs — eight months ago has also lifted her spirits. The resulting Sad Girl not only provides immersive sonic healing, but shows  TSHA standing in her artistic power as someone equally at home serving up euphoric dance pop bangers and introspective electro R&B.

GRAMMY.com sat down with TSHA to explore the nostalgic club soundscape on Sad Girl, the magic of Ellie Goulding's songwriting and voice, finding peace in an in-demand schedule, and more.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

The press release for Sad Girl says the album embraces the genres that you've always been interested in. I hear '90s rave, '00s pop and R&B — could you speak to some of the sonic inspirations on this album? 

I was thinking about stuff that was on when I was growing up; things on MTV, on "Top of the Pops," on the radio. I didn't really have a lot of CDs or anything growing up, it was more like you just got what was given to you… like Craig David, JoJo, drum and bass, Massive Attack, and a bit of house music because my brother was a DJ. Then there was Cher's "Believe" — I'll always remember that because I recorded it on tape on a ghettoblaster when I was a kid. 

It's all those little sounds and things that are very nostalgic for me and remind me of that period — an amalgamation of the bits and bobs that seeped into my consciousness growing up — and that bring me back to that place when I hear them. That is the base of the sounds of the album. 

What emotions came up for you going back to that childhood place? Was there any healing you felt in making an album dedicated to that time of your life? 

Yeah. I had quite a lot going on when I was growing up; there was so much change happening in my house. I was quite a sad girl. I still am really, at the core, a terrible emo. [The album] brings me back to moments in that time where I was going through stuff, and that's why I ended up calling it Sad Girl, because [this type of music] was the soundtrack to my younger self into my teenage angst period. These were the things that I would sing along to. 

It did bring up a lot of stuff, and it was actually a bit healing because I've come such a long way. I would have never imagined being where I am now — that seemed impossible when I was that age — [even] that I would make it out of my hometown, full stop. We weren't very well off growing up, so [I couldn't imagine] actually being able to go on holiday, to go on a plane. It was healing because I went through all these emotions and thoughts of being a sad girl thinking that I was never going to get out, but I did.

The album art is inspired by a dream you had when you were younger about being trapped in an icy lake — but in the photo you're looking iconic on top of the ice. I was thinking of that visual when you were describing getting out of your hometown; can you talk about the dream and reimagining it as triumphant in the photo? 

I had that dream when I was 21, which was the worst period of my life. I was at my lowest and everything bad that could happen had happened. I was in this dark hole and I had this very bad dream. That dream always stuck with me because it was so realistic and it felt like it actually happened. 

When I was thinking about doing the artwork and being a sad girl, I thought back to that dream. I wanted to have a positive spin of I've come out the water and I'm on the ice and I've pulled myself out. I also wanted it, obviously, to look cool. I was like, I want real ice. I will lie on this iceberg. [Chuckles.] It was freezing.

I love the energy of "Girls" with Rose Gray. What were the sonic inspirations on that track and the energy you're capturing on it?

The inspiration was 2000s electro. I was thinking about that period when I was a teenager coming into a young adult, when I could go out. That was the music that was popping off then. I wasn't club clubbing back then, but I remember seeing videos of Ibiza and that was kind of the sound; it feels like that's the last time Ibiza was really, really fun, when electro came out. [Laughs.] All the clubs were fun and phones only had s— cameras, so people didn't have their phones out, they were dancing. I wanted to make a fun electro track because I just loved that period.

Rose was perfect for it because she's kind of camp and a lot of fun. We wanted to make a sort of Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" vibes as a positive start to the album. I didn't want the album to be doom and gloom, and I wanted a positive message. So this [song represents] that coming into an adult period when you're going out, you're strutting your stuff, getting ready to go out with the girls.

I also love the album's next track, "In The Night." I feel euphoria on that one as well, and maybe more of a '90s rave sound. Can you talk about that one as well?

It's mainly inspired by trance. That was another massive sound that was around when I was a teenager, maybe a bit younger. We had DJ Sammy and loads of stuff coming out of Europe, like Euro dance. I thought night clubbing was going to be like that when I turned 18 — loads of lasers and everyone is dancing to euphoric trance. It turns out it wasn't like that, but that was where the sound [inspiration] came from.

It's one of the first tracks I'm singing on. I'm a night owl, even before I became a DJ I would be up late by myself, overthinking. When I was writing the song, I started thinking, Oh, I'm always fighting myself in the night. It turned into a bit more of a fun dance track in the end.

How did you start that track?

I took the string instrument from another song, it was either "Can't Dance" or "Fight" and I used that to start it. I did that in a few songs, where I took something from one song and used it to start the next song to kick it off and also to make it a bit more cohesive with similar sounds in each song. I watched something about someone else doing that [technique].

What did it feel like bringing your vocals onto this album? Were you nervous or just kind of feeling like Why not?

A bit of both, to be honest. Working with other singers, you kind of lose control over the lyrical content and the meaning of a song and stuff like that. I wanted to bring even more of myself into the music, so the logical path to do that would be for me to be singing and writing.

It felt good, actually. I managed to get three songs where I'm singing lyrics I wrote that have meaning to me directly. No one else has had their own influence over those words or what they mean. I hope to do more of [that]. 

When you go into a session with a vocalist, are you typically bringing a track that's more or less finished or are you just coming in with some ideas and sounds? 

I usually prefer to have a track, so I know what I want, and then I ask them to do something in that direction. With Rose [on "Girls"], I knew what I wanted and she got it, so we fell on the same page. Sometimes, I might take something someone else has written that I've come across and like how it sounds. Then I can build the track around it, rather than the other way around, which is easier for me because then it's less managing a person. Ideally, that's why I want to sing more because if I can just do it all myself, then it'll make my life easier and allow me to be more creative.

On the non-album single "Somebody" you worked with two legendary vocalists, Ellie Goulding and Gregory Porter. What did working with them feel like for you? And as a producer, how were you able to make sure that both of their voices worked together on the track?

That was a great experience. I wrote that in the studio with Ellie. It's amazing when you work with someone that's been around for a long time that's at the top of songwriting, you realize how much of a league above they are. Her ability to come up with something genius really quickly is insane. And her vocals are always flawless from the moment she opens her mouth.

We were in a session all day; we just talked for hours, completely unrelated to music, and then related to music. The song was written in the last hour. Ellie and I bonded over suffering from anxiety, so the song extended around some anxieties that she was going through at the time and I could totally relate. And it was inspired a lot by Massive Attack, those trip-hop sounds.

Gregory came on later as we were looking for a male vocalist. It was really a shame because he said he would have liked to have written a verse, but I didn't know that until the song came out. I love the song very much.  

Do you have any other dream collabs that you would love to make happen? 

I've always wanted to work with FKA twigs, I'm a big fan. The people I would collaborate with has changed; now I prefer to find new people. I find that fun and more interesting. I also like the idea of helping people by shining a light on a newer sound and singers. I guess it's the DJ in me. When I'm DJing, I want to find a song that no one else has played. 

How do you choose who to work with and how do you find them? And what parameters do you have for someone that would be a good vocalist for you to work with? 

There isn't really a parameter in terms of sound, it's more about uniqueness and tone and stuff like that. Ingrid [Witt, featured on "Azaleas" and "Drive"] emailed me from a post on Instagram [asking for singers to reach out]. Loads of really good singers came through; she just happened to have one of the quickest responses and she had the most unique voice as well. She gave me Kate Bush vibes, a little bit of Robyn, and her lyrical content was beautiful. 

I like when people send me stuff. My promo email is in my bio on Instagram, so anyone can send me music. I've gotten loads of great DJ tracks that aren't signed or no one else is playing through that. Obviously, I have to go through a lot of emails, and sometimes there's a lot of things that shouldn't be sent to me, but there's always little gems. 

We last spoke two years ago about Capricorn Sun, where you said you really just wanted to be happy and find more balance between time on the road and at home. Have you found more balance or has your life gotten crazier since then?

 I'm not sure really, because after the album, I was like, Next year I'm gonna slow down, I'm gonna be a bit more chill. It wasn't more chill, I had about the same [number of] gigs, if not more. But I feel like I changed a little bit; I don't know what happened, but my anxiety decreased, so it made these things easier. That year before the album and just after the album, I was at my wit's end, really exhausted and touring felt really difficult. After that period, touring got better and I started to enjoy it more.  

That wasn't from doing less, though, I think that was from changing my mindset a little bit and being more grateful, trying to shift away from the negative side of things and worrying less about doing well. You're always being judged when you're releasing music, so when you focus on where you're at all the time, it's really hard. I'm trying to just be happy in where I'm at. Some people will like the album, some people won't and I guess that's just life. These are things I'm not in control of. I've been trying to learn to not worry about these things because these are all decided by other people. All I could do is what I did; I made the music, I'm happy with it, and I show up at my gigs and do my best. I'm trying to focus on that.  

What have felt like the biggest career highlights for you so far? 

I used to say signing to Ninja Tune was my biggest highlight. I went on autopilot for quite a while, so anything that happened in that period I didn't really let myself acknowledge. I feel like now if something really sick happens, I'd be super happy. I'd actually celebrate it this time. I will feel them now. Bless me with something good, I'm ready.

On that note, what's something that would feel like a dream come true for you if it happened?

There're a few ones. Having a proper big club residency in Ibiza would be amazing. Winning some award — it doesn't even matter what it is — for the album would be nice. I guess you don't need awards, but it's nice when you get one because you feel people actually did take notice of your work. 

This isn't music [-related], but if I buy a house in Ibiza that's got all the cool s— I want in it; my dream house with a roof terrace, then I'll be happy. It won't matter if my music does well because I've got this house in Ibiza. [Laughs.]