Club Glam

Anna Lunoe is conquering the fashion and pop worlds, but without forfeiting her club cred. The Sydney DJ/producer/singer recently aired the slinky Breathe, a track that could be mistaken for Disclosure with its modernised '90s house sound. Notably, it's a club track, not a pop concession. But then, in 2012 Lunoe did issue the subliminal I Met You (with Flume) and Real Talk (alongside Touch Sensitive) on Future Classic – the latter a Beatport Indie Club Chart number one. “I've got a bunch of influences that I lean on – and '90s house is definitely one of them,” Lunoe says from Las Vegas, in the midst of a pre-club gig dinner. “If you listen to Real Talk, my single from last year, you'll notice it's very '90s house-heavy as well, but it's got a real garage-house influence. But I love '90s house. It's become very popular this year, so I always try to put some kind of spin on it, making it just slightly unusual.”

Curating mixtapes as a kid, while falling into hip hop and indie-dance, Lunoe wound up presenting a weekly dance show on FBi radio. She'd become the first female DJ to mix compilations for Ministry Of Sound Australia. Lunoe collaborated with Wax Motif on Love Ting, her 2011 debut single. She relocated to Los Angeles last year, joining the Australian DJ invasion of the US. “I'd been travelling around Australia for the better part of six years and I felt like I'd played every club a million times and everything. So I was just ready for a change – and I sort of had to keep moving.” She's welcomed new opportunities. Lunoe covered J Cole's Miguel-featuring Power Trip (as All Night) with AC Slater and has since wrapped a North American tour with The Weeknd (“a lovely guy”), DJing in old theatres.

Lunoe has maintained her profile back home by becoming “resident DJ” for the fledgling Elle Australia fashion magazine. “They just wanted songs that women would like and women relate to,” she says. 

The glam Lunoe has played high-end fashion shows and blogs about fashion, but her attitude to the industry is ambivalent. “I love cultural movements more than I love the fashion industry side of things. I'm less into trends.”

Lunoe won't be following Breathe with an album – yet. Indeed, she understands why many dance types prefer to release EPs – they're quick to make and easily digested by consumers. “I'm really in two minds about an album for a dance artist. Obviously, for some people it works really well – like you see Disclosure and Flume and how it did really well for them. Personally, I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet. I feel like I'm really coming into a sound at the moment. I'm going to do a couple of EPs and then think about what feels right to do... So I think for the next few years it'll be EPs and then hopefully working towards an album – 'cause I think just as an artistic project that would be something important to achieve in my career at some point.”