Makes Me Wonder

For anyone sitting on the sidelines, Alison Wonderland's blinding debut single Get Ready must have come as something of a surprise. The Sydney DJ is best known through her second-place position in EMI's inaugural She Can DJ competition and her genre-hopping party-friendly DJ sets. Yet, contrary to expectations, her debut single is tough-as-nails hip hop – with an audible trap influence.

“Well, they should come to my sets, then,” Wonderland says. “I play mostly hip hop and trap music. But, my record is influenced by a lot of things. For example, my top five artists would be The Knife, LCD Soundsystem, The Beatles, OutKast and Prince. So, I don't really have one genre that I love more than the other.”

It's the first hint that there's something a bit unusual about Alison Wonderland. The second's when it becomes apparent that she won't give up her actual name. Or any specific details about her musical past. It's widely known that she has already (quite successfully) produced under other aliases and she's rumoured to have played bass in a number of Sydney bands – but she won't be giving any details up about that, either.

“Nope,” she laughs, when pressed for info. “I can tell you that I did get played on [BBC's] Radio 1 quite a bit for it. I never put my name up or who I was because I just wanted people to like the music because they liked the music. It always meant more to me like that, I think. I really just like being private with my stuff. I try to keep it about the music as much as possible.”

What's known about her background only adds to the mystery. She was originally intent on becoming a classical cellist, even studying abroad. Except, while in Europe, she found herself more drawn to festivals and concerts than classical recitals. Returning to Sydney, she killed time as a bassist before being drawn into DJ culture.

“When I got back to Australia, I found I just didn't really enjoy playing the cello anymore,” she admits. “Which was incredibly weird for me, because all I'd ever wanted to be was a classical cellist. I ended up joining some indie bands as a bassist just to keep that musical fix and from that ended up DJing at indie clubs. I really enjoyed it. And, when I really like something, I hyper-focus on it. I just sat in my room for hours DJing for fun.”

It's an intriguing collection of facts for someone in Alison Wonderland's position. Since taking She Can DJ's runner-up title, Wonderland's been sprinting towards global ubiquity. She signed with EMI, played at the Grammy and BRIT Awards after-parties and will be releasing her debut album later this year. She's on the verge of stardom, yet she's clearly a pretty private artist.

“I try to keep it as real as I can. That's what I want to do. And I always want to make sure everything comes from an honest place,” Wonderland says. “You know, if I'm making a beat and I'm getting really excited, I know that it's the right thing to do and keep making and keep doing. I think people can smell bullshit a mile away and I'm not into that.”