Aja Ireland

Noise artist AJA stages some of the most captivating and confrontational performances in the electronic music underground, inviting a reciprocative catharsis between her and the audience. The sonic density in her work borders on the psychedelic, as deep drones are ripped apart by arrhythmic percussion; all the while her stage presence, a mess of fluorescent paint and exposed flesh, create an overwhelming experience.?

Collaborating with designer LU LA LOOP, AJA composed a soundtrack for Berlin Alternative Fashion Week as her first major foray into music. Her work within the LGBTQ community, both through running workshops in sound art and as an advocate of promoting and increasing the presence of women in electronic music, has seen her work carry throughout Europe and more recently to Brazil. She has brought this expertise into her more recent activities, working with Ableton to facilitate workshops.

She later scored Joey Holder’s Ophiux, for which she was nominated for the PRS Foundation’s Oram Awards, which recognises pioneering and experimental female artists. Following a contribution to Opal Tapes’ compilation Harvest Of A Quiet Eye and collaborating with Perc for “Spit” on the album Bitter Music, AJA released her self-titled debut album in 2018. AJA was greeted with critical acclaim, praised by The Quietus: “Her mastery of the drama is uniquely compelling…akin to the most cursed moments of Throbbing Gristle’s output.”

Although her recorded output is well worth listening to, AJA’s live sets have become the talking point for her artistic output. Aggressive but inclusive, AJA “seems intent on destroying all boundaries between herself and the audience…not just that she tends to spend most shows off the stage, set up in among the audience, but the literal way she ropes the audience into what she does with her long microphone lead.” (Noisey)

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