Anna Lunoe Focuses on Inspiring, Hopeful Conversations About Creativity with New Podcast
Liz Ohanesian
Photo courtesy of Anna Lunoe
Need a little inspiration to get you started on your next project? Anna Lunoe has a podcast for you. Back in September, the DJ/producer launched Create/Destroy, a series of in-depth, process-centric interviews with fellow artists.
Lunoe had been wanting to do a podcast for quite some time. "It's been on my board, waiting for a window when it felt right," she says in an email interview. "I kind of had the idea for a while, and then, after what was meant to be a really quick five-minute interview with Porter Robinson went for 45 minutes and got super deep, I really thought, damn, I have to do this! These conversations would be so crucial for people who want to make music and just generally live their passions! I have to do it. I will make the time somehow!"
At the time of this story, Lunoe had already released two episodes of the new show. The first featured British DJ and producer Chris Lake, with whom Lunoe had previously collaborated on the 2015 track "Stomper." The second focused on an interview with TT the Artist, director of the documentary Dark City Beneath the Beat, whose work includes music, film and visual art.
"I considered people from all avenues of music with different but incredible stories to tell who could shift perspective and speak to people deeply about creative life," Lunoe explains. "This season I went for people I knew so I could work out the flow of a conversation like this, and make sure each chat was natural. But in the future I would really like to flex into all kinds of creative fields!"
Create/Destroy isn't about pursuing music as a career. It's not even really about music; the subjects tackled here could be applied across disciplines. Instead, Lunoe is digging into creativity as a necessary part of life. She says that talking about the connection between creativity and self-care, or "how linked creativity is with mental health and feelings of well being within ourselves," really struck a chord with her. "We must constantly work towards it and realign with our values in order to maintain productivity and flow," she says.
Lunoe, whose career began in Sydney's club scene of the early '00s, says that her own approach to creativity has shifted throughout the years. "I went from having a desire to create, lumped under a big pile of insecurity that was stopping my productivity, to learning how to ditch the load and be able to access and apply it with much more ease," she says. "That process is heavy work and guidance is necessary!"
Even now, though, good things can take time. Lunoe's recent single, "Back Seat," which features Genesis Owusu on vocals, began to take shape back in 2019. "I had the core three elements – bass, synth motif, and defining beat groove – within the first twenty minutes, and the rest took nearly two years to fall into place!" she says. The track was put on hold for various reasons. In the meantime, Lunoe herself experienced a major life event with the birth of her second child right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Perhaps I needed all those changes to find the version of the song that I have today," she muses. "Genesis came on board this year and it finally felt done!"
Lunoe says that the pandemic has changed her approach to creativity in some ways. "It has allowed me a deeper dive into a few things that touring did not allow me," she says. "I don't have access to resources I once had, or at least not in the same way. It's been good and challenging at times. On a personal level I've deeply investigated the other sides of myself that don't apply to touring and performance, and what's important for me to foster without that. Hence deciding to do this podcast!"
And the podcast comes at a great time, bringing a message of hope after nearly two years of pandemic-related upheaval. The hopefulness in Lunoe's podcasts is part of the point of the series. "Life is challenging right now. We know that," she says. "Hope is necessary to creation and vice versa."
She continues, "There are many loud scary voices telling us there is no hope, so it's up to those still with hope in their hearts to be very loud right now. If you have it, USE it. We need every loud voice screaming for potential and beauty to make the world a better place to be."
Follow Anna Lunoe on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for ongoing updates.
Liz Ohanesian is a journalist by day, DJ by night. She has written for Los Angeles Times, Noisey, Bandcamp and other publications. As a DJ, her sets range from synthpop to house. She is based in Los Angeles.
http://lizohanesian.com
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