In a candid conversation, British experimental artist Aja Ireland reveals the behind-the-scenes story of her album Cryptid. Released at the end of January 2025, the album is a deeply personal project born out of her struggles with grief, burnout, and the pressures of independent artistry. Ireland draws on sonic extremes—noise, experimental bass—to capture the emotional tension between numbness and catharsis. A key inspiration was Joey Holder’s Cryptid exhibition, whose themes of mutation and adaptation translated into a musical exploration of form.
The artist highlights the importance of interdisciplinarity: her collaborations with designer LU LA LOOP and poet Leomi Sadler resulted in a fusion of fashion, performance, and hyperpop production. The conversation also touches on her social engagement—creating a sanctuary for the queer community and advocating for women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights. Cryptid is not just an album but a manifesto of vulnerability, hinting at future projects: a tour and an EP that continue her raw, transgressive artistic language.
Artur Mieczkowski
Artur Mieczkowski: First of all, congratulations on your wonderful album, Cryptid, released at the end of January 2025. I’m truly impressed by it. What were the main inspirations behind this project?
Aja Ireland: At its core, Cryptid is an album about survival—both in a personal and creative sense. It came together during a time when I was processing grief, burnout, and the relentless grind of being an independent artist. I wasn’t making music with the intention of sharing it; I was making the sounds I wanted to hear, the ones that would pull me out of a deep fog. That gave me the freedom to push further into noise, distortion, and textured bass, letting the rawness of those elements reflect the intensity of what I was experiencing.
A huge turning point for the album was Joey Holder’s Cryptid exhibition. Her work explores ideas of mutation, resilience, and the unknown—things I was feeling deeply at the time. The themes in her art made me think about how we adapt to our environments, how we shapeshift to survive. That translated directly into the music, where I was experimenting with form, genre, and sound design in a way that felt instinctive rather than calculated.
I’ve always been drawn to the extremes of sound—noise, experimental bass, and future trap—and artists like Arca, SOPHIE, and Ice Spice are major influences. When I’m producing, I tend to latch onto certain tracks as “anchors” that I return to, almost like a sonic reference point, but my actual process is completely subconscious. I enter a kind of flow state where I forget to eat, I don’t need much sleep, and I feel like I’m living inside the tracks. Then, when I step away, I can’t always recall exactly how I made them. It’s like the music is pulling itself together through me rather than me consciously controlling it.
Ultimately, Cryptid is an album that sits in the space between emotional detachment and deep, raw feeling. It captures the numbness of burnout but also the moments of joy that remind you why you keep going. It’s about survival, but also about connection and transformation—about letting yourself change, and evolve into something new.
A.M.: You are redefining the club space as a place of solidarity. What experiences have led you to adopt this approach?
A.I.: For me, the club has always been more than just a space for hedonism—it’s a place where I’ve felt the most free, the most seen, and the most connected to a community that exists outside of the mainstream. Growing up, I was drawn to experimental music scenes where the club wasn’t just about escapism but about building something real—whether that was a movement, a sense of belonging, or even just a moment of shared energy on the dancefloor.
A lot of my approach comes from my own experiences of alienation. I’ve often felt like an outsider, both in life and in the music industry, and I think that’s why I gravitate towards spaces that challenge the norm. The clubs and DIY spaces I’ve played in—whether in Berlin, London, or underground scenes across Europe—have always been the places where I see people forming their own worlds, their own realities. That’s powerful.
There’s also something deeply cathartic about the club as a site of transformation. I think about it as a ritual space—one where we shed something, where we let go, where we mutate under the lights and the bass and come out different on the other side. That’s why I push my performances to be more than just a gig. It’s not just about playing tracks; it’s about creating a shared emotional experience where people can feel something bigger than themselves.
At the same time, I’m hyper-aware of the problems within club culture—how exclusion, capitalism, and industry politics shape who gets to participate. That’s why I’ve always been drawn to spaces that centre queerness, experimentation, and accessibility. The best clubs, to me, are the ones that feel like a sanctuary—where the sound is loud enough to make you feel invincible, where your body is safe, and where you can be as unfiltered, chaotic, or tender as you want to be. That’s what I want my music and my performances to offer: a space to be as much or as little as you need to be, without apology.
A.M.: You collaborated with artist Leomi Sadler, drawing inspiration from hyperpop production. How did this collaboration unfold, and what did this track contribute to the album?
A.I.: Leomi has always been a huge inspiration to me—her art, clothing, and sculptures all carry such a raw and playful energy. When she started writing poetry, I was immediately drawn to her words. There was something about the way she pieced together thoughts and imagery that felt so fresh and unique. As soon as I read it, I knew I wanted to channel that into a song, almost as a way of translating her world into sound. I’m very inspired by visual aesthetics, and Leomi’s work has such a strong, chaotic, and expressive presence that it naturally fed into my creative process. This track became more than just a song—it was a celebration of friendship, creative exchange, and the way inspiration moves between us in unexpected ways.
A.M.: In the title track Cryptid, you experiment with Dadaist lyricism and use artificial intelligence to explore the subconscious. How did you go about this creative process?
A.I.: For Cryptid, I wanted to push language beyond its usual constraints and tap into something more instinctive and surreal. I was drawn to Dadaist lyricism because of its rejection of conventional meaning—how it embraces chaos, randomness, and subconscious connections. I experimented with Dadaist lyricism by collaging together fragments of song titles. After assembling these pieces, I used AI to help me decode the meaning behind them, diving deeper into their subconscious connections and interpretations. This process helped me see patterns and emotions I hadn’t initially noticed, almost like unearthing hidden meanings in the words I’d chosen. The results felt almost like a mirror into my subconscious, reflecting back ideas I hadn’t even fully processed yet. I love working this way because it removes some of the barriers of self-consciousness, allowing for a different form of storytelling. It’s almost like collaborating with my own subconscious through technology. A stark contrast to tracks like Hundreds of Tiny Discomforts and 5 of Cups in which the lyrics didn’t hide at all – more like a natural conversation with a friend which felt extremely raw and vulnerable to put out into the world!
A.M.: You address the protection of the LGBTQIA+ community and women. What message did you intend to convey with this piece?
A.I.: With this piece, my aim was to highlight the importance of solidarity and protection within the LGBTQIA+ community and for women, especially in the face of the challenges they continue to face. As a huge advocate for the community, I believe in the power of creating spaces where we can feel safe, celebrated, and supported. Through initiatives like Queer Noise Club, an event I organised in Nottingham for the queer community, I’ve worked to amplify these voices and bring people together. The message I wanted to convey in this piece is one of empowerment and mutual care, urging people to stand united in creating inclusive spaces. It’s about respecting each other’s identities and ensuring that everyone has the right to exist and thrive freely, both in our communities and in the art we create.
A.M.: Your previous projects, such as SLUG, also combined music with other art forms. What significance does interdisciplinarity hold for you in your creative work?
A.I.: Interdisciplinarity is crucial to my creative process because it allows me to break down traditional boundaries and explore new ways of expressing ideas. With projects like SLUG, I merged music with visual art, performance, and even themes like mental health to create a multidimensional experience. I see my work as a holistic entity, where sound, visuals, and emotions all intertwine to tell a more complex and layered story. For me, combining different art forms is not only about aesthetic richness but also about giving my audience a more immersive experience—one where they can feel the full spectrum of the concept. This approach also allows me to keep evolving and pushing boundaries, as every new collaboration or medium opens up new creative possibilities.
A.M.: You are known for your intense live performances. What challenges and satisfactions come with performing such emotionally charged music?
A.I.: Performing emotionally charged music is both incredibly fulfilling and challenging. One of the biggest challenges is the vulnerability it requires. When I’m on stage, I’m not just performing a song—I’m exposing my innermost feelings and experiences. That can be physically and emotionally exhausting, especially when the music is so raw and intense. It takes a lot of energy to fully inhabit the space and connect with the audience, and sometimes I have to push through moments of doubt or emotional overwhelm.
But the satisfaction comes when I see the audience respond to that vulnerability. There’s a moment when the tension in the room shifts, and I feel this deep connection with the people there—like they’re sharing in the catharsis and the energy. It’s like we’re all part of something bigger than just the performance. The intensity of those moments is what keeps me coming back, even when it’s tough. It’s like a release for both me and the audience, and that shared experience is what makes live shows so powerful for me.
A.M.: How do your life experiences influence your creative process and the themes of your works?
A.I.: Hundreds of Tiny Discomforts is deeply tied to my experience with abortion. It’s about those small, lingering discomforts that pile up—the ones that follow you through the process and stay with you long after. It’s about how something so emotionally heavy can feel like it’s constantly on the edge of your consciousness, even in its subtlety. The track holds space for grief, but also for the quiet aftermath—the small moments of discomfort that don’t get talked about much, but still exist and impact you in huge ways.
On the other hand, 5 of Cups is about healing from addiction. It reflects the emotional toll of recovery—the grief, the regret, the rawness—but also the hope and the process of rebuilding. It’s about the slow journey of healing, navigating the complexity of feeling broken and learning to piece yourself back together. There’s this tension between the devastation of what’s been lost and the acknowledgment of what’s still possible. It’s a reminder that healing isn’t linear, but that growth can still happen even through the pain.
These tracks are deeply personal, and each one is a reflection of different parts of my journey. They are about confronting the difficult moments—whether it’s the loss or the process of rebuilding—and finding a way to move forward, even when it feels like a small, painful step at a time.
A.M.: Could you tell us about your collaboration with LU LA LOOP?
A.I.: My collaboration with LU LA LOOP has been such an exciting and creative journey! LU LA LOOP, known for her incredible and boundary-pushing approach to fashion, really brought something special to the table for my music videos and performances. When I first approached her, I was drawn to their ability to blend avant-garde and wearable art, which was perfect for the aesthetic I was envisioning.
The collaboration felt like a merging of worlds—fashion, music, and performance. LU LA LOOP’s creativity and attention to detail allows us to create things that feel like a statement, while also allowing me to fully express the visual language that ties into my sound. It’s a dream come true to work with her and create something that pushes both the boundaries of fashion and performance art. We’re working on a new costume as we speak so watch this space!
A.M.: What are your plans for the future? Are there any new directions or projects you would like to explore?
A.I.: This year my plans are to secure a manager and to tour – I have lot’s of shows booked in which you can find on my instagram and I can’t wait to start working on a new EP which at the moment I’d like to be almost an extension of the album. There were only 8 tracks and I feel I’ve got a little more I’d like to share in that world.
A.M.: Thank you very much for the interview. I wish you the best of luck with your plans.