Emeraldia Ayakashi

Emeraldia Ayakashi is a sound designer, DJ, music producer, and writer.
 
In Japanese mythology, Ayakashi is one of the forms of yōkaiun which are living forms of existence or phenomenon that can be applied qualifiers such as extraordinary, mysterious, bizarre, and strange.
Youkai is composed of the kanji 妖, “monster”, “devil”, or “sorcerer” and 怪, “strange”. They are sometimes called mononoke (物 の 怪), Bed “strange thing”), or simply ayakashi (妖)
 
“Some DJ careers are built on hype. Emeraldia Ayakashi’s career is built on substance. A musician who thinks of music as energy, uses sound as a raw material, and sees the whole world as his instrument.” — NME
 
Emeraldia is always looking for authentic, deep ways to find and create new sounds. Her passion for music started at an early age. As a child, she used to learn music from musical games and her love for sounds in general began with the xylophone and a little toy train that eats discs. She started playing the guitar at 9 and the piano at 11. During her teens, she also learned the battery and the violin.
 
She made her first steps into the world of music (Rock, Punk, and Gothic) through her involvements in different music bands during her adolescence. Then, in 1996, she launched herself onto the live performance scene with utilization of machines across the decks and her inseparable MikroKorg.
 
In 1998, still being an eclectic artist, she decided to focus on electronic music and she began her career as a DJ. During this era of raves and free parties, she did many opening acts. (Borealis Festival, Dragon Ball parties, technivals, etc.) She went on to music festivals like the Scopitone Festival in Nantes, Nuits Sonores of Lyon, and Rocktambule in Grenoble. Emeraldia also started getting involved in bigger events: Berlin’s Love Parade (1998), Geneva’s Lake parade (2006), Technoparade Paris (2007/2010), Gay Pride Paris (2007/2008), Sonar’s infamous boat parties (2009), Nature One Festival (2010/2011), Sziget (2010/2011/2012), Les Inrockuptibles Party (2012), Rock en Seine (2009/2010/2012), and Be Street Festival (2012/2013).
 
Her tracks are cold, strict, and effective, close to the New Wave synthetic, percussive, repetitive, and danceable. Her sets are sometimes nervous and dark, illuminated by electro rockbeats. Her music can also be sexy, like a cocoon where we feel comfortable enough to let our emotions soar and our imagination wander free. On December 17, 2010, she released her first EP “Automat” and also an exclusive track “Lipstick Traces” on Compilation #100 on March 2011. On August 24, 2012 she released the EP “I Walk to the Beat of my Own Drum” on Reiz Musik and on June 30, 2012 she released her “Wish you were Hear” EP on Roch Music.
 
All Emeraldia’s tracks are available to download on Beatport, Juno, and iTunes.
 
Read her interviews by Local Suicide, Nothing but Dreams, Hellocoton (French), and Pepites Troniques (French).
 
Watch her YouTube channel. View her Beatport page and her Facebook page. Listen to her music on her SoundCloud page. Follow her Twitter feed.