Alison Wonderland's meteoric rise to being one of the world's most influential DJs will reach new heights next month, as she takes on Coachella.
But it's the lows in the 31-year-old's personal life which inspired her new album Awake.
It's been three years since Alison Wonderland first shook-up the electronic music scene. While her new track 'Church' will appeal to festival-goers high on life, she told Newshub the inspiration came from a "dark place".
"I was feeling very bad about myself - I had very low self-worth, and when I started writing the lyrics for 'Church' I started realising what was actually going on."
She describes that realisation as an awakening.
"You can be living in this bubble for so long and not realising why you feel so drained and sad sometimes… the only person that can actually really realise what is going on is you."
She credits the new music to getting her life back, at times writing all hours of the night - a process the Australian DJ describes as therapeutic.
"It has changed my life, actually, personally, and that's the thing. A lot of people can say 'this album changed by life, and I got this success', [well] this album changed my life and I feel good, from writing it, it's like a different type of life-changing."
Since 2015 her career has skyrocketed. She's played Lollapalooza, Tomorrowland, and in April she'll take the stage at Coachella. On Friday she performed in Dunedin - small in comparison but she says that doesn't matter.
The concert in Dunedin's not the only Kiwi connection the singer has at the moment, as her new track was co-written with the help of Kiwi producer Joel Little.
"I remember when I sent him 'Church' I said 'I can't believe I did it'," Wonderland reflects. "He said 'I always knew you would, you just had to believe you could'."
It's that self-belief she hopes will inspire her own fans, saying if her music can awaken just one person from a dark time, it'll be a success.
Newshub.
