We caught up with Blossom in this Q&A and chat through her brand new single Moshpit & more

You were born in London, raised in Phoenix, and now based in NYC — how has each place shaped you creatively?

I’ve been lucky to experience so many inspiring music scenes in my life. I actually just moved back to London, it feels very full circle. Though I was too young to really experience any London music culture before I moved to Phoenix, I did start playing instruments there – starting with violin and then switching to viola upon my move. Growing up performing in various Phoenix-based orchestras cultivated my love of music and performance arts, which I can credit to my interest in pursuing both more seriously later in life.

I got to experience the Phoenix rave scene in the early 2010s, a time when it was growing exponentially. I was going to school at ASU, which is notorious for a party school reputation. From frat parties, to warehouse raves, to more official festivals and club shows, I couldn’t seem to get enough of dance music and felt really drawn to the community that was growing around it. It was only through those late nights dancing to electronic music that the wheels started turning about pursuing music production. Through some people I met in the Phoenix dance music scene, I found out about a music school in LA called Dubspot, and in 2015 I went between semesters to learn ‘Intro to DJing’ and ‘Intro to Ableton.’

Jumping ahead quite a bit – in late 2023 I decided to move to NYC to keep on chasing the dream. I find change of environment to be really good as a catalyst for creativity, and was incredibly drawn to NYC from the first time I toured there in 2022. Seeing the vibrance of Brooklyn nightlife and the glamour of Manhattan clubbing was inspiring to me because I got to see a wide spectrum of new, interesting music that I hadn’t really experienced before. I started focusing more seriously on drum & bass during this period. This pursuit of the genre led me to take quite a few trips over to London to take more drum & bass sessions in 2024, and this past year I decided to go back to my homeland and give DnB a real shot.

What first got you into making music, and when did you realize you wanted to pursue it seriously?

In my last few weeks at Dubspot in 2015, I thought – I’m really not that good at this, maybe there’s something else I can do in music. Finally everything seemed to come together when I decided to give a local Phoenix DJ competition a go, and I submitted a mix for a ’15 Mins of Fame’ competition, in which the winner would get to play at Global Dance Festival 2015. To my incredible surprise, I made it into the top 15, and though I didn’t win, I was still asked to come play on the local stage.

I was still going to school at ASU at this time, and juggling this new persona as a DJ with my senior year of college. But I had totally caught the bug. I felt like music was my calling, and felt totally devoted to it. At that point I just had to get through my final year and a bit of school so that I could focus on music. Upon graduation I felt like my path forward was clear, even though I wasn’t at the level of making music my full-time pursuit. So I took on various odd jobs to make it work, knowing that anything more time consuming would distract me from what I felt was my purpose.

How did your classical training influence your songwriting and production today?

The confidence I gained from performing on big stages as a child, and the discipline I learned through the art of practice, have been tantamount to my success now as an artist. Though I quit orchestra my freshman year of high school, I had spent enough years playing instruments to have a fairly good ear for key and musicality. I think when you learn those things at such an early age they become fundamental parts of you for life.

Being a producer, vocalist, and songwriter, how do you balance those roles in a single track?

I think of all of these things as the full spectrum of my self-expression. Getting to pour myself into all parts of the track is extremely fulfilling and empowering for me, knowing that the product is a full expression of me and my vision.

SOUND & STYLE

Your sound blends Drum & Bass, House, Euro Dance, and even Hyperpop — what draws you to that kind of genre fluidity?

I think any great artist has a wide range of musical interests as a listener—it’s essential to reference other genres when you’re writing music. When I first went to music school 10 years ago, I was toying with quite a few styles but largely focused on UK garage, bass house, and experimental trap / halftime. I really loved playing the experimental stuff but found it to be challenging as a beginner producer, as there were no rules. I liked the structure that bass house had with 4x4 drums.

I was lucky to have Petey Clicks from Night Bass as a teacher in my ‘Intro to Ableton’ class at Dubspot. That definitely influenced my bass house pursuit, however my passion for all styles of music never really died and I think I’ve really showcased my genre fluidity in my sets throughout the years.

I’ve only just started focusing on producing exclusively drum & bass this year, but to be honest I listen to mostly rap and R&B. I find that when I try to limit myself to one thing, it stifles creativity and makes my work repetitive or uninspired. Right now I’m focused on drum & bass, but I’d love to someday produce for rappers. Why not both?

What’s the first thing you usually lock in when starting a track — vocals, drums, melody?

I always start with the melody but I really do need a vocal to bring it all together. I usually start with some sampled melodies to get ideas going – for that, I look for stuff in soul, jazz, lofi hip hop… something to really set a vibe. But then my next target is writing the vocals or working with an artist to write vocals, and the song comes together fairly quickly from there.

How do you ensure your tracks work equally well on a dancefloor and streaming platforms?

Different songs for different moments, I think. Some of my songs are great for streaming, some are better for the dancefloor. I don’t put too much pressure on a song to be what it doesn’t want to be.

NEW RELEASE: “MOSHPIT”

Tell us how “Moshpit” came to life — what was the starting point?

I’ve been dying to work with rappers because I really love the hybrid of drum & bass and rap. Helix set up a session to work with D38 this past April when I was visiting London, and I was thrilled at the opportunity to work with my first rapper in person. I worked alllll week to write demos for him, really wanting to show him what I could do. It was the day of the session and I wasn’t stoked on what I had written, but knew if I got to the studio super early I could get one last idea in before he arrived in the evening. That final attempt became Moshpit.

What was it like collaborating with D38 on this?

The coolest part of working with vocalists from different genres is seeing how they work. I’ve worked with many singers now, and everyone has a different strategy. With D38, the vision came to life quickly and we had something done in an hour or so. He’s super ambitious and works so hard; it’s really inspiring to me. I love working with people that reinvigorate my passion for music. We’ve had a lot of fun shooting content and getting all of the pieces together for the song.

What do you hope listeners feel when they hear this single for the first time?

I hope they see a new side of my music. I think I’ve focused on really melodic stuff in the past but this one showcases a heavier side of my artistry – one in which I’m aiming to focus on more in my next handful of productions.

LIVE SHOWS & COMMUNITY

You’ve played iconic shows like Academy LA and EDC — what’s your pre-show routine?

It depends how much time I have in between landing at the airport and having to be at the venue :’) Usually my pre-show routine is getting ready in a panic and I’m too busy focusing on that to worry about anything else. Not the best strategy but…

How does your DJ set differ depending on whether it’s a festival or a club night?

At a festival I try to do more mashups and edits, making sure to do quicker mixes and lots of doubles. I do the same at club nights but have more space to experiment and let the dancefloor breathe a little. Club night sets are a little more of a journey with ebbs and flows than my festival sets are.

Do you ever road-test unreleased tracks during live sets?

All the time. I have quite a few on rotation currently, including my next few releases.

What’s one city you’ve played that totally surprised you with its energy?

I love performing in Pensacola :’) I played a drum & bass headline there last November. I couldn’t believe the energy for drum & bass and how many people travelled from surrounding cities to be there. That’s the coolest part of DnB, I’ve found… people in the states are usually starved for drum & bass shows so they put in the effort to go see them when they come around. And you always get crowds of the real heads… I love it.

SCENE & FUTURE

As someone who's had strong backing from Insomniac and now Helix, how do you navigate industry support while staying true to your sound?

As I said before, this is my first year focusing exclusively on drum & bass after producing mostly bass house for the first 9 and a half years of my career. I was really nervous I’d lose my fans with the switch, but what I’ve found is that my fans seem to be excited about me as Blossom regardless of what I do. I feel really lucky for that, and that freedom to explore has allowed me to make the most ‘me’ music I ever have. Genuine pursuit reaps the best rewards.

To be honest, I almost didn’t pursue drum & bass at all because early on I kept being warned by naysayers that it was always going to be niche and that I should stick to what I had been doing. I think back to myself in 2021, starting to dabble in drum & bass production, trying not to listen too much to people suggesting that I’d be sequestered to the third stage at shows for the rest of my career if I decided to pursue it exclusively (totally untrue but alas, those were the fears I had).

I think that fear kept me from taking it more seriously, even though in the years following, I found myself totally in love with DnB and totally out of love with everything else I had been making. I felt really out of alignment with myself and the artist I was clearly yearning to become. I had this unwavering voice in my head telling me that maybe I had been listening too much to what other people thought, and not enough to my own intuition. At my core I’m someone who goes with my gut, even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. And thus, I kept at it. I’m really happy I did.

When it comes to staying true to my sound no matter the genre, how do you do it?

Because I do it all myself — producing, singing, and songwriting — I think my music is undeniably mine.

Where do you see the DnB and bass scene heading in the next few years — especially in the US?

It’s been exhilarating to see the boom of drum & bass in the States. The joke in all green rooms has always been: “This is finally going to be the year drum & bass makes it in the US!” I actually think this might really have been the year, or at least the start of it in a serious and more permanent way. I truly believe that the more opportunities people have to be exposed to drum & bass at festivals and shows in the US, the more comfortable and excited they’ll be about the genre. They just gotta see how cool it is live!

On the broader stage, I think the most recent catalyst of growth for US DnB was the mainstream success and TikTok virality of Chase & Status x Bou – Badaddan. This, coupled with national tours by the Worship crew and more, have helped usher DnB a little more into the mainstream here. I think there will continue to be exponential growth as more people get to experience DnB sets on the festival mainstage and want to hear it more in clubs in their local scenes.

Are there any dream collaborations or producers you’d love to work with in the future?

I just moved to London so that I can get the drum & bass cosigns I need to show people I mean business. I’m on a mission to work with all the big tastemakers and show them what this Arizona girl can do. I’d love to work with the greats: Chase & Status, Sub Focus, Bou, Hedex, Disrupta, and Skepsis. And that’s just in drum & bass… I have my sights set on all sorts of rappers and vocalists from many genres.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, what’s your biggest goal — creatively or personally?

My big goal this year was to move to London, and I achieved that. Actually that was my 2026 goal but the opportunity came and I jumped… I always felt so inspired on my trips to London for studio sessions. Now that I’m here, I’m more locked in than ever. I’m rounding out my releases for the year and focusing on 2026, knowing that this past year has been all about laying the groundwork for Drum & Blossom worldwide. I’m working hard on new releases and collaborations, and producing content that I’m stoked about. The world is my oyster, get ready pinkies!