Feature: Miss Monique [Interview + Premiere]

Miss Monique is today among world’s fastest rising Progressive House DJs, and probably the most recognised female DJ in this genre in Europe.

Unlike most other popular DJs nowadays, who made their name producing rather than mixing, she rose to fame bringing the old school back with her unprecedented conversion of classic radio mixes into the form of YouTube podcasts.

Miss Monique’s unique talent of smoothly melting techno rhythms with classic trance and progressive tunes year after year gets highly appraised by an ever-growing number of electronic music aficionados. By 2020, her live sets gather thousands of progressive house addicts online, with recorded streams gaining up to 2 million views. Miss Monique’s most popular set on Radio Intense channel boasts a whopping 11+ million views.

Her performances have been admired in more than 40 countries across the globe and counting — from small-scale cosy boat parties in Ibiza to renowned first-rate global festivals such as Untold or ADE.

Hello Alesia, thanks for joining us! Can you tell us where in the world you are right now and a little about how life has been for you in 2020? What have you most missed during during the pandemic?

Hi, Progressive Astronaut! It’s a pleasure to talk with you.
I’m in Ukraine right now. For sure this year was kind of new experience for me but it gave some good things like: I had more time to chatting with my listeners, recorded a lot of new videos and worked on new releases. In the same time, I lost so many events, trips and the main - I didn’t see the people around the world for a long time. Anyway I’m staying positive and believe in our bright future.

Tell us a bit about yourself, how did you discover electronic music and what led you down the path of wanting to be a DJ and producer?

I fell in love with electronic music more than 10 years ago. In 2008-2010 we had a lot of really cool parties, festivals, so on that moment I realized how big are my feelings for the music. The same time I had a good friend of mine who gave me few mixing lessons and since that moment I started my career... By the way, that friend is still working with me as my manager.

Will you change your routine once things are back to "normal" based on anything you have discovered or learnt about yourself this year?

My life didn’t change too much. I only had more time for sleeping haha! And worked on my project without rushing. Also I will be more appreciate for every event with the crowd and for traveling.

We’re thrilled to host the premiere for title track of your new ep ‘Andromeda', a track out this week on your Siona Records. Tell us a bit about how you approached the track and the production process behind it.

We already worked with Ukrainian duo “Two Are” but as label and artist, so I knew their style very well. They sent me part of their idea and it sounded great, so we started work on “Andromeda”.  Guys are strong in massive bassline and I love melodies, so we tried to put it together.

Why did you decide to start your own imprint, did it feel like natural step forward? What is the musical outlook of Siona Records, what music are you looking to sign?

Since recording my podcasts, I have found a lot of talented producers who have written great production, but these tracks could not be released anywhere. As most labels focus not only on the artist's work, but also on his name, social networks, sales of past releases, etc. After my radio shows gained wide coverage and at the moment they are listened to by about 500,000 people a month just on YouTube, I realised that I can show cool music of young artists to a wide audience, the idea came up with opening my own label.

We are searching interesting, unusual sound of progressive house and melodic techno styles. We don’t care about names of artists or how many subscribers do they have. We are interested only in their music.

Where do you find inspiration? Do you listen to other music or watch certain films?

Of course I’m listening a lot of music every day but my biggest inspiration are my listeners who support me all the time and sometimes even help me with ideas about everything.

What else are you working on or what projects do you have in the pipeline?

I continue to work on my MiMo Weekly Podcast and Mind Games Podcast, also I finished a lot of new upcoming releases. The same time we continue to develop Siona Records, this year we signed so many great artists and more are coming in 2021.

Your MiMo weekly podcasts seem to be quite popular (among all your other mixes) & you have quite a dedicated fanbase - what you think is the reason of such a great success and why your mixes stand out?

I do not have an exact answer, I can only guess. I try not to restrain myself by the rigid framework of the genre and, through communication with the listener, I listen to their opinion.  Also, the YouTube format, in contrast to the classic FM radio shows, allows you to maximize communication with your audience.  And I spend a very, very long time looking for exclusive music.

The industry and how fans discover new music has changed dramatically in the last years, it seems that you used the technology well and are using it to your advantage! Can you tell us how do you discover new music nowadays?

In recent years, this hasn't been as difficult as it used to be, as there are dozens of digital stores where you can find almost any track. The main thing is to find motivation to find it!  Also, lately, I have received hundreds of emails with promotions per week, in which I find tracks suitable for my mixes.

What is the music you have listened to most this year? 

Due my work most of the time I listen electronic music but also I’m big fan of Reggae.

In some ways it’s a hard question to answer right now, but what do you have planned for 2021?

I’m planning to continue work on my YouTube channel, search for new names for Siona Records and work on my own production. I hope also to be back to parties and finally to have events back!

Miss Monique & Two Are – Andromeda is out on 21-12 via Siona Records: http://bit.ly/3aiId2Q