NotLö in Minneapolis [Interview]

NotLö and I sat down in an empty green room with a tiny pink microphone, before her sold-out show at REM5 Virtual Reality Laboratory on August 26, 2022. She expressed relief for a back-to-basics interview – an audio recording and paper notes – and took off her signature bucket hat, and shook out her hair. NotLö took a quick picture of the microphone to send to her best friend who “loves tiny things,” and I hit record.

It became abundantly clear over the course of our interview that NotLö hasn’t changed a lick since she took to the decks. One might even guess that she hasn’t even realized the extent of her notoriety amongst the underground heads, particularly the heads searching for an artist they can relate to.

NotLö is for the girls who fell in love with dubstep when they first heard Omar LinX and Zeds Dead’s, The Living Dead EP, in 2011. NotLö is for the they’s who can’t get enough down-tempo liquid music. NotLö is for the gays who deserve to see more out-and-proud producers. She’s for those who made it out of their small town and those who are driven by a dream.

NotLö, born Alexandra, quickly made a name for herself in the bass scene with releases on labels such as Deep Dark & Dangerous, WAKAAN, Gravitas Records, and Mean Mug Records. Last summer alone, she secured coveted spots on top-tier line-ups such as Electric Forest and Shambala. “And going to Electric Forest was insane because I didn’t think that many people would be there out at like 4 o’clock in the afternoon,” NotLö added. “Electric Forest goes hard all day.” 

When Low & High Presents announced NotLö as a headliner at Minneapolis’s most intimate and immersive electronic music venue, the local scene was beyond ready to welcome her with open arms and ears. The evening featured NotLö, obviously, with support from Necromancer, Tree Sap and Nautical Divine with visuals by Xanadu.

She praised the venue and the quality sound system. Champion Sound brought the Voids to complete the true, Midwest bass music experience. “People who care about the sound system are always number one in my book too,” said NotLö.

She also noted the stellar hospitality from the Low & High team, and their dedication to booking a good bill instead of selling out a venue. Coincidentally, this show was Low & High’s first sold-out show.

“They [Low & High] aren’t really thinking, ‘Oh this person will sell tickets blah blah blah.’ Because, you know, I’m not a big artist by any means. So, it’s like, I definitely have so much respect for that and the hospitality,” said NotLö. She paused for a moment and continued, “I don’t even really care about those types of things, you know like, to an extent but like they are just going above and beyond out of their way to make sure that, you know, that I’m okay and comfortable.”

The humble artist shared about her love for the Midwest scene, particularly Minneapolis and Detroit, and joked about not telling her current resident city of Denver. At least we hoped that was a joke as we just published it in print. Sorry, queen.

“Something about this area of the country; it brings out really great people and the scene is not clique at all.” Said, NotLö. “It’s very open-minded and they go for the whole show not just like the headliner too which is cool. Everyone is really just about the music here for sure.”

The city’s prominent bass music scene’s reputation had preceded itself. And as she predicted, ravers arrived early to the function. They came ready to play VR, catch the openers, and tip their “dubtender.”

A trend that has hit the Midwest bass scene has been coined as tipping our “dubtenders.” Yes, we’re talking about the DJ. It’s a play on dispensary’s budtenders, which is a play on restaurant’s bartenders, and applied to DJs. Funny, aye?

All night, fans tossed wadded-up dollar bills and fives on top of the Champion Sound speakers.

“I love it. That’s why I think I fell in love with Minnesota, playing the first Infrasound Family Reunion after Covid, just because of how great all the sound systems were and all day they were loud. It wasn’t like they were only good for headliners too. It was really cool,” reflected NotLö.

To add to her excitement around the evening, NotLö was scheduled to play an extended set, over an hour, that would allow her to properly warm up and dive deep into her library. Her set consisted of her regular genres, her entire unreleased album, and plenty of liquidy ambient music that she saves for “special occasions.” The set concluded with a massive b2b with NotLö and her openers – a memorable experience for the Minneapolis locals.

On the same day as her Minneapolis debut, Zeds Dead released We Are Deadbeats Volume 5. The compilation album featured NotLö’s Deadbeats debut track, “Grudge.”

NotLö was vulnerable and real as she shared about her nervousness around the Deadbeats debut and appealing to a more high-energy audience. She shared about the blast of nostalgia for her and her girlfriend that came with the opportunity as she too was introduced to dubstep by Omar Linx and Zeds Dead.

Can we get a, “HE’S FUCKIN DEAD” in the comments?!

“I definitely wanted to make it more of a high energy, 140 song, and people have received it well so I am just really happy,” shared NotLö. The bass artist was inspired to hit it hard and produce a “high energy” track that would keep up with the 17 other featured artists.

“People have received it well, so I am really happy,” she said. “I was so nervous about it, too. I was like, ‘I hope I can pull my weight and be as good as these other people.’”

As the interview came to an end she tossed her bucket hat back on, we took a shot of tequila, and she snuck into the back of the crowd to catch each of the openers.

She has since released her Trailing Winds EP on Clozee’s label, Odyzey Music. She has also since been featured on Deep Dark & Dangerous’s compilation album, DDD100, in collaboration with Chef Boyarbeatz on their track, “Swamp Salute.”

To keep up with the artists, follow her on Bandcamp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Photos by Chris C. Taylor