From childhood experiments with cassette tapes to performing at clubs and festivals, Oona Dahl has carved out a unique space where she creates immersive auditory experiences.
With her third studio album on the horizon and two distinct live AV shows that launched this year, Oona is venturing deeper into the intersection of music, technology, and consciousness exploration. As an artist on Hallucienda Records (Hallucination LTD/ Hallucination) and featured in the book by Matt Xavier “The Psychedelic DJ,” she’s championing music’s role as a healing tool within psychedelic medicine and beyond.
In this conversation, we dive into her sound evolution, the challenges and triumphs of being an artist in electronic music, and her vision for the future where art, music and science converge.
1. Your journey began with childhood experiments with cassette tapes and has led to premiering shows at Denver’s Psychedelic Science Convention. How do you see that early fascination with sound connecting to your current exploration of “expanded states of consciousness”?
From the beginning, sound has always been a kind of safe place for me to express myself and my emotions without words. As a child, cutting and layering cassette tapes with recordings from radio samples was experimenting with sound in analog form. That same curiosity has carried forward into my music today. Using music to shift perception, to transport people into spaces where they can feel, imagine, and connect beyond the everyday. I was in Denver promoting my friend Matt Xaviers new book that I am also featured in “The Psychedelic DJ” that instructs how to use music as a tool for healing within psychedelic medicine and beyond.
2. Your third studio album is coming out early next year. How does this new work build upon the sonic territories you explored in Holograma and Morph?
Holograma was about constructing my inner world. It was cinematic, introspective, and dreamlike in its architecture. Morph was about transformation while continuing to lean into vocals, pop textures, and a more direct sense of storytelling. The new album builds on both but reaches further inward into psychedelic realms. I wanted it to feel like standing at the threshold between reality and imagination, where those two previous records converge and evolve.
3. You’re launching two distinct live AV shows this fall, one focused on psybient-vocal work, another on house & techno. How do you approach creating these different performance experiences, and what unique elements does each offer?
I think of them as two portals into different sides of my creative universe. The psybient-vocal show is very personal and immersive. It’s about voice, atmospheres, and visuals that lean into altered-state listening. It’s a space where time slows down and the focus is inward. The house and techno show, on the other hand, is built for movement and collective energy with hardware, controllers, live sequencing, visuals that evolve with the beat. Ideal for club and festival settings. Both are connected by intention, but they offer different ways of stepping into the same larger world.
4. How does your synesthesia influence your approach to creating “hypnotic frequencies” and “immersive sonic landscapes”? Do specific colors or visual patterns guide your compositional decisions?
For me, sound is never just sound… it always arrives with a palette of colors, shapes, and textures. A bassline might appear as deep indigo, while high frequencies feel like shimmering silvers or iridescent flashes. Acid lines are my favorite because they appear like fractal rainbows or a shifting geometric pattern. When I’m composing, I follow these visual cues as much as the audio ones. That’s why my work often comes across as colorful. I like to say I paint with sound. I also think being on the spectrum in more ways than one has helped me embrace this way of experiencing music.
5. You’ve performed at festivals ranging from Boom Festival to Tomorrowland, EDC, and Ultra. Is there a favorite place or festival where you like to perform the most?
Every festival has its own magic. Boom was profound because it’s so spiritually aligned with the kind of psychedelic music I love… you feel that people are there for more than just entertainment, they are there for an experience for their soul. Tomorrowland or EDC are powerful because of the sheer scale and rave energy of thousands of people moving together. And of course, places like Burning Man hold a special place for me because they blur art, music, and community. Some of my favorite sets are there because theres nothing else like it on Earth. Besides festivals etc I particularly love Djing at clubs because I have a different approach to my music and technique. I tend to get extra loose and raw while incorporating more nostalgic music. Fabric, Stereo and Output have been some of my most memorable club experiences.. I don’t have one favorite place, but I love the way each space brings out a different part of my sound.
6. As someone who’s been producing since the early days of Acid Pro and Fruity Loops, how do you view the current AI revolution in music creation? Do you see it as a tool, a threat, or something else entirely for electronic music producers?
I see it as a tool and maybe even dare say some sort of other medium yet to be discovered… and like any tool, it depends on how you use it. Technology has always shaped electronic music, from drum machines to DAWs to samplers. AI can open new doors for sound design and inspiration, but the heart of music is still human. It’s intention, emotion, and energy that make music resonate. I particularly love prompting one of a kind samples. You can use Splice where thousands of other people will be using the same sample or…you prompt the sample you need and get a one of a kind sample. With that its important to note that ripping off anyone elses music and art without their approval shouldn’t be allowed. I’m currently finishing up my OonaAi voice model where people can use my voice in their production. Going to launch this after the album. I think AI can assist the process, but it will never replace the need for that human spark.
7. Having built a successful career as both a producer and label owner in electronic music, what specific advice would you give to artists, especially women, just starting out in electronic music production? What barriers did you face, and how can the next generation navigate or change the industry?
My biggest advice for anyone is: stay true to your voice, even when the industry pressures you to conform. Even if that means exploring your sound further and not sticking to a recipe. For women, there are still barriers from being underestimated technically to facing skepticism on stage. I faced that often in the beginning. But the more you show up, release your music, and own your space, the more you carve a path not just for yourself but for others. Build communities, support each other, and don’t be afraid to demand equity in lineups, opportunities, and recognition.
8. As you move deeper into 2025 with new live shows, touring and the new album, what are you most excited to venture into? And what else is on the horizon?
I’m most excited to bring these new shows to life! To merge music, visuals, and storytelling in a way that feels like stepping into another dimension. Touring the album is also exciting because it represents a new chapter in my evolution. Beyond that, I want to keep expanding Oona Dahl and my other creative projects. And personally, I’m drawn toward more collaborations between science, psychedelics, art, and consciousness research. The horizon feels wide open, and that’s what excites me most.