During my adventures at the Imagine Music Festival this year, I had the great opportunity to interview the lovely and multitalented Leah Culver. She’s not only a DJ and producer of music, but also a singer during her shows. Leah Culver, formerly known as MK Ultra, operates out of New York and L.A. but has decided to grace her hometown of Atlanta with her presence for this amazing weekend.
Henry North: How have you been enjoying the music festival so far?
Leah Culver: I think they’ve done a really great job this year with the additional stages and how beautiful the setup is. It’s a cool new venue, I really like the pool, and the sound is great. I think they did a really good job this year.
HN: How long have you been DJing and performing? What got you started?
LC: I’ve been doing it now for about five years. I kind of fell into it, to be honest; I’ve always done music, like I’ve played guitar and drums and I sing. I think I was drawn to dubstep more, because it’s kind of like metal and I like metal music and I used to play a lot of what I would call “metal dubstep,” so I think that’s what got me really into doing it.
HN: That actually leads me into my next question: what would you describe your sound as?
LC: I think that now it’s a little bit more versatile, whereas in the beginning I was playing dubstep. But now I play drumstep, dubstep, electro, and the music that I’m making is kind of more a mix between EDM and a live band.
HN: That’s an interesting mix. Could you tell me about the software you use when you’re mixing your music?
LC: Sure. Right now I use Serato for mixing and DJing, and I use Ableton for producing music.
HN: Are you working on any current singles or EP’s?
LC: Yeah, I just finished my first EP called Radiance and I’ll be dropping that pretty soon, and I’m working on finishing my second EP which will be out in the fall. It doesn’t really have a name yet. There’s also a few singles I’m working on for other people.
HN: Can you potentially drop any names of who you’re working with?
LC: I can never promise that things will come out, because you know it’s not really my track. But as far as working with people, I’ve worked with Adventure Club, Borgore, Chainsmokers, Twofold, Mark The Beast. And Mark The Beast is really great; I implore everyone to look him up and support him.
HN: So who would you say are your musical inspirations?
LC: Right now, the new Panic! at the Disco is really good. I’m amazed by Brendon Urie‘s voice and his vocal abilities, and as I’m coming into my own voice he is definitely an inspiration. And so is Hayley Williams and the way that she performs.
HN: Have you dealt with any challenges or hurdles while you’ve been working in this field?
LC: Maybe so, but most of it’s pretty fun. Nothing is too hard, you know? I don’t feel like there are any major hurdles that I can remember, honestly. It’s been a lot of fun. There are a lot of nice, supportive people, and meeting as many people as I’ve met has been like a blessing. I really appreciate the connections with people in general when I’m performing. There’s nothing that’s too hard about it; I’m grateful that I’m doing what I’m doing.
HN: What’s your favorite performance that you’ve done thus far?
LC: I played in Japan two years ago and the culture there was so amazing. It was in Fukuoka with Stranger Candy and Cali the Kidd. I think the experience overall was the coolest to me, but as far as playing a show, it may be CounterPoint last year because I got really lucky and got Chet Faker’s timeslot. He was really sick and I’m still not sure how I got that, but it was right as the sun was setting and was a really good timeslot.
HN: That must’ve been beautiful.
LC: It was beautiful. The funny part about that set was that Hermitude was playing before me and – we had two separate setups, like their setup had nothing to do with my setup and I couldn’t control their setup if I wanted to – and pretty much right as I set my laptop on and was queuing up stuff to see if the signal was going through, the crowd could see me press a button and their set cut. I was in front of five thousand people and they were all looking at me and I was like, “Oh, wow.” The set went well, though. We’ll call that a hurdle. I got a lot of comments after that too, that were like curse words, like “She’s such a bitch, she cut off Hermitude’s set!” You couldn’t make that up, you know? It was so perfectly timed. I laugh at things like that; I think it’s really funny.
HN: So when you’re not DJing, performing, or singing, what are some of your hobbies?
LC: I like to be outside, I like to hike and use my bike. Recently I’ve tried starting to work out, but I’m not going to call that a hobby, yet. I love to paint, I love art, I like going to museums, and I really like going to shows that aren’t EDM.
HN: Any particular bands? I know you mentioned Panic! at the Disco and Paramore before.
LC: I actually just went to Panic! at the Disco in Irvine, California, and it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a really long time; it was with Weezer. Brendon Urie does vocal acrobatics, he’s just incredible, like he’ll squeal these really high whistle notes and then also hit the lowest notes ever. His range is nuts. It was a great show, the energy was good.
HN: So you’ve probably had this question asked multiple times before, but do you have any advice to anyone that might want to become a performer or anything similar?
LC: Yeah, I think that if you want to do something and you’re capable, and anyone tells you that you can’t, you just can’t listen to them. Just keep going no matter what, be yourself. These are kind of vague things that I’m saying, but honestly I think that’s what matters the most; branding matters, supporting your local promoters and DJs matters, and being a genuine person matters. People can read you, so you need to be a nice person or you might not get anywhere. If you want something bad enough, you’re going to make it happen, and if you don’t make it happen, then you might not want it bad enough. There are, of course, hurdles and things like you talked about, but it’s all possible. You just have to believe in yourself and keep going.
HN: Alright. Lastly, if anyone was interested in checking out your music on any platform, where would they go?
LC: Mine is pretty standard across the board, it’s like “LeahCulverMusic” on everything; Instagram, Twitter, Soundcloud, Facebook, and, of course, LeahCulverMusic.com.
HN: Well, thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to meet. This was an awesome opportunity. I hope you have an amazing crowd for your set tomorrow.
LC: Thank you.
Interested in seeing Leah Culver live? Her next performance is at the FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, New Jersey on October 8th.