That might be true, and Landry has certainly developed a powerful brand around his techno-witch sensibilities. The success she’s had, as she puts it, is due to “settling into this comfortable knowing of what my vibe is,” that vibe being essentially a hybrid of hard techno and the meditation realm /sound bath of spirituality shrouded in black. tight, thick eyeliner. This identity, while compelling, would not be enough on its own to endure, but Landry has the music to support it and make it all feel less like a set-up and more like a natural extension of his interests and his artistic talent.

Born in the Bay Area and raised in Austin, Texas, Landry got into clubbing and dance music while a student at NYU, where she earned degrees in finance, psychology, and advertising—fields that are undeniably applicable to succeed as a DJ. After college, she worked as a data analyst in Austin while teaching Ableton classes, throwing parties around the city, and live streaming during the pandemic. After meeting agents Bailey Greenwood and Annie Chung backstage at a festival, she signed with WME for representation in North America in 2022, her growing presence coinciding perfectly with an increased appetite for dark, hard-hitting, genre-bending music. apocalyptic but also chic. the North American scene. (See also: the success of Tale of Us’ Afterlife brand and Anyma’s upcoming residency at Sphere.)

The general assessment among many, including Landry, is that in these trying times, people want proportionally hard music and a place, she says, for “high-energy, high-octane experiences high” where they can forget wars, elections, climate change. and other varieties of doom and just tap into their reptilian brains for a few hours. Of course, dance music has existed as an escape since its origins, with mainstream EDM providing that same space and freedom to the masses, not by acknowledging the bad things in the world, but by issuing feel-good anthems which allowed us to temporarily pretend not to be. not there. Now the scene is in a place where heavy sounds are embraced because reality is no longer so easy to ignore.

But also TikTok. Beyond existential angst, social media primed the metaphorical pump for Landry and other young artists creating heavy styles of music. “In the case of hard techno in particular, social media has played an important role in allowing people to discover new sounds and find their community,” Greenwood and Chung say in a joint statement, adding that post-pandemic , “people were hungry for new things.” the energy and seeing clips of these events circulating made them want to go out and participate.

Agents agree that dance music is having a major moment in the United States, “but this time we’re seeing different genres that were historically considered ‘underground’; be pushed to the forefront of the scene and come together in inventive ways,” a phenomenon they say has made room for new artists like Landry while giving a platform to veterans who have been making this type of music for a long time .