Like many ambitious DJs, Dublin bass mover EMA wears many hats. She is the founder of the label and party Woozy. She is a Rinse FM resident. She co-founded the Skin&Blister collective, which was created to, in the collective’s own words, “nurture and encourage female identifying, trans, and non-binary creatives in the realm of music and the arts.” And then, of course, there are her DJ sets and mixes, which blend multiple strands of forward-thinking bass music. All of this is to say that she is very busy. Luckily for us at Nina, EMA made some time to talk to us about her formative influences. Read our interview and listen to WZY4.5, the latest Woozy compilation, below.

What was the first song you really loved?

Tough, probably “Macarena” or the entire soundtrack from Riverdance.

Can you remember your first brush with underground dance music?

I met my first boyfriend when I was 14, a lot left to be desired (LOL), but he was into good tunes and introduced me to a lot of dance music.

Did you have a favorite DJ when you were young?

Not really, I was so overwhelmed with all the new music and artists that I was being shown so I wasn’t really obsessed with any one DJ back then. I did think my mates at the time were pretty good.

What made you want to DJ? 

I think it was a combination of the Space Dimension Controller FACT mix and hearing Mosca DJ in the Twisted Pepper. Really though, it was wanting to feel cool (included) at house parties.

How did Woozy come about? Are there any labels that inspire you?

Woozy started as a club night right before lockdown which then evolved into a label. It mainly sprung up as I wanted to book certain bass acts in Dublin and felt there was not a dedicated party for that sound. Loads of seminal labels like 3024, EXIT and Hessle Audio inspire me for sure but there are a lot of newer ones like Kindergarten, Slink, All Centre, earful of wax, More Cowbell, SPE:C, Bait, Animalia, and early Reflex. Very blessed to know some of these curators now and see how they are growing their community and label over the years.

What’s the scene in Dublin like right now versus when you were growing up?

Actually feels a lot more restrictive now, feels like we had more reign on the city back then: More raves in the city center, early houses and things like this. I mean, maybe that’s all happening still, I’m just not involved, but we had more venues back then for sure. There has however been a huge surge in the amount of brilliant collectives, artists, labels we have now, especially FLINTA folk—too many to actually list out, but there is a lot of talent here and I feel that Irish artists in dance music specifically are getting more recognition overseas now too, which is brilliant to see. 

Are there any scenes or communities that you aren’t part of, but still inspire you?

Crews who go rock climbing/bouldering... RESPECT.

Any DJ’s you would love to do a B2B with?

dBridge. <3 

Do you have any non-musical influences?

My non-musical friends, voice notes, my houseplants and Jio's dinners.