InterviewsScene
Nina Maštruko‘s event series Onkraj continues with another juicy September party that melts the boundaries between sensuality and monstrosity. On Friday, September 18 in AKC Attack British artist and producer Aja Ireland will celebrate the club’s queer culture, autonomy through her mutant femme energy
bodies and the liberating power of movement. Experimental bass, industrial techno, baile funk and detailed sound design are the musical drive for an intensely monstrous performance that wants to question how club spaces frame femininity, sensuality and the body. We caught her for a short conversation about her art process and upcoming visit to the capital.
“Whatever era someone catches me in, they’re hearing something I was living through at the time rather than performing at a distance. It’s also totally open to interpretation. With Moult Mouth though – that femininity here isn’t gentle or compliant, the monstrous is used as empowerment“, Aja said.
Her visual identity is equally important as her music. We asked where does she find inspiration for the visuals and looks for her live performances. “It’s built up in layers over my whole life – inspired by other artists, collaborations, nature, biology, life, grief, connection, spirituality. With my collaborators, LU LA LOOP shaped the early drag-adjacent, biology-and-slime era. Joey Holder’s Cryptid exhibition, all mutation and adaptation, reshaped how I thought about form entirely. Moult Mouth was inspired by Baile Funk, INFERNO queer club culture, SKNDLSS and Studio FCLX, with Joey’s new visuals taking the hybrid creature further. Each collaborator left something behind that’s still in there”, she explained, adding that each track builds its own space first. For example, she stated that ‘Grind It Like’ imagines a warehouse as sanctuary, somewhere to shed inhibition without the male gaze shaping how a body should move, shot in an actual abandoned warehouse for that reason. On the other hand, ‘Mami Voguer’ pulls from baile funk, vogueing and ballroom, and the video built an oyster-textured, pearlescent digital world with Nicholas Delap and Joey Holder around that same idea, expression flowing without judgement.
The evening will be opened by a drag performance legend Desmo Dust, whose conceptual performance through demonic aesthetics weaves the story of the liberation of body and spirit from the restrictive apparatus of civilization. A sweaty musical ritual that leaves the bitter-sweet taste will continue with the DJ sets of Princeza Gusaka and her y2k distortions, SVETICA with sacrilegious latincore and vogue beats and
Babilonska and her dark spells. Monika Milas will be in charge of the irreplaceable visuals and scenography of the venue.
Before the club part of the program, we will hang out in the courtyard of Medika from 9:30 p.m. with a mini listening room with Desmo, Svetica and Princeza Gusaka.
The day after the party, Saturday, September 19, Aja Ireland will also hold Ableton music production workshop in collaboration with the informal music learning platform OTOK, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Multimedia Institute (MaMa). It is suitable for beginners as well as those looking to expand their practice and gain insight into the creative process of this versatile multimedia artist. Aja pointed out the importance of musical education, and how she sharpens her knowledge in production: “It matters enormously to me, especially teaching people who are neurodivergent, from disadvantaged backgrounds, or FLINTA, making music genuinely more accessible rather than assuming everyone starts from the same place. As for evolving, it’s not something I have to force, it always starts from the inside and gets expressed outward. Pushing boundaries is just part of who I am, it’s built into my personality and the things I’m drawn to, so the evolving happens naturally rather than as a strategy.”
Presale tickets are available at tootoot.fm for €15, while tickets on the day of the event will cost €18. If you cannot afford the ticket price, feel free to contact the organisers via inbox or at onkraj.events@gmail.com.
