Spinning Plates with Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Episode 179: Anna Lunoe

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Anna Lunoe is an Australian DJ, singer, songwriter and producer. She lived and worked in LA for 8 years, performing at festivals such as Coachella.She’s now back in her hometown of Sydney, and has an 8 year old daughter and a 6 year old son and I caught up with her after she’d spent the night in Sydney Zoo for her son’s birthday. I loved her idea of 2 night reset away, alone, every few months, which she and her husband take turns in doing.Last year Anna released the song ‘Girl’, a collab with Melanie C, another of my inspiring Spinning Plates gals. Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, I'm Sophia Lestepster and welcome to Spinning Plates, the podcast where I speak to busy working women who also happen to be mothers about how they make it all work. I'm a singer and I've released eight albums in between having my five sons, aged between seven years old and nearly 22, so I spin a few plates myself. Being a mother can be the most amazing thing, but it can also be hard to find time for yourself and your own ambitions.

I want to be a little bit nosy and see how other people balance everything. Welcome to Spinning Plates. It's 904 on Saturday morning and I'm actually feeling more tired than I was hoping for because during my weeks when I'm home, this week basically I've been getting up around 6 a.m every day. And I was really looking forward to not get up at 6 and you can probably guess what time Mickey decided was wake up time this morning. Yeah, it's around 6. I stupidly stayed up a little bit later last night than I would have done if I'd known that that was definitely going to happen.

It's all on me. I wasn't out doing anything ravey. I have been in every night this week and it's been really nice. I've been working on a project in London and it's meant that I'm out by day, home by night, all very sort of cozy and regular and I've really enjoyed it and it's been a really nice project

and frustratingly is one of those ones I'm not actually allowed to completely talk about yet in terms of what I've been up to, which I know is really annoying when people do that. I do appreciate that. That's very irritating. You'll find out what it is one day in about a year, I imagine. I think that's when it's going to be revealed.

But it's been really cool. It's been really nice, a nice group of people and something a little bit different than my usual, how I usually spend my days. I've really enjoyed it. And I also have been up to. Well, Richard's a way on tour with the feeling. He left on Monday.

So I've been thinking of them and hearing tales, from how it's all been going on the road. But meanwhile, I don't know, whenever Richard goes away for work and I'm home, I have all these ideas of what I'm going to do. Oh, I might, you know, book some social time in with some girlfriends for the evening.

When I am in, I'll get the kids all down, and then I'll be like pottering and doing my projects and get on top of stuff. And actually, I've just been incredibly scrappy. And the days have been really busy with work, with very headful kind of work. So I get in, once the kids are in bed, I'm just a bit mackered myself and so it's been very,

but much more uneventful and is much more cozy than I might have predicted. But maybe that's what I needed. This is about to be my, I think this is my first weekend in about five or six weeks when I'm actually not working for the weekend. So I'm very happy about that. And I've got a Saturday with a party time to and a theatre thing I'm taken to and a sleepover. It's one of those days, one of those weekends.

So that's all nice. Anyway, look at us nearly at the end of the podcast series, but not quite. And this week's guest is such a brilliant thing how this came about because about 18 months ago, I was on tour in Australia and I met a woman who was helping to help the band get around Perth. She called Sim, like a little minivan. She was driving us around in to get from like the venue to the hotel and that kind of thing. And she and I were chatting. She was a very interesting lady herself.

And she and I were talking about the podcast. And she said, oh, I think I know someone for you. And suggested the lady I'm speaking to today. So shout out to Sim for your suggestion. And Anna Luna, who I'm talking to, is a very impressive, very interesting woman. She is an EDM DJ, very successful, very influential. She's hosted a radio show on Beets One, the Apple Music radio show. She's been doing that for over a decade.

So it speaks to other DJs, plays lots of dance music. She's had a podcast in the past. She has released, she's done loads of remixes, who's been working as a DJ for years, but she's released an album under her name called Pearl, original material, and also last year. So Pearl came out in 2024, and last year she also collaborated. and last year she also collaborated with Melanie C., another spinning place, yes.

Anna has two kids. They are six and eight. Her daughter's eight, son six. She lives with her husband in Sydney. They've travelled all over. They were in L.I. in their back in Sydney, which is where we recorded this conversation, which was super exciting because it's a historic moment. I've never recorded an episode of the podcast anywhere outside of the UK before. It was also historic because my guest provided all of the recording equipment. So big thanks to Anna for turning up at my backstage area in between Sanjak and Gig in Sydney's roundhouse. And she had with her in her bag everything we needed to record the podcast. So unprecedented times, my friend, but a really glorious chat.

And it's nice for me to think back to it because we were sat in my dressing room, both of us in summer gear because it was summer in Sydney. And it's actually a really nice thing to cast my mind back to. But also one of those happy things where Anna and I had never met in person before, but it felt very natural. And she has lots of really interesting things to say about her life as a DJ whilst raising a family. So here we are. Back to us in sunny Sydney and I'll see you on the other side.

Well, this is the first actually. I've never recorded the podcast outside of the UK. What an honour. And I feel equally really excited and also so I just made that you've had to supply all of the recording equipment. Look, we get it done. Does it still count as my podcast if you like that? We joked that I quickly edited it before I sent it back. Just like, here you go.

I took the liberty. And also, I knew we were going to be in your home city, but I didn't realize we were actually going to be in a room from your university as well. Oh, so funny is that. I am having an out-of-body experience being in this space. I have not been here since I was at uni, like, whatever, nearly 20 years ago. It's crazy to be back here. Yeah. And what's it like being back in Sydney?

Because how long have you been back since you had your time in America? Look, I've been back for five years now. It's been five years. But it feels different. It doesn't feel because these last five years have been so strange that it feels like two years, kind of, but also 10 years. It's a really weird feeling. But yeah, it's been five years. I was in LA for eight years.

And then I was in Sydney before that. And I was born here and grew up here. Yes. So this must feel good to be back. Yes. I think it's a brilliant city, Sydney. I love it here. I wish I had longer to explore again.

Yeah, look, it is stunning. We were talking earlier because I slept at the zoo last night with my son for his birthday. And me and my husband, I mean, we've lived here our whole life. And we were walking around the zoo just having these moments, just looking at the city skyline and this experience and hearing lions and, you know, gibbons and orangutan, like, of guerrillas. I should use the correct terminology because I know it now because the zoo guys told me. But yeah, just hearing all these incredible animals while looking at this city and at this

beautiful night. It was just spectacular. It is an incredible city. You're having quite a surreal 24 hours then. I'm going to need a lie down after this. Yeah, so this is to celebrate your younger. little one, say just 10-6. Yeah.

You have an eight-year-old daughter as well. Yes. And what does your working life look like at the moment? What projects have you got on? So right this week, we're coming off the back of our long school holiday. So we just had the kids home for eight weeks. Wow. So I am in the week where I get back to everyone's emails, do 17 loads of washing, and actually

just work that out. So I've spent the week redoing all my calendars and my to-do lists and my workflow and my workflow. and chatting with my team about what we are going to do. I tend to work with like three month blocks. That's pretty much where my head goes. And we have a good tour lined up for, that hasn't been announced yet. We've got a good big tour in around April, May. So the tactic right now is just to set up for that tour.

And that's me supporting a bigger artist. Yeah. So in Australia, there's not as much work. I used to live in the States and tour probably three times more than I do now. now just by virtue of the fact that you have so many large markets, it's such a close range. So I do less shows now. So all I really need is one big tour, a quarter, or two a year, to build my life around. I have two radio shows, one on Apple Music, one on Rinse.

And I do a podcast occasionally. It's currently not in action. It's called Create Destroy. It's such a good title. Oh, thank you. It's from, I stole it from the guy from Wilco. Oh, cool. He wrote a great creativity book, and the first chapter is all about how in life we have a choice if we create or destroy.

And I think that just summarized so much about how I see the people in my life that I've met through creativity. They've just got this endless desire to create and to do things. And I just think that's such a beautiful thought. So that's where I got the name from. Oh, I love that. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's such a beautiful book, actually. I love he's right.

And I think he does a podcast too. So, yeah. So do that and then a few other things as well. So lots of nice projects on. And the create destroy thing I think is interesting to me because I feel like I actually know people as well that do both all the time. Really? Yeah.

Actually, yeah, you're right. You get those people. They're quite turbulent with, they'll create things but then sort of build in an obsolescence with, I don't know, how they promote it or how they support it because we're not always very good at dealing with where those creative projects can take us. Yeah. And if you're deliberately sort of screwing up from the inside, then it helps you control the narrative a bit more. Absolutely.

Because it can play with your mind quite a lot, aren't it? Oh, definitely. That's a really interesting angle, actually. Yeah, well, sometimes it can feel quite risky just to put something out there with optimism in your heart and see what happens. Absolutely. You're quite vulnerable, aren't you? Yes, extremely. Yeah.

And tell me a bit more about it. I was listening to you talk before I was about the three-month blocks, and I thought that was really intriguing. And when did you start thinking that way about your working life? Look, it's always been a lot like that, because with DJ bookings, which I've been predominantly a DJ for my whole adult life, you only really know what's happening up to six months ahead anyway.

So you have this trust that around the corner it's going to show up, even when the calendar looks empty, you just sort of have this trust. And if you don't have anything in the calendar, then you just think, okay, what am I going to do for the next three months to get me to that next point? So that's the way I've always thought about it. And then when I had kids, it was even more solidified because every three months, they're a different baby.

They're a different child. They're a different experience. They need different support systems. So it just worked really well that it would be like, okay, this is the plan until May. And then we'll reassess from May to, you know, just break the year up, just like that. And I find that I can get my head around it.

and conceive of it and put a workflow in place for that time. And it also means that when things come up, offers come up, opportunities come up, I can look at it and say, you know what, that's really not for this quarter. Can we push it back to the next quarter? And it gives you that framework to build your life around, which you need when you're in charge of building everything every day. Yeah, I mean, in charge of building everything is very much how it goes if you're in music. Yeah. And so when you've got projects further, away than three months, do you sort of compartmentalize them a little bit? Absolutely. I don't think about anything until it's within a month. Okay. So if people are like, oh my God, you're supposed,

they're already going to do for that. I'm like, I don't know. And you're stressing me out, just talking about it. I can't tell you that until a month in advance. And yeah, that's the only, that's sort of how I chug through different, like different parts of my life being in charge at different times. Yeah and there's a pragmatism that comes along with with breaking it down like that. I think it's so it's so healthy to learn as quick as you can what makes you feel good about the uncertainties that surround our diaries. Yes. And those three month blocks, not just for you, for all the people around you as well, gives a sort of anchor like that we've got 12 weeks. And even if you've got some turbulence or things chop and change within that time, you still know that

you'll kind of reset again when you reach the end of that segment to the next bit. Yes. So it probably gives you a bit of a steadiness to how you look at things. Because there's so many times you don't really know what lies beyond that. But it's like a deep breath of like, let's be in the here and now. Yeah. And it's a really great. I used to try to put like a two night break.

When we first had the babies, we came up with this plan of like, okay, every three months or four months, both of us get two nights away to just stop and breathe and be alone. and, you know, do whatever we need to do selfishly and work out what we even want for the next three months because both me and my husband both work for ourselves and we can do that if we are smart about it and if we, you know, we take it turn. So one of us goes at a time at that time. I wish we'd kept it up. I'm not going to lie and say that we have, but that's what's behind it. So every sort of, you know, three, I'm not very strict about it, three to four months. It gives me almost a New Year's Eve type feeling where I get to then stop and,

decide, okay, these three months, this is my fitness goal. This is my, you know, body care goal. This is my work goal. This is my, you know, I can really just stop and take a breath and restart. And it feels positive and hopeful. And when you were doing the two nights away when that was part of your world, how committed were you to what that looked like for you? I mean, would you be like, I'm not going to work in that time? Would it have to be, you know, a space of something other? or could it be involved in a work trip or was it quite a... It was very for me anyway, because my work is my passion, it was more about connecting with my passion.

So I would go away and I would have banked three different, incredible, what are they called, documentaries that I wanted to watch. And a long form article that I would not have time to read. And all these things that I want to do and these interesting, you know, I'd look at where I was, I'd find some great place to stay that had great sauna and baths and I'd just be so selfish and just listen and think and draw and want you know just reconnect with any kind of self-fulfilling energy that I could because yeah I took yourself away for a lovely date weekend yes and every time I tell this story I think why don't I still do it

I'm self my friends is the bottom line of all of this like even when we know what's right we don't always do it too no and life gets in the way but the intention is good because it it even from the time when your babies were small, it prioritized somewhere in you that you knew that was something that you wanted to have there. Yeah. And I think that's really healthy. And I think the cool part about it is that now I'm able to regulate myself more efficiently. Yeah.

I'm not in the same place. Yeah. And maybe I just take the first half of the week to just stop and be a little bit more connected and just take those selfish moments when I can versus completely checking out and going way, but I would really like to check out and go away after eight weeks of having the kids at home at school holidays. Yeah. Yeah.

That's a long time. And I don't know about your smalls, but mine tend to look at me at the beginning of holidays. Like, what do you got planned for today? Yeah, every day. What are we doing today? Yeah. What are we doing today?

I haven't planned anything for today. Yes. And what was going on in your life with your work when you had your first baby? So when I had my first baby, I had been living in America. for about six years, maybe four years, four or five years. And things had just finally connected. Everything was going really well. It really felt like I'd finally built the career of my dreams. And I finally felt like I'd arrived in some personal place of safety and confidence. And it just was really incredible. I remember when we started talking about falling pregnant, I really

thought, if I'm not ready now, I'm never going to be. Because I felt finally on solid ground, personally, which is such a luxury. I think that not many, like lots of people have kids before they're in that place too, which I just, you know, ultimately you end up completely falling into a new place when you have children. True. But I did feel solid ground underneath me to a certain degree before I fell pregnant. And I fell pregnant really quickly.

I would decide to start trying and I pretty much felt pregnant with. within a few months. And there was a period where it was around New Year's Eve. And I said to my husband, Mark, I was like, you know, it's weird. I always thought because I was playing Coachella that year. And I was like, I always thought I'd be pregnant at Coachella. I just had this weird feeling that I would be pregnant at Coachella. I was like, but I guess it's not happening because it was, I mean, it was three months away.

But I didn't realize I was already pregnant. Like I'd fallen pregnant within the week of that. And so I found out I was pregnant. Like within a month, I went on this. I had to DJ on this cruise, this, you know, three-day all-night, all-day thing. And I suddenly was my body was starting to feel weird and, you know, you know the drill. I do. But I didn't really know the drill because I'd not had a baby before.

But I remember one day I'd done this huge long stretch of late night and early morning. And I'm not a big drinker. So it's not like I was out there drinking or anything. But I definitely had this weird case of wanting to faint after I DJed. Oh, wow. I played this two-hour set at the end of my event. So I'd hosted all day and then I played the last set. And at the end, I lay down and, like, started to cry, got really emotional about, it was beautiful.

And I felt really, like, emotional about it. And I started to cry. And that's not normal for me. I don't normally do that. And then I found out, like, a week later, that I was pregnant. Also, my nipples were sore. So when you got to Coachella, then you must have been sort of... Oh, it was three or four months, yeah.

And I thought I was huge. I was like, oh, I've got to announce this because it's going to be so obvious to everyone. And then I look at the announcement photos and there's nothing there. I just look like myself now. It's so funny how you think when you've had that first pregnancy. You feel like there's like a beam on you. Yeah, exactly. And it must be written all over my face.

Totally. And no, it's not. No one new. And within the DJing world, how typical is it? do you think that there's sort of space for parenting as a conversation within that world? Because I think it's, in my mind, a quite juxtaposition of life, partly due to just the practicalities of lifestyle, really. I mean, I do know DJs that have children, but I suppose the sort of surrounding support system.

really know what exists for that. Is it something where you felt like you have to just sort of work it out of yourself or was it a very supportive environment? It was both at times. I had my first child in 2016. I think that people who have been, you know, watching electronic music, if there's anyone listening who's sort of been privy or parallel to it, I think most people would consider 2012 to be peak EDM.

in the sense that it was dudes on big stages with pyro and, you know, the mainstream scene in America from, and, you know, in most of the mainstream electronic EDM scene, it was that image of a man on a stage with his hands in the air and pyro going off. And maybe the girls were dancing around on some podiums. There wasn't very many women on those stages performing. Yeah. The year before, I'd be in the first woman to play EDO. see main stage in the history of the 20-year history of the event. Which is amazing. Amazing and crazy.

And they've been to be... History, but also... But wild. It's recent, isn't it? Yeah, very recent. So that was only a year and a half earlier. So definitely fresh, you know, definitely fresh to be a woman on those stages.

Women have always been in electronic music. Definitely underrepresented. They don't get storied as much as the men. They get dropped out of the story in hindsight. So many women were apart. of every, we're all a part of each other's stories. We've all broken down the barriers for each other. And there's so many incredible women who've come before me

and who've set me up for that moment, for sure. I had a friend in Sydney, a local DJ who'd had a baby. So when I fell pregnant, there definitely wasn't any women in my orbit in the scene and the touring circuits that I was in that was doing that. Annie Mack had had a baby. She was in the UK scene. I didn't know her well at that point. So I called my friend Gabby, who just lives down the road from here.

And I was like, Gabby, I don't know what to do. I've just got pregnant and I'm playing. I've got gigs booked all summer. Like I was playing all these summer festivals. I was like, can I, do I need to say no? Do I need to cancel all this? And she was really great. I mean, she just said, look, you can DJ pregnant.

You will be fine. When it gets too much, start saying no. When it gets too much. feel like it's too much for you, just cancel. And it was so nice for someone to say that. I was like, fully, I can just say yes up until what I think. I'm going to think about it. Okay, up until six and a half months, I'm going to say yes or seven months. And then after, and if I'm not feeling well along the way, I'm just going to cancel. And I've never canceled. I don't cancel stuff. But if I need to do it, I'm going to do it. Yeah. And everyone's going to get over it. Yeah. So I did.

And I just, luckily, I had a pretty good run. I mean, I was sick and, you know, all that stuff. But nothing that I couldn't get over. And actually, DJing while I was pregnant was really good. Yeah. It felt like I was finally, like all the morning sicknessy stuff lifted when I DJed because I was dancing and like, I don't know, something about it. It just helped me anchor and feel better, which was amazing.

That's very cool, actually. And I'm picturing as well, like what an amazing representation of, you know, femininity within that world to be like standing there pregnant and absolutely controlling the atmosphere in the room. That's actually very powerful, I think. I think so. And I also think because I obviously played the whole time every week, every week I was out there. My body was so strong. It never felt weird that I got bigger. I didn't realize, I didn't feel any different because I just grew until the very end when I started to really get big. But I just, my body knew what to do. I was jumping up on the decks. Like I was standing on the decks. I was jumping off.

I was running around the stage. I was on the mic. I sing a few of my own songs. I'm like on the mic singing and doing all that. And I felt like me. And then I look at the photos now. And I'm like, wow, that's crazy. That looks wild. So yeah, in hindsight. And it was the reaction from so back to and was it supported. So yes, it was underrepresented. And there was some very interesting conversations I had with promoters about what they would and wouldn't do. with radio hosts about what it meant for me to have this child, you know, while I was living this life and like talking about, you know, obviously all these men have children too, but you don't talk about it. You've never asked them about it, but you have to, it's so obvious with me that you

can, you bring this into the conversation. Yeah. Obviously. So it's just all these dualities that were existing within the scene and unpacking all those. And then at the same time, I had all these female DJs coming up to me being like, oh my God, I feel like I can do this now, you know, and they've all reached out to me every one of them as they've fallen pregnant over the years, which they have, and now there's been an incredible, like, amount of incredibly famous female DJs having babies very publicly and DJing very publicly. And it's really cool. The conversation's really different now.

Yeah. Yeah. Eight years ago. And thank goodness for your friend Gabby, actually, because I think sometimes those conversations that can happen really early on when you're into the unknown and you're thinking what's this going to look like and knowing that you know if you're feeling hormonal or if you're feeling a bit vulnerable and someone asks you the wrong question at the wrong time you're just going to probably want to cry or feel like I don't really feel like I need to be being completely

feeling strong in my decision making all the time because sometimes you do feel like different day to day when you're pregnant or when your baby's little you don't really know how you're going to ride that but having your friend say right at the beginning, it's absolutely fine if it feels right for you. And if it doesn't, just don't do it. You can kind of cling on to that, can't you? Like a little life rough. Like that will be the voice of reason. And it gives you permission.

Because as you said, you know, at the beginning of that, you were in a really good spot. And where the stripes you've earned through all of your years and experience had made you feel like, I'm in a really good place with my career. That's not really the thing I'm feeling wobbly about anymore. But I'm wondering if there'd been years before, when you said women are not, I mean, underrepresented in that world, you must have felt like you sometimes had to really overcompensate with what you were bringing to, you know, that when you took over to do your set and your level of prep and wanting to really show, give all the signals, not just to, you know,

getting the dance floor, doing what you wanted to do, but to the people watching of, like, showing, like, I'm putting in these clever picks or I'm doing these tracks, or this mix just to really show like at next level. Yeah, it was, it is a good thing because it made me, I knew that I had to not leave anyone a question mark. I needed to tick every box to get every opportunity and then needed to be nothing that they could grab onto as a reason not to elevate me or to pick me for something or to, you know. So I was really diligent with my prep and I, every opportunity.

I got, I would kill myself preparing for and put so much pressure on. And even that, I resent a little bit now as I'm older. It was good in a way because it always got me to the next level. And it was bad because I was so, I was so busy looking at the one meter in front of me that I never looked at the 500 meters in front of me. I had the slowest build. Like I've done everything I ever wanted to do, but I've done it week by week with no one walked into my life and said hey you i'm gonna you should do that we let's go to this like let's go it was like building everything week by week taking you know i started it here at the local pub and then i went to the local bar and then i worked at a restaurant every night of the week and then i got asked to play at a house club oh my god warming up you know the 10 p m slot and then i got it literally

every single step of the career was one step at a time so i feel sad that i never felt like it was my place to dream bigger than that. That's my only sort of the bitter sweetness of looking back. And I love that girl who worked so hard. She was so diligent. But it was also a bit like she was playing their fools game. She knew that if she gave them any, they had all the power still. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah. I still gave them all the power because I spent so much time catering to that. Instead of just skipping them entirely, starting my own party and doing. something completely bold and renegade. But there just wasn't that. There wasn't the grounding or footing for that at the time. No. And I guess you have to trust that young version of yourself because if you didn't see a representation

of what that career path looks like, how are you to know what to wish for anyway? Totally. And all that groundwork, it comes back to to help when you get those opportunities. That's exactly right. It does. And I think I say that because I don't want young girls listening to, to, to, fall into the trap of feeling like you've got to impress these men that run, that the gatekeepers, you do what you need to do to feel good about it for yourself and just know that they're,

they don't have the power. Yeah. You have the power. You decide what you do. There's a place for you here. Dream big and go grab it, you know? But also sometimes that uncertainty might surround the prep and the worries you would have about. you know being really watertight with what you're going to do but I bet when you actually stepped

into you know being behind the decks that worry from a mate would go and you get that power of like now I'm actually in control yeah so you remember all that feeling because that was more the sort of day to day but once you got there if you hadn't felt as prepared it's like something you can read in people sometimes can't you and if that's what you needed at the time to feel secure up there. Yes. Then take that. Yeah, and it was.

And you're the one pushing the boulder, you know. If, like with so many creative jobs, it can be really hard on your psyche. But there's so many moments where if you said, oh, I've actually decided I'm not going to do this anymore, people go, oh, that's a shame. You seem to really like that. Anyway, what about this? But if you're not the one showing up for yourself all the time, then it's always the one, like being your own cheerleader a bit really. Yes. It's a bit relentless.

Yeah. And sometimes when there's not a lot of things to look ahead to, you can feel a bit like, it's a bit, like, test your nerve. But I think ultimately it's why we're sat here talking about, you know, decades of work. Like, how cool is that? Yes, it's crazy. It's good. And it really happened week by week.

It just happened. Like, whenever anyone says, oh, like, yeah. It's like, I just never stopped and I don't really know why. I couldn't tell you why I kept showing up. I just did. And that is the story, right? You know, if you love something, you do it because you love it. And it teaches you so much.

Even when you're so, you know, quote unquote failing, even when you're struggling, I mean, music taught me everything about myself and my confidence and my abilities in this world. Like, I'm just, it was just this incredible platform to learn about life, the world, myself, how to navigate it, my confidence. everything. Yes, yes, absolutely. I've always wondered, what is it like when you're experiencing the highs and the adrenaline of DJing to thousands and thousands of people, but you're up there without who you flanked by when you're in the booth? Who are your people that you can toast it with afterwards? You're alone. Yeah, and when you, I toured alone, before I got any kind of success,

I taught alone for over 10 years, completely alone. So I didn't. multiple international tours completely on my own. And when you say completely on, I mean, you literally know, not even a tour manager or anything. No, no one. Wow. So I, 10 years. I have like a degree in TED Talks. If I have any, it's probably the only reason that I have any confidence is actually probably because I just watched TED Talks for 10 years on the road. Wow. Yeah, I really did. I toured for 10 years, like on my own completely. And that was some crazy making business. I mean, I don't really know what drives me to, what drove me to do that. I had a lovely husband to come home to a lovely part. We've been together since I was 19.

So that was always stable and he was encouraging. And I just had things that I really needed to do. I don't know why I did it. And so I'm thinking, I'm like, no wonder you, when you're having a baby, you're like, can I make sure there's like two days where I'm on my own again? Yeah, maybe. Yeah. Because you must be very good at being in your own company as well, though, and actually really like that. Yeah, I do like it.

I remember a lot of dark nights where I felt like I really would like to talk someone if I'd had a bad gig and I felt completely wrecked by it or, you know, just those moments are kind of sad to think about, but there's been so many cool days in a weird city walking around and just living life and feeling alive and connect. and having had an incredible night in a city I'd never been with a whole bunch of strangers and just walking away from it being like this connection. I think it's been a search for connection, honestly.

So having that connection with strangers all over the world, it's truly, I don't know, there was something that was driving me from that. It felt important. Well, I guess you've got the connection, but also while you're traveling on your own, you're also observing constantly. Oh, so much and cultural observations. So I was obsessed with music. obviously so every city I went to I'm looking for music landmarks I'm looking I'm reading stories about

the artists that walked before me I'm literally playing venues that I've read about my whole life you know just getting these experiences that is triggering brain waves brain pathways in me that's just that is what drove me that is where I was living in my fantasy world it was like I was living in a movie that I created wow that's very powerful and I guess also sets you up really well for when you're taking over and it's time for your set and you're like, right, I've got to read the energy and the chemistry and you've absorbed yourself into possibly what people have been up to during the day, what's been going on in that city, where they've come from to sort of harness that. Yes.

That's exciting. And something romantic about it, it might be like, I'm thinking of a movie that I saw in this city and the mood of the movie. So I'm coming in with this energy and this mood. I'm going to take them somewhere with that set tonight. Yeah. I mean, other times I'm half dead. and I'm sick and it's just a miracle I even get through it.

But sometimes it really is that deep. When it all joins. It just joins in. And I still remember nights, you know, in Kansas City or in Toronto or in some place where I knew nobody and one person came up to me and like I knew he was the one in the head in the room. Yeah. And he came up to me and said something about the song I was playing and I was like,

I did my job tonight, you know? Yeah. I read that I read the right room tonight. and that's a really beautiful thing. And it's not, I don't think it's as simple as everyone was drunk and having a good time. It is deeper than that. It's like some deep connection because people are going there to let go of something and to feel free for the night. And you're tapping in, your freedom is tapping into their freedom.

Yes. And you're sharing freedom together. And it's, yeah, I'll start. No, but there's, I totally agree with you. There's real drama and you've got to take a little journey of people. and the first time I ever saw a DJ properly, I was actually in my 20s because I didn't grow up going to the dance clubs. I was more of an indie kid.

And so when I first went to a dance club, I was like, I get it now. Yes. And I was absolutely sober. I was going to be singing there at like 4 in the morning. So having this DJ just absolutely sort of harness the energy and do the rise and the fall and then the rise. I was like, okay, now I get it. Now I can see the skill in the right people reading that

and bringing everybody into that. It's powerful. And there is a congregation feel to it. It's a communal aspect. I do think humans like that. We like that catharsis. We like that escape. And I'm picturing that even though you're doing

the before and after is you on your own, for that moment, your soul must be like, ha, it gives you flight when it all comes together. I just want to point out that like I'm trying really hard not to think it's upside down day that I am sitting with you talking about me. I haven't read. I've talked to lots of world renowned people on my radio show but they've never interviewed me and I want to interview you because you have such an incredible wealth of knowledge. Like you're an incredible interviewer. You're so perceptive of what I'm talking about but also your knowledge and your story is just you're

like a unicorn, you know, having the story and the experience that you have. There's so much that you're saying that's resonating really deeply for me and like you being an indie kid. And then for me, I experienced you as a dance singer for the first time. Like in dance world, when I didn't even have aspirations of being in that world, I just remember seeing you and that version of you and being like, wow. Oh, really? This is a powerful person with like, so it's so cool. I want to hear about your indie roots and how you became. So we're just. So we're just. So we're just. So we. You're just. You're You'll have to come on my podcast so we can unpack that fully. I would love that.

I just want to call that out because I'm sure the listeners are like, she should be into, this should be the other way around. Well, no, look, I love, it's a great conversation. And also I think, you know, we're both seeking out a similar thing. And I don't know about you, but I'm actually quite introverted when I'm on my own. And when I travel and when I tour,

even though I'm lucky enough to have, you know, my husband's with me, my brother's with me, my lovely band and crew. But during the day, I need time on my own. and I always whip off and I love just having that time and I honestly think it gives me like the head that I need to then go on stage

and turn into the other version of me. I don't live like that. I'm not wandering around at home in like sequence and stuff. So how do you do it at home when you've got the kids there, five kids? Yeah. How do you take a breath away?

Do you set mini boundaries? Do you sit in the bathroom and lock the door? How do you find that space? Because that's the hard, I think truly the hardest thing about parenthood is the, suffocation of self. Like it's the complete inability to even find those moments. So how do you do five? And I think particularly as well, even for someone I don't think of myself as a particularly

traditional person, but you still fall into the quite traditional trope of being this sort of feeling like mother comes with a sort of martyrhood of, I've put myself bottom of the pile and this is what I should be doing. And look, I'm an absolute rag of a person. I'm a little husk walking around, but you guys are all fed and your beds are made and everything is right in the world. My hair hasn't been dyed in 16 weeks. My graze. So I feel very grateful that I still have the creative world to step into because I honestly don't know what I'd be like if I didn't know that that was there. at some point.

Yeah. Like a little beacon. But I think I also find family life very grounding. And I don't think I realized quite how little space I had in terms of head space. And that boundary you're talking about probably until lockdown. And then I was like, okay, I might have taken this a bit far. Right. And I started to push back a little bit.

And it's just not something that came that easily, I don't think, for a long time. And before we started recording, we're talking about how sometimes when you're doing a trip, you'll make sure you get like the latest possible flight out, the first possible flight homes, you're running on empty and you haven't slept properly. And I find that incredibly relatable. And you're not serving the best version of yourself to your crowd either. So it gets to this place where you're like, oh, not only is everyone at home annoyed at me because I've been away.

Everyone, like I did not do the best version of me out there tonight. Like that was me, you know, I haven't planned my outfit. My hair's not there. Like I feel unprepared. I haven't prepped my set in the way that I normally would. You've duped yourself deeply because you've put everyone before yourself, including your audience and your work. And no one says well done.

No one's like, oh, good job. You didn't have two hours more sleep. But weirdly you feel like you've done something impressive. Yes. Like, can you see me? still standing and I've had three hours sleep and it wasn't in three consecutive hours. And look at me at the school fair. And look at me.

I'm here. It's so true. I mean, the other moms, here's what I want to know. Sophia L. Spexter, what do the other moms at school think when you come to the playground? Do they all know you now? Or is it like, oh my God, there's only Al Spex. No. Disappointing lack of any other than you're going to see you.

I'm looking for more. No, literally no one bats an eyelid. It's a nice school. It's our local primary. The kids have all gone there. My brother and sister went there before them. And, no, they're very chilled. And you feel like you live a double life because...

A little bit. But I think I need a little bit of that, actually. I think I do. And when I'm home, I feel really good. I do feel like very, very happy. But how... So when you were first going back to work after you'd had your babies, how did you find that for your head and how have you managed to

protect your creative process within the demands of small children? Bit by bit, sometimes unsuccessfully, I felt really creative after I had my daughter. I felt really powerful. I couldn't believe that I'd overcome this thing, like having a child and my my pregnancy's got pretty spooky at the end with some, you know, genetic stuff and some complications, as they do. They tend to get a bit bubbly sometimes. So I had tricky births and I had babies in the NICU. But I found a schedule really quickly, I think because of the NICU, because they put the baby on your, you do pump and bottle feed mostly in the NICU because the babies are too little. I had them preemie.

So I had my first two prem as well. You did, right. Like, yeah, so. Like 31 and 32 weeks. Oh, wow, that's quite premier. Yeah, mine weren't quite so, so preemie, like 34 and 35 weeks. So they were little and they couldn't drink from me. So we were pumping and bottle feeding, which put them on this schedule and they were, and it sort of, it worked for me.

I'm really, I was really good at building this schedule and I loved working in the middle of the night. I'd wake up in the middle of the night to feed. And if I couldn't get back to sleep, I'd just start making songs. ideas and doing things. It was very strange, but I felt really motivated and energized and... Nice. Yeah. So it worked well. I think it's been more complicated as they've gotten older because they need different things. You don't just feed them and put them down to sleep again and it can't just be anyone who feeds them the bottle. Because I had this early freedom, I think I got a false sense of security and then I booked a full summer of touring. And then we had a

11 month old or a 10 month old who actually was really a hard work and yeah so we learned along the way and we I cancelled definitely more shows with a one year old than I did pregnant because it all got too much you know so and did you cancel them because you thought I can't be away or it just logistically hard everybody was falling like if the nanny fell through or if the I was like I can't leave them at home without any help or you know we're sick again or whatever it was it's just it got a little bit harder. Did you try and bring them along to things and then find your head or scrambled? Never.

I brought my daughter to Coachella two years later. So I played with her in my belly and then two years later I was on again. And I brought her with me and that was so challenging. I was literally parenting on stage at Coachella because she kept ripping her headphones off. And I was like, no, put her headphones back on. She's in the ground. She's in the VIP area in the pit. And I'm yelling out to put her headphones back on.

Like, it was, I just thought to myself, you know what, this isn't it? Never again. Never again. And she did have since come, but it's the same thing. It's the whole time I've got one eye on her. Yeah, and it feels very like you're letting everybody into this, like, other side to be like, I can't look away from my daughter. She's not got her ears covered.

I can't be cool. And then you're like, yeah, exactly. Oh, it's like, just in my brain. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, that's tricky. That's a tricky thing. And then doing the mini, the small baby, like the two-year-old with a pregnancy, that's another challenging mountain to climb. Yes. And I did okay, but I did get very sick with the second baby because my daughter was in daycare, bringing home bugs. And I just had no resilience. So I started getting quite ill. And that was mid-2019. And then, yeah, 2020. Boom. Yeah.

What do you say after that? I don't know. That's why the story gets very uncertain. You must have moved. Not too much that as well. Exactly. So that last year, having a pregnancy and a little one, made me realize how much I was lacking in a support system, definitely. I had nice friends.

I was still living in L.A. And I had great friends. And I had, you know, everything I could have wanted with the career. And my husband was helping heaps. His business was taking off as well. So he has a homewheres company at that point, which was. doing really well. So we were really happy there, but we just couldn't get around the fact that we needed

more help and we weren't. That gets to a point where you're just not sure how to plug that gap. Like, you can't, we just couldn't plug it. And then we decided, okay, we're going to get an all pair. We actually wanted to get an Australian or pair. So we put the call out to a friend. We thought, wouldn't it be nice if we had like a friend's little sister, come live in LA with us.

And like, it was friend. It was someone we knew. It was like someone we'd grown up with. They could have like an amazing. Soundsodilic. You know, amazing year in L.A. and be our all pair. So we found this person, literally a friend's little sister who was like, I want to come to.

Like, great. We got her the visa. She was arriving in April 2020. We had to cancel that. So she was, we had to tell her not to come. So, yeah, we were building up to build that life. And then the pandemic came and we just, she couldn't come. And we actually just decided at that.

point, okay, we're going to have to, the best thing is probably just to go home because we just, I just wanted my mom. I just wanted to be close to home. And I realized how much I wanted my kid, who was now coming up two and a half three. I wanted her to know her, her aunties and uncles and cousins. It started to feel like I was keeping her away selfishly. So I just wanted her to be with them and be a part. I've got a really great family. Like, I've got a big family and I've got passionate family. I really wanted them to, I felt like in the time when I'm gone, wouldn't it be nice if she was actually getting, like if they were both getting to know their world and giving them that grounding? So in the haze of postpartum after a really challenging pregnancy and just at my wits end and the

world being shut down, I just thought, okay, let's go, let's go now. Before I think about it anymore, the calendar's clear, let's go now. And we just left on a dime. That's quite exciting to do that as a family. Yeah, it felt. We're going home as well. It's different, isn't it, than just moving somewhere else? Yeah. It felt there was a yearning.

You could picture yourselves there. Yes. Which helps, I think. Yeah, it was a spirit yearning. I just knew that I needed to do that then at that point. And within your work, how do you make sure that you keep your finger on the pulse of what's happening that's new? Because presumably with your work, it's always evolving and having new influences. So how are you keeping abreast of that?

Is that through your radio mainly? Yeah, my radio show is an incredible base. So I have learned how to manage this workload with this radio show because I could do this radio show full time. It is such an incredible and daunting task to stay on top of dance music. Dance music has increased in popularity and size. Yeah, it's huge. But not just in the audiences and what it does, the amount of music released every day is equivalent to a year's worth 10 years ago.

Wow. With the accessibility of the programs and the internet and all the ways that productions become more accessible, the amount of music released is just astronomical. And to keep up with it is the task of all tasks. It's really daunting. And you could just have to set. You have to set guard roles. guard rails on doing that. So I've had systems in place with that for 10 years, long before I had the babies.

So I knew that in order to still have time to write music and do XYZ, I could spend a day doing this and a day doing this and then I deliver the show and it's done. So it's like a day of complete open digging, a day of downloading and listening, and then it's make the playlist and do it. Wow. So I just sort of gave myself this, I got faster and faster at it. At first I'd give it the whole week and then I got it down to four days and then three days and then two days and then my systems got faster and at one point I had someone downloading everything

for me that I had in my email because I had a promo email where people would send stuff. Oh wow. So I had someone download it and put it in a folder for me and maybe put some best ones that they thought in like a folder so I could at least get a little edit. But then I'd still go through all of them, but at least I went through them faster. Wow. So I just had this system that I built and just shortcut, shortcut, how can I make this easier, faster, easier, faster?

And now I really trust my system that it's efficient, that I get a really good snapshot of dance music in those two days or in the time that I allow. And yeah, that's how I do it. I just set the guard rolls and then I trust the guardrails and trust them. Yeah. And that's how I do that. And then that sort of sets the tone for my understanding of the dance community at the that point and what I can then bring to the table as an artist, if anything.

Does it always feel inspiring? It feels inspiring at times, but also sometimes every song makes me want to bash my head against the table because it just doesn't feel good that day. Yeah. I don't want to listen to this today and just everything sounds terrible. And then other days, I listen to everything with such excitement and like, oh my gosh, this is such a good idea. How did they think to do that?

Yeah. So it oscillates and that's okay. Yeah. And actually, I think it sounds like. you're like me where the good stuff is the ones that really gets my juices when I do more. But when I listen to bad music, I just feel like, what's the point? Sad. Sad.

I just feel like, I got to be bothered. But when it's good, you're like, it's like you get like the thirst for doing more. For more creativity. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I mean, what I love, I mean, the more I was learning about your career, what I love is that you've got the sort of outside of it, you know, brilliant music and a very successful and very glamorous world that it's in. But I love how much, how open you're about all the

hard work that's gone on behind the scenes. Because I think that that is really, that grit and determination is really what underpins the whole thing. And clearly you've never lost your passion for it either. It's such a big part of what makes your heartbeat faster is being embedded in that world and that music and get excited by it. Yeah. I really do love it. And I even love it when there's parts of dance music that don't relate to me. I'm happy if there's a new way of coming through that isn't my thing. Like, it's not going to, I'm never going to be able to be a part of it or contribute to it personally, but I'm so happy that everyone's found this thing that excites them and unites them. Yes. It's like I just get happy when people are happy. I just get happy when they're all enjoying

themselves and feeling inspired by something. Like, that's what actually inspires me to, and I'll play it on my radio show and I'll talk about it and I'll talk about who's the figureheads in that. Yeah. And bring that to the table and offer it to the listener because, yeah, but even though, even if it doesn't personally, deeply relate to me, I just think it's beautiful to see connection through music. That also probably is testament to your longevity as well because I think the people are driven more by the ego aspect of it, that doesn't sustain your appetite for the whole time. I think that that generosity of wanting people to get the feeling, the good feeling, that tonic could be right.

Well, definitely helps, I think. And on the flip side of that, I also have seen people become hugely successful by being incredibly egocentric as well. So it's like a part of you is like, oh, should I be like that? Like should I be that driven and this is not my, not necessarily my way. so I couldn't do it, but I've seen people get very successful doing that. It's just that they may not, it may not last forever. It may not necessarily have the longevity that you get from being in a different, playing a different role. And that's the way I really think about it is that all of us play different roles in this

culture. Like we all have a different role to play within it. And for whatever reason, I don't know why. the role that I feel like a very cross-generational cross-genre person now, like in dance music, it's like I've been a part of so many communities. There's not many people that stick around for 20 years. So it's intergenerational.

It's like the female-male crossover. It's the, you know, different background, like cultural background crossover because, you know, coming from being born Australia with different heritage and then living in America and trying to understand their culture and all the subcultures that exist within this mainstream American culture. And then, you know, also loving and growing up and breathing UK dance music and always being fascinated with it and studying it from afar as this voyeur from Australia.

Just like it feels, yeah, it feels like able to talk about this. And also, I was an indie kid, Sophie. So I was at gigs. I was in like, I was like, you know, that person until I was, I wasn't even in dance music. My way through to dance music was really sideways. Like I did not, I did go to raves growing up, but I was in band. I was more of a band girl in my late teens. Interesting.

Yeah. I mean, I was in a band first before I was a DJ. Very cool. Maybe you like a little bit of the storytelling then that can go into dance music. from coming at it from that side. I think dance music just became the medium that I could most get my hands on the fastest. It was, you know, being in a band and being a musician had way more gates in my way that I had to get through somehow, especially from Australia, just for whatever reason, dance music and DJing became my way.

And yeah. Yeah. I feel like there's so much we could talk about with all those things, but I'm aware of our time. So I just wanted to ask you what it was like doing your work with Melanie C. He's also been on the podcast and is such a brilliant woman. And it looked like the two of you just had the best time. I just love her. I don't know how she came into my life, but it was just so beautiful.

So basically, Melanie C is just, it's like, much like meeting you, it's meeting someone who you've always known of in culture. And then you get to know a person behind it and they're wonderful and it's so beautiful to just be around that and really feel like their friend. And it's, yeah, it's just brilliant. And it's been one of the most wonderful surprises of my life. Yeah, yeah. I could see you guys have very good chemistry. Yeah, it's really cool.

I don't think there's many people that wouldn't have chemistry with her because she's great. She's just, it's what you see on the box. Yeah, she's very warm, isn't she? She's warm and brilliant and funny and she's not taking herself too seriously and she loves her journey and she's not shy to talk about it and it's so inspiring and what I loved most about her, which I'm not sure that I've got had the chance to even talk about much is how much I love that she's so still learning and she's moving into DJing and she's moving into so many different new forms in music.

She's a student and she is doing her live. shows and she's DJing and she's not afraid to just try it and do it. It's the coolest thing ever. Yeah, you're right. That is really cool. It's so cool. And yeah, you can imagine when you've had the kind of story she has, it could be intimidating to try and put yourself out there. Like we talked about earlier, sometimes people aren't that nice about those changes. And she just, I mean, I guess with what they experienced, no one can touch her, right? Like, she's just, she's climbed the highest mountains of that. And she has some elite. metabolizing that we can, you know, that she can teach us to get through the hard times when people

aren't appreciating what you're putting down or are being hard on it. But she is that, is, I think people really gravitate towards her and see that in her because she is the eternal give it a go. She's the eternal give it a go student and it pays off and she's extremely talented and everything she does too. Yeah, no, you're right. I like that tribute to her enthusiasm and to that as a good quality to have. Yeah. Because you're, right, that's quite infectious. And also, I think when you're doing what you do and then someone comes into it with all this excitement around it, that rubs off on you and you're like, oh yeah, this is fun.

And you're right, let's see what we can be playful within something that's familiar to you. It's nice. There's a little bit of, sometimes I feel like we all, I'm sure, have moments where we're like, oh, can I still do this? Can I still try? I just love it. I just was really inspired by how much she was up for it and open. Yeah.

I mean, some fresh blood is a good thing. that isn't that? Yeah. It keeps exciting. And talking of the fresh blood thing, finally, I wanted to know, do you play music to your kids and watch what they respond to? Because kids can really respond a lot to dance music, I think. Yeah. They're really into their music and completely different music. I love watching their experience in music. I actually at first didn't push it on them at all. Like I just, it was always in the background. I never talked about it. And I think that a part of that, was never wanting to push it when people would say oh do you get them on the decks you do this and I'm like no I never do anything like that it's just I think it's more like when it's around them

they're just watching them kind of because I think dynamic shifts kids can sometimes it can be quite an instinctive thing that they start moving their bodies and then like a couple of mine go really quite quite far out with the dancing yeah we'll put music on at home and we'll get like the laser thing on and the smoke machine going yeah okay this is happening and it's it happens And it's also so universal too, like having all the kids over and they're all, we always have dance parties. You know, my daughter hilariously has had, she's only eight, but two of her parties have been dance parties.

Really? Yeah, two of them. And now, I swear I didn't push it on her. I swear she decided. I was supporting the Chemical Brothers two years ago and she was actually going through a face. She was probably about four or five at the time. She was in kind of.

She was five. And she was insanely jealous that I had a show and she didn't have a show because she'd recently been to a party of my friend of 40th, where she had had a DJ Dex and Mike on the stage. And the kids were all dancing on the stage and singing on the mic. So she's like, I should be performing with you. And I was like, I agree, but this is not my show. I'm warming up for this band and I can't have you on the stage. She's like, I should do it. I'm your daughter and people will want to see me. And it's like, you're right. People would want to want to. see you. It would be pretty cute. But I was also, they have incredible analog gear. So the thought

of my child dancing on stage and like knocking out Tom's synthesizer or something. Oh, yeah. Can you imagine? So I had to, I was petrified. She came to the show and she's tried to run on stage before. And I said to my husband, I was like, you can't let her on the stage because I thought they're going to let her watch from the front or the side. I'm not sure. If she's down the front in the pit, that's good because she can't run on stage. If she's side of stage, you're going to have to hold on to her because she will run. And so I was petrified. Plus we've got Rocky who's like three.

So he's got to hold on to the both of them. And yeah, in the end, sadly, they weren't allowed to stay at the show because the venue freaked out that the kids were there. And that's a whole other drama. But they, yeah, her desire. So then we had to do her party was like, I was like, I'm so sorry about that. Look, let's, if she's like, I'm going to do my own show. And I was like, great. get organized. What do you need? Did she do a show for her party? I need a stage. I need a mic.

She sounds like my kind of girl. Yeah, she's on her way. She's on away somewhere. It's pretty cool. So that part of it's really cool to see her. This drive in her, it's incredible. And it's not just music. It's art. It's creating cards for the whole class. It's a vision to bring everyone to do something. She's got some kind of drive. And then my son, he recently, out of nowhere, I mean, he was really musically inclined as a baby, which sounds silly, but I literally had him on a track when he was two years old because I went to record my daughter saying, all right for this song. I've got caught all right. It just says like keywords on the drop when like the different points in the song. So I thought, oh, it'd be cute to layer in their voices.

So I went to record her and she wouldn't really do it at that point. She's pretty cheeky. But he was only two. And he, his timing, his pitch. his delivery, I'd be like, okay, more energy. And he'd do it. There's a video on my Instagram. He was incredible. And then didn't have him in any music classes.

And then suddenly he started getting really into this hardcore band called Turnstile. There's a little. Yeah. So he loves this band called Turnstile. So my husband is really into music as well. And he was playing Turnstile in the house. And Rocky got really into it. And we ended up, they were coming to Sydney like the week after.

So we went and they, you know, he met the, he got a tour set list and he watched the whole set. It was like 11 p.m. at night. We'd be given him and we'd woken him up to take him. Anyway, now he has a drum kit and he just sits there playing turnstile songs. So with his headphones on loud. Amazing. I think we've got something brewing over here.

Maybe I could, I don't know, do they have a manager? We're open to discussion. Well, let's finish broadcast. I'll start discussing my terms. Thank you so much, Anna. Oh, thank you so much. It's so nice to talk to you. So nice.

It is not often I finish a podcast episode chat by offering to manage the offspring of my guest. So I'm not sure what came over me, but I just thought Anna's kids sounded very cool and I'm sure the bright features ahead. But yeah, what a lovely woman. What a fascinating insight into that world. And I think for me, the thing,

one of my real sort of takeaway parts of the conversation Well, a couple. I liked Anna's three-month rule where she says that she sort of thinks about her diary in terms of three months. I think there's something in that that I can take a little bit of comfort from as someone who has an equally unpredictable work life.

But also, what it says about Anna's character that she's confident and resilient enough to have done all that travelling completely on her own, turning up in a foreign land, doing her DJ set, you know, playing to thousands of people. and come off stage and you are just a party of one. You are not sharing that experience with people.

You are not, you know, making those casual reflections we make when we travel or we work that you would to someone if you're with sharing it with someone. So that is pretty wild to me. And I actually don't know if I'm cut from as strong a cloth as that. I think I would really struggle. I love my own company. I love the times on my tour when I get to wander a city for hours on end and no one knows where I am for a little minute.

but traveling completely solo and experiencing a gig completely solo and having no one to say, oh, what about that moment? Oh, that was a bit stressful or whatever it might be. That is super, super impressive and very different. That's where the difference comes, I think, from being on the musician side to the DJ side. What an interesting life, Anna, is leading and still so much drive. I can see that she's very much in the pocket of a very exciting part of her career. So really lovely to hang out with her. And as ever, I'm so grateful to have her being so generous with her wisdom and her stories because it's lovely for us to listen to, isn't it? And yeah, so good to have been taken back to that moment in Sydney.

It's so sweet. So Anna came along and was there for the gig, of course. And I met another lady for the first time when I was there, which was, she was known as the first female wiggle, Emma Mema. She's a children's entertainer. And Emma hops up on stage. with me for one of my songs, Freedom of the Night, where I'd do some dancing with a ribbon, and so did Emma. So it was a pretty glorious and memorable gig all round for lots of happy

reasons. Oh dear, I can hear. So my 10-year-old's got up now, I can hear him and Mickey arguing next door. She's got a swine out. Raised voices, but not angry ones. I'm going to let it roll, and I'm going to go and make pancakes with the big guy, now he's up.

And in the meantime, I hope whatever you've been up to for the weekend has been really lovely. Thank you so much as ever to everybody who's contributed to this week's episode. So my lovely producer Claire for her gorgeous production, my lovely husband Richard for editing the podcast and being so patient with me while I take until the 11th hour to give him all the things he needs to make it, put it together. Sorry, darling. Much appreciated.

Thank you to Ella Mae for her beautiful artwork. And thank you to Anna Luna for being such a brilliant, interesting, compelling guest. And of course, biggest thank you for all you. You're the ones with the ears sitting there, joining this community and shaping it to be what it is. Please, I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm going to say it until I'm blue in the face. Firstly, I do check in on what little reviews I get on the places where you can leave reviews for the podcast. So all your kind words, all your support, it really is good for you. petrol in the tank of the podcast, as is, more crucially, I would say, your suggestions of guests.

Some of my favourite guests have been your idea. You have some brilliant ones. They could be really high profile people. They could be people that we might not have heard of before, but they've got really interesting lives they're leading. Anything, I am open to it. Bring it on. All right, wherever you're up to, have a lovely, love of time. And you will have my little voice in your ears very soon if that's the sort of thing you're into, you've come this far, you might as well say you are. All right, let's love, bye.