Anna-My
dress ARKET shoes Adidas socks H&M sunglasses Prada Drifting Across Genres AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA-MY photography Sandra Myhrberg / Agent Bauer fashion Olivia Bohman hair and makeup Katarina Ohlsén Emerging from Sweden’s west coast and shaped by formative years in Stockholm, London, and New York City, Anna-My has cultivated a sound that moves fluidly between underground club culture and deeply personal expression. With roots in Gothenburg’s electronic scene and early inspiration drawn from platforms like Boiler Room and NTS Radio, their approach to DJ-ing is guided as much by instinct and emotion as by technical precision. Blending hypnotic rhythms with an intuitive sense of movement, Anna-My creates sets that feel both expansive and intimate, shaped by influences ranging from UK innovators like Four Tet and Caribou to early memories of discovering The Knife. As their international presence continues to grow, their work remains grounded in a simple yet powerful intention: to translate feeling into sound. Sandra: Your career spans Stockholm, London and New York. How did each city shape your sound and approach to DJ-ing?Anna-My: Stockholm, London and New York probably shaped me more than I realised at the time. I moved when I was 22 and spent such formative years in both London and New York. At that age, you’re constantly discovering things for the first time—everything feels new, everything feels huge. Every track I heard felt like its own piece of art, and experiencing that kind of art every day was almost overwhelming. I’m from a small town on the west coast of Sweden, where there wasn’t really a scene or people who shared my pull toward electronic music. I found my space through Boiler Room and NTS. That feeling—that the world suddenly opened up and that I could feel so much through sound—has definitely shaped both my sound and the way I DJ. Sonically, I think UK artists like Four Tet and Caribou have had a huge influence on my own music-making. dress ARKET shoes Adidas socks H&M sunglasses Prada top Arakii skirt Anna Danielsson S: You started DJ-ing at 17 in Gothenburg’s underground scene – what was that early period like for you?A-M: So fun. I wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t electronic music—it was the only thing I cared about. I spent hours lying on the floor of my room in the collective I lived in, just listening and listening. It was a completely new world opening up. I miss that sometimes—being 17 and discovering something as big as music. S: You’ve warmed up for artists like Olof Dreijer and Eli Escobar. What do you focus on when preparing a warm-up set compared to a headline set?A-M: It feels important to tune into the DJ’s sound and match it to some extent, but without stepping away from my own identity. I try not to overthink it. S: What inspires you to create music and where do you find that inspiration most strongly? A-M:I find inspiration everywhere—in myself and in others, in memories and dreams. It often comes from fragments of things that have been and things I long for. When I make music, I’m basically just trying to translate feelings, memories and dreams into sound. That material is always around me, and in me. S: Your music blends tech house with hypnotic rhythms and swinging beats. How would you describe your signature sound in your own words? A-M: I’m trying to make music that moves across genres. I don’t want to get stuck in one lane—I want to let myself drift freely. I don’t really know how to describe it. All I know is that I like movement. Forward, backward, but never still. I hope that comes through in the music. vest Anna Danielsson skirt ARKET shirt Tiger Of Sweden trousers ONO Ateliers sunglasses RayBan S: Your love for music started with your father’s record collection. Which artists or albums from that collection still influence you today? A-M: He was probably one of the first people in Sweden to discover The Knife. We listened to them when he drove me to school. I especially remember one morning—it was still dawn, the road went through a big field, and the fog was low, almost magical. We listened to The Knife and something happened in me. Maybe my first big musical experience. I’ll remember that morning in the car forever. S: How do you keep your sets fresh and evolving after a decade in the scene? A-M: I do it without thinking. Music is the only thing I know. It’s just everywhere—either I find it or it finds me. S: You helped build Boiler Room when it was still a new concept in New York. What was that experience like, and how did it influence your understanding of club culture? A-M: It was, of course, incredibly exciting. I helped build the first studio in Williamsburg. There were only three of us on the New York team at that time, and everything was just beginning. Boiler Room was so forward-thinking and groundbreaking, and being surrounded by people who only cared about music and underground culture was transformative. It felt like the world became bigger through music and culture. A lot of people think Boiler Room was only a space for electronic music, but we worked with all kinds of underground music. We spent quite a bit of time in Harlem working with local jazz musicians, and in Atlanta documenting the growing hip hop and rap scene. dress Hanna Rothstein trousers & Other Stories shoes Calvin Klein dress Hanna Rothstein trousers & Other Stories shoes Calvin Klein blazer COS sunglasses Prada S: You’ve built a strong international reputation. What’s the most memorable crowd or club moment you’ve had so far? A-M: I played the opening night at PLX this summer on a new stage. It was a tropical night, and almost the whole festival came to my set. It was nothing but magical. S: If you could play anywhere in the world
