UK producer, DJ and artist lau.ra makes bass-heavy house drawing on UK bass and garage. Alongside releases on Insomniac, PIAS and Defected’s DVINE Sounds, she has built Wonk from a monthly basement party at London’s The Social into a platform supporting women, trans and non-binary DJs and producers. Its programme now includes Creator Clinics and showcases, with a record label planned for late 2026.
Four years after our last conversation, we catch up with lau.ra about motherhood, finding her confidence as a producer and knowing when to turn work down.
When we spoke in 2022, you were very open about the realities of combining motherhood with a creative career. Four years on, what advice would you give to mothers working in music who are struggling to make space for both?
Once you have children your priorities come into such sharp focus that you’ll know where you want to spend your energy. I’m not denying the struggle, everything changes, you have more things pulling your attention than ever before but you become very efficient with the little time you have to spend on creative pursuits.
My studio time is half what it used to be but twice as productive now. If the juggle is causing stress then it’s not worth the squeeze. Take the pressure off. Your children are only little for such a small portion of time, enjoy them, music can wait.
Wonk has grown from a monthly club night into a wider platform, with Creator Clinics, showcases and now plans for a record label. What have you learned about building and growing something of your own within the music industry?
I’ve always harboured a very DIY approach to every project I've been part of. FEMME/Ultraista/lau.ra and now Wonk. I like building worlds from nothing and seeing people connect with them. In that sense Wonk has been a very satisfying project so far because I can see its potential to grow way beyond just my artist project.
I don’t want Wonk to be just another vanity DJ label. I want to use it as a force for progress and change in the dance music industry for gender minorities. This ‘protein house’ era we’re in right now may be very lucrative for those at the top of the tree but without diverse faces and experiences in the industry dance music culture suffers. We need to create space for everyone and not just on the fringes.
As an artist, producer and DJ, how do you know when an opportunity is genuinely going to help your career and when it’s better to say no?
Mostly gut feeling. If you’re resisting saying ‘yes’ it’s usually a sign to say no. I’m now at a point in my career that if it’s a sum of money I can afford to lose and it’s not filling my cup creatively I'm not going to do it.
Has motherhood changed the way you set boundaries around work, touring and your time? Is there anything you wish you’d felt more able to say no to earlier in your career?
Earlier in my career I could have advocated for myself more in certain collaborative projects as a vocalist. The frustration of being ‘othered’ as a vocalist in dance music when it came to deal terms and the promotional campaign wore me down to the point that I rarely sing on records now but I found my power in music production.
Motherhood has changed the way I set boundaries around work because you have to. I don’t want someone else to raise my kids. The opportunity has to be worth me missing out on time with them while they are so young.
What’s the best networking advice you’ve picked up over the years, and what do you think actually makes someone good at building relationships in this industry?
Try and harbour the confidence of a mediocre white man. The amount of DMs I get from average joes just starting out asking for ‘collabs’ or ‘remixes’ or ‘sing on this’ is absolutely astonishing. I rarely get the same requests from women. We can afford to be more ballsy when it comes to making connections and shooting our shots.
What do you look for in the people and partners you choose to work with now?
They need to pass the vibe check and have a genuine love for my artist project beyond when you’re riding the crest of the wave. Those that stick around when times are quiet are worth their weight in gold.
I’d love more women in my team and I’m enjoying seeing more women take up roles within the music industry. We need female label owners, agency owners and executives to see real progress for gender minorities in dance music.