Electronic music has always been described in terms of movement: movement of bodies, of culture, of technology, of sound. But rarely do we speak about intention. Rarely do we speak about what guides the sound from within. Yet for a growing number of artists, and listeners alike, electronic music is no longer only about escape or celebration. At the heart of this shift is: ANNA.
ANNA, renowned Brazilian techno DJ and producer based in Lisbon, holds a career spanning more than two decades, multiple continents, evolving genres, and the transformation of electronic music from underground subculture into global industry. But what makes her story compelling is her personal evolution that gradually reshaped her relationship with music, success, performance, and ultimately herself. To understand that journey, ANNA stars on this month’s cover to tell us all about her shift.
Growing Up Inside Music
ANNA did not discover electronic music in the way many artists: “I was born into a family where music and club culture were part of everyday life,” she explains. “My father was a DJ, not touring, but deeply involved in the scene, and he owned clubs together with my uncle in my hometown.” Music was not separate from life; it was part of the family environment, part of conversations, weekends, and daily routines. “In many ways, I didn’t ‘choose’ this path,” she says. “It was already flowing through my environment from the very beginning.” Some of her earliest memories are surprisingly formative: “I remember going record shopping with my father when I was around ten years old, spending hours listening to all kinds of music,” she recalls. “I was also helping behind the scenes, setting up the club for New Year’s Eve nights, observing everything, absorbing the energy.” Those moments gave her a perspective few artists experience so early.
“From a very early age, I developed a sense of service through music,” she says. “It was never just about playing tracks, it was about creating a space, guiding a journey, and connecting people.”
Her first step into DJing happened almost accidentally, triggered by a moment of frustration rather than ambition. “I remember complaining about the DJ because he was playing the same tracks in the same order every night,” she says. “And my father just looked at me and said, ‘Then go try it yourself.’” It was a simple challenge, but it changed everything.
“Within two weeks, I had learned how to use the equipment and prepared my own selection,” she explains. “And when I played for the first time, it felt completely natural, like I had been doing it for years.”
There is something telling in the way she describes that first experience: “There was no shyness, no hesitation. Just presence,” she says. “That was the moment I knew. I had found something that wasn’t just passion, it was direction.”
That distinction between passion versus direction is important. Passion can be temporary, emotional, intense but unstable. Direction is quieter, more certain, something that shapes decisions over time.
“I knew I was going to devote my life to it,” she says. “And what’s interesting is that over time everything around it has evolved, but the core connection has only deepened.”
The Inner Shift
For many years, her life followed the familiar trajectory of a successful electronic music career: production, touring, clubs, festivals, constant movement. But underneath that external growth a curiosity about the mind, energy, and spirituality was slowly growing. “I think I’ve always had a natural sensitivity to energy and a curiosity about the spiritual world,” she explains. “It was something I felt, but I didn’t actively explore it in the beginning. My focus was entirely on my career.”
Her first real introduction came in 2008 through Transcendental Meditation, though she describes this period as more exploratory than committed. When in 2017 she focussed on peak brain states and emotional processing during a neurofeedback training her interest took a turn: “Something really opened in me during that time. It felt like a door I couldn’t close anymore.” From that moment, spirituality stopped being an interest and became a discipline. Meditation became daily practice, sometimes for hours at a time. She attended retreats involving long periods of silence and introspection. Gradually, this inner work began to influence everything else in her life.
“When you connect with yourself at that depth, it naturally transforms everything,” she says. “It changed how I see life, how I relate to people, and very deeply, how I relate to music.” The shift she describes is subtle but profound. “Music stopped being just something I create,” she says. “It became something I channel.”
Sound as connection
This transformation fundamentally changed her creative process. Where she first primarily focussed on structure, arrangement, and dancefloor functionality, now she begins with intention. “For a long time, my focus was on creating energy for the dancefloor. And that will always be part of who I am. But now there’s a deeper awareness behind it.” This approach led her toward ambient music, sound journeys, guided meditations, and frequency-based work designed to influence emotional and physical states. “I’ve been exploring sound as a form of medicine,” she says. “Using frequencies, creating guided meditations and sound journeys to help regulate the nervous system and support emotional release.” This shift in intention does not mean she left techno behind, rather, she sees all of her work as part of the same continuum.
“I think genre is becoming less and less relevant.” she explains. “It can still be useful as a way to organize things, but it can also become a limitation.For me, there’s no separation. What changes is the environment, not the essence. Whether it’s a club, a festival, or a more introspective setting, the intention is always the same: to create a space where people can access a deeper part of themselves.”
After playing some of the biggest stages in the world, her definition of success has changed significantly. Early success often revolves around visibility, recognition, and growth, but over time those markers become less meaningful. “In the beginning, there’s naturally a strong focus on recognition and growth,” she says. “But over the years, it shifted into something deeper. Now it’s much more about alignment.” Alignment, in her case, means honesty in artistic expression, even when it does not follow expectations or trends. “Success, for me, is creating something that feels true,” she explains. “If I release something that gets a lot of attention but isn’t authentic to who I am, it doesn’t fulfill me.” This philosophy reflects a broader understanding of longevity in electronic music: not just staying relevant, but staying honest.
“What truly brings me joy is knowing I’m creating from a place of freedom,” she says. “Even if it’s not hyped, even if it doesn’t reach as many people… if it comes from my heart, from a pure place, that’s what really matters to me.”
Intentions
One of the most defining moments in this new chapter of her career came with the release of her ambient album Intentions, a project that marked a clear shift away from the dancefloor and toward inner space. The album, she explains, was less a calculated career move and more an act of trust. “Making Intentions taught me how powerful it is to truly trust myself,” she says. “That album felt like a miracle. The music, the words, the concept: it all came as a complete body of work, almost like it was already there, just waiting for me to channel it.” At the time, stepping into ambient music felt uncertain and perhaps even risky, especially when her career in techno was already well established. “The logical path would have been to stay focused on what I was already doing and succeeding with,” she explains. “But instead, I chose to follow that inner voice.”
What followed seemed to confirm that decision in unexpected ways. The album was signed by one of the most respected labels in ambient music and led to collaborations with artists she deeply admired. “It showed me that when I trust my inner guidance, even when the path isn’t fully visible, things align in ways that feel almost magical,” she says. In many ways, Intentions did not just represent a new musical direction, but a deeper level of artistic honesty.
Building bridges
After more than twenty years in electronic music, she now sees her role differently than before.
“Today, I feel my role is to create bridges,” she says. “Between sound and intention. Between movement and stillness. Between what we experience on the outside and what we feel on the inside.”
It is a poetic way to describe a career that has gradually moved from nightlife toward something more reflective, more intentional, and perhaps more lasting. Electronic music, after all, has always been about more than sound where it has always been about experience, community, and emotion. Artists like ANNA simply push that idea further, asking what music can do beyond entertainment.
If there is one idea that defines this phase of her life and work, it is the concept of intention.
“Be intentional,” she says. “Because everything carries something. Every thought, every action, every sound.” This approach leads to magical encounters. “Someone told me recently, “When I listen to you play, I feel more connected to MYSELF.” And that really touched me, I cried… because it’s exactly what I’m about these days.”
Perhaps that is the most accurate way to understand her journey as a long exploration of sound as intention, music as connection, and the dancefloor as a space where something deeper, if only for a moment, can be felt.
📷 : Cover Photo Credits / Courtesy of ANNA
📷 : Additional Photo Credits / Courtesy of ANNA
📷 : Additional Photo Credits / Ivan Erick Menezes