Sets / Mixes

Brooklyn’s @aye5ha blazes through a selection syncopated club sounds, thunderous techno and twisted breaks in her high-velocity Fresh Kicks mix, and chats to Eoin Murray about forging connections through music, her new EP on Scuffed Recordings and more

Interview & tracklist: https://djmag.com/features/fresh-kicks-163-ayesha

Fresh Kicks 163: Ayesha

From deep-down mutated dancehall riddims to filthy club steppers, this week’s Rhythmic Culture podcast out of the hands of Ayesha has it all. Having only released her solo debut on Kindergarten Records a year prior, the release of the NYC-based artist’s latest EP on UK label Scuffed Recordings has marked the crescendo of a year-long wave of momentum for the artist with no end in sight. Ayesha’s musical approach brings together a love for manipulating found-sounds and a knack for trippy sound design, channeling percussive techno rhythms and UK soundsystem pressure in equal measure. One thing's for sure, this one’s going to be on repeat for a while.

@aye5ha

Tracklist

RC:082 Ayesha

The first submission for Off-Kilter comes from Brooklyn based producer and DJ Ayesha. Plunging into the series with full force, this mix - Tactilia - represents our wonky, heady club vision and it's undeniably explosive.

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Ayesha's tactile club productions trace an arc across techno, bass, and diasporic influences with devastating results. Having only released her solo debut on NYC staple Kindergarten Records a year prior, the release of Ayesha’s latest EP ‘Potential Energy’ on UK label Scuffed Recordings has marked the crescendo of a year-long wave of momentum for the artist. Her latest work received critical praise from Mixmag (Best Tracks of the Year 2021), RA (Best New Music), DJ Mag (Fresh Kicks), and the hotly-tipped Lobster Theremin (LT Podcast 176) who join a growing list of international supporters. Most recently in March 2022, Ayesha joined the highly regarded roster of residents at Nowadays: one of New York's most forward-thinking nightlife institutions.

Follow: @aye5ha
Instagram: @ayescold

OK001 - Ayesha

Ayesha & Simo Cell - CDMX TAPES X NTS Radio (27.03.22)

Ayesha - CDMX TAPES X NTS Radio (27.03.22)

First show of Kindergarten Residency on The Lot Radio <3 A special first hour set from Despina celebrating their new "Gravity Games" EP release as well as their birthday + a second hour of Kinder fam b2b2b action.

 https://www.instagram.com/kindergarten_ny/ https://www.instagram.com/despina_mp3/  https://www.instagram.com/ayescold/  https://www.instagram.com/drvmmy/

electronic, club, bass, experimental

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Kindergarten with Ayesha b2b Despina b2b Drummy @ The Lot Radio 07 - 02 - 2022

Finally got the audio for my closing set at Nowadays on 8/6/22! 

3-6:30 AM. Hope you enjoy/relive some of the moments + track IDs upon request (I might be a little slow but I'll get back 2 u) ...

Big shoutout to Facta and K-Lone for joining me + setting the vibes so right.

For those of you who weren't there plz come to the next one! The last night of my 2022 residency is October 15 with a very special Berlin guest  :) + 2023 dates TBA.

Ayesha Nowadays Residency (Aug 6, 2022 )

Been a few minutes since I shared audio from a Nowadays residency, so here you go :) 

Another closer from 3-6, this one was especially fun post-EU tour, had a lot of stuff I'd been dying to rinse. Big ups to Coco Bryce + Bluetoof for joining me on this one. Forgive me on the mic, thanks to my formative wedding sets over the years I am usually an OK mic person (when I'm not celebrating my bday) :P :D :X

Ayesha Nowadays Residency (March 18, 2023)

Kindergarten with Ayesha, Ma Sha and DJ Voices @ The Lot Radio 04-15-2023

We're ecstatic to welcome Nowadays resident and one of NY’s brightest stars AYESHA (@aye5ha) to FAST_CAST. Ayesha’s dynamic releases can be found across dance music’s most exciting labels including Fever AM, Kindergarten and Scuffed. This mix is from the second hour of Ayesha's mind-bending set at Fast At Work on March 31 2023. Strap in!

FAST_CAST 007: Ayesha

another not-so-serious dance till dawn :)

Ayesha Nowadays Residency (May 20, 2023)

Rinse FM Podcast

Fever AM with Ayesha & Sobolik - 27 May 2023

Milestone! The 50th guest mix in the series from https://soundcloud.com/aye5ha another NYC favourite.
 
Ayesha has been immersed in the DC scene for many years and is a passionate selector who's wide lens approach for all things percussive and rhythmic shines in her selection, channeling soundsystem pressure through post dubstep and UK infused productions. Heady body music tailored to the dance and pulled through all number of styles. On an always interesting trajectory they continue to excel well beyond the borders of the U.S while maintaining a residency at the globally infamous and locally integral https://soundcloud.com/nowadaysnyc club. This mix delves deep through the bass spectrum touching Techno, Breaks, Garage and anything that sits between. A pleasure to host! Enjoy the ride - BPR  xxx

Banoffee Pies Records Mix Series

Banana'Cast 50

BPR Planet

Banana'Cast 50 ➤ Ayesha

Jubilee is in for her monthly spot with special guest Ayesha.

http://www.instagram.com/ayescold 
http://www.instagram.com/jubileedj

Jubilee and Ayesha @ The Lot Radio 07-19-2023

Interview:  https://truantsblog.com/2023/truancy-volume-313-ayesha/

Soundcloud: @aye5ha

Access the download and full tracklist (Confirmed, added) on our Patreon. Your support helps cover all our costs and allows Truants to continue running as a non-profit and ad-free platform. patreon.com/truants

http://truantsblog.com

Ayesha

Truancy Volume 313: Ayesha

Tracklist + Q&A: https://bit.ly/46HW3Gx

@aye5ha goes In Session

"This is a primal after-hours mix. It’s very percussive, drum-heavy, at-moments psychedelic and has some old Goa trance gems in there. I have been loving all the curiosity around trance music [lately], in particular the more psytrance and Goa trance stuff. My parents live in Goa and I’ve been going since I was eight years old. Every year, there’s a big multi-day psytrance festival there called Hill Top festival. Now I’m seeing the crossover of this iconic trance music and that makes me very interested in expressing that side of myself more in my music."

Tracklist + Q&A

In Session: Ayesha

Scuffed Recordings with Ian DPM, Wager & Ayesha - 24 October 2023

NYC dj and producer, Ayesha is in the mix to celebrate her debut album Rhythm Is Memory on Kindergarten (exploring how bodies store and channel creative knowledge)

[https://twitter.com/ayescold](https://twitter.com/ayescold) [https://twitter.com/kindergarten_ny ](https://twitter.com/kindergarten_ny) 
https://www.nts.live/shows/martha/episodes/martha-10th-november-2023

Martha w/ Ayesha 101123

Closing set from my residency with DJ Lag last Sept

Nowadays Res Sept 16 2023

For her 2024 set at MUTEK Montréal, Brooklyn-based DJ Ayesha performed a one-hour mix of original music made during a period of healing and exploration whilst recovering from a brain injury.

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Live from MUTEK Montréal: Ayesha

Tripped-out excursions through percussive club music with the Nowadays resident.

Ayesha Chugh, AKA Ayesha, makes club music that activates the body. The Brooklyn-based artist has spent the last few years carving out a distinct lane in modern club music. Her fusion of dubstep, techno and essential '90s rave elements into dynamite club tools that test and support dancers in equal measure. This time though, for her RA Podcast, Chugh purposefully tilts in a "more colorful wonky direction."

Since first turning heads with releases on labels like Fever AM and Kindergarten Records, she’s continued to refine a sound that feels both playful and punishing, marked by writhing basslines, rumbling drums and an innate ability to make bodies move. Her productions capture a kind of kinetic precision—tracks that are slippery yet forceful, balancing psychedelic textures with dubstep-like physicality and club-focused power. As Andrew Ryce wrote of her debut, Rhythm is Memory, her skill is "full of textures that wrap around the otherwise thudding, sub-heavy kick drums." After a serious accident in 2024 stopped her in her tracks, this year marks a full return to global touring with a new vantage point on life and the sound she seeks to push.

RA.983, clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, finds Chugh flexing that club muscle once again. Offering a tour through global club music both old and new, it's based around a set at her home base Nowadays this February. It's a patient but relentless ride: from deep, tunneling psytrance, progressive techno and slippery electro before really turning on the gas at the half mark, moving into slanted UK techno territory.

As she explains in the Q&A, it's a carefully curated selection of tracks that probes "what we perceive as tasteful." It's a mix that speaks to her deep knowledge of dance music’s lineage—and her intuitive ability to push it forward.

@aye5ha
Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/983

RA.983 Ayesha

Ayesha’s performances reflect a playful curiosity and a decade of experience honed in DC and NYC’s vibrant club and warehouse party scene. As a beloved resident at Nowadays, she weaves through percussion-based techno, breaks, garage, and everything in between, delivering heady, maximal body music tailored for the dancefloor. As a DJ, her style is eclectic and dynamic, drawing from North America’s techno underground, leftfield UK sounds, and her Indian heritage.

Ayesha is gaining recognition as a producer of forward-thinking club music. Her music, hypnotic, pulsating and powerful, is as fitting at a deep forest festival as it is in a sweaty basement or dark nightclub. It's crafted with meticulous sound design, spongy textures and alien melodies. She writes tracks with deliberate consideration for how bodies move – and how music moves bodies – making her work unusually tactile and physical.

Her 2021 EP, ‘Potential Energy,’ released on UK label Scuffed Recordings, marked the beginning of her rise. Subsequent releases on Fever AM, Control Freak, and contributions to NYC label Eto Ano’s ‘No Cash In Booth’ compilation further solidified her status. Her debut album, ‘Rhythm is Memory,’ released on Kindergarten Records in 2022, was lauded as “a revelation” by DJ Mag and “a fierce mission statement” by Resident Advisor. Mixmag placed her at number two on its list of the 25 Producers Who Defined 2023. 2024 saw Ayesha debut her live set at MUTEK Festival in Montréal to wide applause with her live show set to evolve into the coming year with firsts at Dekmantel as well as more TBA.

s@icartists.net (americas)
ian@theblackacre.co.uk (mgmt)