EX.795 Avalon Emerson

RA Podcast

Resident Advisor

Music

4.7 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The musical polymath talks creative left turns, the collapse of music media and her new album as Avalon & the Charm, Written into Changes. A decade after her first feature appearance in Resident Advisor, Avalon Emerson returns for a long-form chat about the arc of her career and her surprising left turn towards indie pop. After leaving a successful career in coding in the early 2010s, the American DJ and producer became, seemingly overnight, a headline act touring the world's best clubs. By 2016, she was one of the most vital voices in underground dance music: a regular at Panorama Bar, a master of art of the eight-hour set and an artist releasing tracks that defined an era of emotive techno. Recently, Emerson has surprised fans and critics by making yet another unexpected pivot as Avalon & the Charm. After debuting the dream pop band in 2023, she's back with the second album, Written into Changes, leaning even further into songwriting, live instrumentation and collaborations across the music spectrum. In this candid conversation, she unpacks the new release—the vulnerability of lyrics exploring regret, setbacks and love lost—alongside the financial realities of performing as a live act. She also reflects on the leap of faith it takes to change course in public, her move from Berlin to a more balanced life in upstate New York and the "meat grinder" of the modern music industry, including the state of music journalism today. Listen to the episode in full.

Transcript

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0:00.0	RA Exchange.
0:19.4	Welcome to Resident Advisors Exchange. I'm Chloe Lula, your host and the Exchange's senior producer.
0:26.3	If anyone knows about change, it's Avalon Emerson. The American artist has had a lot of left turns in her career, pivoting from being a successful computer programmer in the Bay Area to being
0:39.2	a headlining DJ touring at the world's best clubs. By 2016, she had become one of the most
0:45.6	vital voices in underground dance music, headlining Panorama Bar, perfecting the art of the
0:51.0	eight-hour set and releasing club tracks that arguably defined an era of emotive techno.
0:57.0	Recently, she's made yet another unexpected shift in the guise of her project, Avalon and the Charm,
1:04.0	a dreamy, pop-coated, full touring band, far beyond the remit of DJ World.
1:10.0	Emerson debuted the band in 2023,
1:12.6	and she's back with the second album written into changes,
1:16.6	which leans even further into songwriting, live instrumentation,
1:19.6	and collaborations across the music spectrum.
1:22.6	In this candid conversation, I sat down with her to discuss the new release,
1:26.6	the vulnerability of the
1:28.7	lyrics, which explore themes around regret, setbacks, and love lost, as well as the financial
1:35.1	realities of performing as a live act. We chatted more generally as well about the leap of faith
1:41.6	required to pivot careers in public, her move from Berlin to a more balanced
1:46.5	life in upstate New York, and the meat grinder of the modern music industry.
1:52.4	Written into changes just came out a couple of weeks ago, and you can grab a copy on the
1:56.4	indie label, Dead Oceans.
1:58.5	Thanks so much for tuning in.
1:59.9	Next up, Avalon Emerson Next up, Avalon Emerson.
	...

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