The Human Signal #45 - Going LALA, learning to DJ and twisting one of the Personas upside-down

In this episode of The Human Signal, I talk through the evolving shape of my Electric Picnic show coming up in August. I share how I followed an instinct to learn how to DJ by doing a great lesson with Eimear Keating aka DJ BURE, what that experience was like, and how it helped something click into place creatively with The Persona Project.It made me realise that what I had been calling the “performer persona” was actually something more specific that I hadn’t fully understood yet.This episode centres on the process of building a live performance through layered creative labour—coordination, experimentation, skill acquisition, and collaboration. It also touches on embodiment through the integration of physical performance elements like dance, pole, and DJing, and the experience of stepping into new creative identities.Creative growth requires stepping beyond competence into uncertainty. But at what point does ambition stop expanding the work and start destabilising it?If you enjoyed this podcast please share it with a friend or consider leaving a comment or review, it really helps me out. You can also support me and my work by becoming a paid member, it’s €5 per month on Substack and Patreon. And lastly, you can still find me on YouTube / Instagram as [@] the_persona_project__ & [@] laurasheeran_ieSo I had an idea earlier in the year when I was booked to play Electric Picnic in August. I’m really looking forward to this gig. It’s the only live show I’m doing this year, well so far at least, and I have so many things planned. I’m in the process of really trying to get the production stuff locked in at the moment and get a realistic picture of what’s doable.I performed at this stage in Electric Picnic the year before last, in 2024. I did the whole show solo. I talked about this gig already on the podcast in episode number 30, so if you’re interested you can go back and check that out. At that time it was pretty close to when I had just been booked for the gig, and my imagination was on fire with all of the amazing things that I was hoping to squeeze into the set. And the overarching question of that episode was, am I insane for wanting to plan or trying to achieve what I was planning?Many of you who listened to it will probably argue yes, Laura, you are, sorry to tell you. But I would say fair, because I also agree with you. But it doesn’t stop me from having the ambition and the excitement, and maybe you need a bit of delusion in order to try and bite off more than you can chew. You have to bite off more than you can chew to find out that that’s more than you can chew. But if you live your life constantly trying to play it safe, you’re not going to get very far, in my opinion.So anyhow, I was full of all of my wild ideas, and I would love to say that since then I have stabilised my ideas a bit in scale and worked out a realistic middle ground, but that’s not the case. If anything, I’ve just added more.At this point I’m really happy because I have a stage manager. I’ve been having discussions with a lighting designer and a projection mapping artist, I also have an incredible group chat with 30 women who have been working with me since last year and are eager to perform, so it looks like I am going to be able to have my dancing troupe after all. I also have a whole section of the live show involving pole dance. This time I want to have three poles on stage and I already have two other amazing dancers on board to join me 👍🏻I’ve also been taking steps towards getting my live band set up, which feels good because I haven’t performed any of these songs with other players yet, so that’s a whole process in itself.As I break down the different sections of the show, I can see how the one live show will allow all the different personas to come through. I have a background in theatre, so I tend to think in terms of scenes, shifts, tension and release, and I want to bring that way of thinking into my music shows.It felt like the set needed to culminate in a rave, and I was wondering how I could achieve that. Within the persona project there are clear personas that have come through like the dancer, the fighter, the true human being, the dreamer, and others emerging like the witch and the simply daughter. But there was also this vague “performer” persona that never fully made sense to me but was there in my imagination none the less.Then I had this realisation that maybe this is actually a DJ persona, and maybe this was the solution to the rave climax. That’s all well and good, but I have no clue how to DJ…. so I would need to learn. I texted my friend Eimear and asked if she would teach me.We booked a session in Pirate Studios, and today was the day. It was so much fun. I wasn’t expecting to even be able to do a mix, but I did. She was such a good teacher, pushing and challenging me. By the end I had so much new knowledge to take home with me and bring with me to my next practice session.After the lesson I was so excited and I started thinking about DJ names. DJ Persona was cringe and too clunky, DJ Sheero (one of my nicknames) felt too old or from a different era of my life. Then I thought Laura, how about LALA… I text the idea to my sister and she sent me a screenshot which was pretty funny, showing me that that’s exaclt how she already has me saved in her phone.It feels like something has clicked into place. The vague and random ‘Performer’ persona I had been holding a place for has finally found where it belongs. I know this show probably sounds chaotic from the outside, with all the different elements and all the different personas, but when it’s fully realised with the visuals, the music, and the performance, it will make sense!That’s all for now. Thanks for being here, and remember: Put humans first. Don’t feed the machines.Lx This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurasheeran.substack.com/subscribe