Princess Diana Of Wales is an alias adopted by London based, Melbourne raised DJ, producer, musician and vocalist Laila Sakini, whose richly textured, haunting music has taken flight over a series of 2020–21 releases including Strada, Vivienne, Into The Traffic, Under The Moonlight and her 2017 collaboration with poet Lucy Van, Figures. Sakini’s latest project (reviewed by Claire Biddles in The Wire 454) was commissioned by the Melbourne label A Colourful Storm, also home to work by Christoph de Babalon, Alastair Galbraith and Maxine Funke. Here, she discusses some of the ideas that inform the new release along with an exclusive mix.

Joseph Stannard: By now Wire readers will be aware that Princess Diana Of Wales is an alias of yours. How did you develop the concept?

Laila Sakini: The concept developed as a natural consequence of my interest in the monarchy, English/Anglo history, imperialism, aristocracy, systems of power, colonialism and all that – given I was raised in a colony (Australia) I think I had fascination with these external, glorified figures that were essentially our heads of state, but not in the way that perhaps English people have adulation for the monarchy.

As a part of that I consume a lot of pop culture around the Royal Family (not just the current one, the older ones too) and I suppose the name is a bit of a riff on that which just fell out of my mouth during a conversation between me and Matthew Xue (aka Moopie, founder of A Colourful Storm). I interjected with something along the the lines of “Oh, like Princess Diana of Wales!” which is typical of our clumsy understanding of the Royal Family in Australia (I later learned the phrasing is incorrect – “Diana” should come before “Princess”) and typical of me to confidently express it wrong. For a bit more context: I have this ongoing dialogue with Matthew where we discuss what we are reading and thinking about, so the concept is timely of me having an interest in this area of “the royals”, and the term “Princess Diana of Wales” became a distinct direction for me to fill up or channel particular sounds and feelings into. A blueprint to colour in. The first track was on the I Stumble And Then I Fall tape released on A Colourful Storm earlier this year.

Do you wish your identity had been kept secret?

For pure transparency, this interview is being conducted whilst it is still secret, we haven’t revealed it and apart from being a funny way to observe reactions, it’s kind of fascinating. I’ve been able to see ‘honest’ reactions and up until now it’s meant less paperwork for me! Also I’m talking from the past about the future, so I currently like this – who knows what it’ll feel like afterward – could be like… nothing. Not to say I’m not proud of the work or what it represents… but the alias provides for a space where the imagination can run a little wilder, but yes the buck did have to stop… so here we are.

The new album is released by Melbourne label A Colourful Storm. What are your impressions of that label and its aesthetic?

I’ve seen the label grow from the ground up – Matthew has been one of my closest friends for the last decade. I’ve been very impressed by the way it’s unfolded, it's completely representative of his taste, his ability to balance things. He has a very in-depth, specific knowledge of music of all sorts and it also feels like he’s representing something we all engage in, a small part of the Melbourne scene that has now spilled out into the world as some of us start to move away. Aesthetically: he is able to execute things with a sense of seriousness but also with an undercurrent of humour, which is something that I think he can get away with, partly because of his finely tuned curation, direction and strategic release schedule. I think the label has a necessary and honest voice with a clear conviction, and in this time and place, I think that’s persuasive.

Did the process of making this music differ significantly from previous releases?

Yeah, because I was commissioned to do it by the label. So I knew where it would end up whereas I usually follow my nose until things start to click. It’s not that I did things drastically different (each thing is different to an extent) this time, it’s just that – whether I like to admit it or not – I did have to consider there was another entity in the picture. At first I felt like this added pressure but later I drew influence from that entity – the catalogue, so it was like how to meld my process and intentions with this new factor (Moopie) to consider – to shape and be shaped. In terms of keeping it ‘me’ the alias helped – to clearly identify it was an excursion for me, that it was (is) different but still something invented by me.

Is this a one-off or will Princess Diana rise again?

Anything is possible.

There’s a blend of organic and inorganic textures in your music which lends it depth and richness. How did this palette evolve?

The palette evolved slowly and engaged a larger range of sounds and techniques, I went backwards and forwards a bit to achieve these sort of specific things I wanted to do to connect things, so it required more detailed, layered work. I’m glad you say it sounds rich rather than thick, that is a complimentary distinction. Might be good to note that this all came about in the slow end/suspended animation period of the lockdown, so some of these sounds and resultant songs you can feel this sluggish energy in there that is not in any hurry to do what it needs to do, so it’s apt in that I did take a lot of time to find, develop and render the palette which inevitability is part of the process = ergo it engenders the outcome.

There’s lately been a popular tendency in ambient (and ambient adjacent) music towards the emotional, the confessional. Your music seems more opaque and suggestive. Is it important to remain somewhat impressionistic?

The whole concept and this project is veiled, so i suppose yes you are warranted at face value to say it's opaque. However I don’t feel staunch about being super secretive or it’s opposite, super confessional or very obviously emotional. There’s another side to this that feels like it should be outlined: sure there’s that dyad that is topical, however my approach is more motivated by other things… receptions, that is, I’ve noticed people picking up on parts in the songs without me making them explicit. There are secrets in all the songs, later on people will be able to come up to me and identify them so it’s a fun little exercise to see what gets noticed like a magic eye picture, what people see in there, you don’t realise that you are communicating a lot more than you recognise so I don’t feel the need to overshare. The things you lace in, the things you omit, sounds you use etc you don’t tell anyone and see what happens. People pick up on these subtleties. That process of exchange and discovery I find I’m more situated in that kind of zone, rather than trying to be intentionally opaque or confessional.

You’ve been playing selected shows in the UK and Europe lately. What’s the function of live performance for you?

I've had romantic ideas about live shows that have changed now that I’m in the middle of it. The function, as I've interpreted it from a macro view, is to intersect and cut through all the layers that exist between an audience and you. It’s an intimate thing, so the function is just you undertaking your core role, playing your music – on display, under the magnifying glass. Personally I find its an honest delivery system, there’s no walls between you and the crowd, it's an embodied release, it's the time that everything gets real for a moment. I obviously can’t say what the function is in its entirety – as I’m only one part of the process – there’s the people and I don’t always know what the crowd are going to take away from the shows…

How would you describe the theme and narrative of the mix? What relationship does it have to your recent output?

I didn’t go in with a narrative mindset per se but it begins with a current remix I did for a friend, which is followed by Malvern Brume who I also work closely with. Then I guess it’s a situation of join the dots of the sounds I’m into right now: from the A Colourful Storm catalogue – Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg for one – forthcoming Reiko and Tori Kudo and Zbigniew Preisner (which I’ve been privy to for some time) and other music I was into when I made the record… newer stuff like Aus pals HTRK, Valentina Magaletti (who also bops around London and played the A Colourful Storm showcase with us at Cafe Oto), Infant Tree’s Lone Capture Library, local sound artist Luciano Maggiore, Zeena Parkins who I love… these are also in the mix to extrapolate sounds and connections. In short the mix is an attempt to run a common thread through interests from various times (during and after Princess Diana Of Wales) and to give a little context to the songs from the album and to the world I’m in at the moment.

Tracklist

J “A Healing Tear (Laila Sakini version)”
Malvern Brume “Pacing A Hollow Path”
Valentina Magaletti & Marlene Ribeiro “Part None”
Norberto Lobo “Muxama”
Ditterich von Euler-Donnersperg “Der Luftbusen Des Kleinen Fritz”
Luciano Maggiore “Untitled”
Zbigniew Preisner “Clown”
Lone Capture Library “2”
Princess Diana Of Wales “Swing”
HTRK “Siren Song”
Shit Adeles “Mysteries 07”
Princess Diana Of Wales “Evaporate”
Reiko & Tori Kudo “Kanakana”
Shit Adeles “Mysteries 04”
Zbigniew Preisner “Concerto En Mi Mineur: Instrumentation Contemporaine No 2”
Karla Borecky “Suspense”
Luciano Maggiore “Untitled”
Zbigniew Preisner “Effroyables Jardins (Générique)”
Lone Capture Library “5”
Reiko & Tori Kudo “We May Be”
Zeena Parkins & Ikue Mori “Transparent Things”
Broadcast & The Focus Group “Oh Joy”

Princess Diana Of Wales is released by A Colourful Storm on 29 November. Read a review of the album in The Wire 454 or via the digital archive.