Alright everyone. I have just about the strongest girl crush I have ever had. But I am thinking after you introduce yourself to the absolute divine that is LP Giobbi, you will completely understand.

EDM music; an interesting genre that has so many facets and variations one could spend hours talking about the said variations, what makes them different, the artists and songs that defined a new era, etc. One could also spend hours just talking about how much fun they have listening, how it makes them feel, and why they find themselves lost in the music at the club or a festival. I don’t want to make this all about EDM, so before I get too carried away, let’s talk about the queen that has reinvigorated my love of this genre in a very specific way.

I first heard of LP Giobbi when I was in Las Vegas for a fun filled weekend of Phish at The Sphere. There were after parties at the Brooklyn Bowl every night and my little club girl was super excited to see an electronic act for a couple of the nights. I love Phish and a few other jam bands, but being in Vegas and not seeing any sort of EDM just felt wrong to me. She was explained to me as a favorite amongst Dead Heads as she was notorious for remixing classic Grateful Dead songs in a really fun way. While I don’t know a ton about the catalogue of the Grateful Dead, when she started her set with the biggest smile on her face, a driving beat, and a piano under her fingers, I was hooked. Then she did this amazing REM cover and I felt like I floated off the dance floor. I am going to be honest, I don’t even remember the song and I have never been able to find it again, and I think it is supposed to be that way. It was a moment that lives there and there only.

Needless to say when I got home I dove hard into her discography and who she was. Leah Chisholm, a classical trained jazz pianist since she was very young who happened to catch the ear of Daft Punk which opened her up to exploring production and electronic music. She then started collaborating with one of my other absolute girl crushes, Sophie Hawley-Weld of the electronic duo Sofi Tukker. After touring with them, she helped co-found a non-profit organization called “Femme House” which serves to help boost women, LGTBQ+, and BIPOC creators in the music industry. As someone who follows the EDM scene, it can be a bit of a hetero-sausage fest out there, so seeing these women absolutely exemplify their craft and then strive to push other voices to showcase their own craft is enough to put the most hope-filled smile on my face.

Now let’s talk about her music! I started by listening to her album Garcia (Remixed) which includes eight really stellar remixes of some Grateful Dead classics. To also learn that Jerry Garcia’s estate asked her personally to take on this endeavor is so cool. I got many of them stuck in my head and would catch myself singing them out loud, and then felt like the biggest poser because I am not a Dead Head by any means, but these tracks are so fun! Isn’t that the spirit of the Dead after all? Feel the beat in your heart, sing as loud as you can, and dance like no one is watching. She nailed that spirit on this album.

I then played her album Light Places on repeat for weeks. Seriously if this was a vinyl, it would have been worn to the bone. I could not get enough of melodies that hugged my soul so gently, made me punch the air with a look on my face resembling that of a brunette 5’1″ female version of Billy Idol, made me close my eyes and run my fingers through my hair like I was in an Herbal Essences commercial, and then made me feel like I needed a cigarette after. Like no joke there have been numerous times when I have been jamming to this album in the car with the windows down, and catch myself singing along to her song Georgia (my favorite of the album) and then feeling super embarrassed yet also like a boss. Listen to it and you will know why.

She just recently released a new album titled Dotr, and oh (wo)man, she basically told all of us that loved Light Places that we hadn’t seen anything yet. Every single track feels so unique and utterly perfect. I could play Until There’s Nothing Left > Interlude: Suse Millemann > Bittersweet on repeat until the day I die. And don’t think I have not already started doing that. One of the great things about her albums is the interludes throughout and the thoughtful “drops” into the song that really set a tone for what’s to come. It showcases her unreal understanding of music as a journey. A story. A complex mixture of notes that’s hits the most basic parts of our being.

Around the time of the release of a few of the singles from Dotr, I found out she would be performing in Phoenix and I wasted no time scooping up tickets. It was at a venue I had never been before, Walter Where?House (really fun venue that I will definitely go back to), and needless to say I was pumped. Le Chev and Mascolo, two artists that have worked with her on a number of her tracks, opened for her and also joined her at the end of her show for an all out dance party. It was awesome to be just feet away from her while she did her thing. For those who think it’s just a matter of pushing play, I would have loved for them to be where I was watching her work. She would put her headphones on to queue up the next track and her face would be all business. Then she would rip the headphones off and drop us into the next leg of the journey, all smiles and danced right along with us. She also had her electronic piano on stage which added some amazing depth to many of the tracks. It was so awesome to see a woman up there completely owning her craft and owning the room. She is still on tour, so if you have a chance to see her, DO IT!!

• The MIIM: Monthly Immersion Into Music