Kate Wax is the alter ego of Aisha Devi Enz, the Swiss-born, half-Tibetan, totally-driven, selfproducing avant-garde singer-songwriter that first came to prominence with her debut album ‘Reflections of the Dark Heat’ released by Switzerland’s ambassadors of cool Mental Groove back in 2006. After a natural break for baby-making and subsequent months spent holed up with her beloved machines in her cosy studio cave, this uniquely gifted all-rounder artist is now ready to dust off her Kate Wax persona, teaming up with Border Community to unveil a bold new collection of dark, unconventional vocally-exhilarating electronic post-pop going by the name of ‘Dust Collision’.
Aisha Devi Enz was born on the shores of Lake Geneva to a mother with Old European roots stretching back deep into the Austro-Hungarian empire and a father (whom she has never met) from the defiantly independent Tibet, and raised by her globe-trotting Swiss grandmother, following her to exotic corners of the world from an early age. This eclectic background, coupled with a childhood characterised by constant upheaval, initially left the teenage Aisha feeling something of an outsider back in her native Switzerland, driving her first towards a spell at art college in Lausanne leading on to a successful career in graphic design as an early bid for self-definition. But soon her creative tendencies were diverted towards a more musical destination by signposts left by the likes of Aphex Twin and Autechre: here she was to discover a magical secret world of machines and computers, opening up a new forum for selfexpression, a playground where her earlier soprano vocal training could be bent to her own innovative electronic ends.

“After feeling trapped in one three-dimensional music field… I decided to kill Kate Wax,” says Aisha Devi about her previous stage persona, as we settle down just days before her big gig with VENT. “I actually remembered where and when I did it; I was meditating in the Tunisian desert and I killed her and it was bloody.” Running one of Switzerland’s most unorthodox Electronic music labels, Danse Noire, the multi-talented DJ, producer and songstress brings together a worldly vision like no other for a unique musical presence. “When you’re making music, you’re looking for answers in the world; you’re trying to find out who you are, looking to find your own place in the world, and when you’re an artist, sometimes that [music] is your only way to communicate with the world. I also started meditation around the same time I started to look for my father, who is Nepali, Indian and Tibetan. I never met him but during my search for him it corresponded with a time when I was frustrated with music and one thing led to another and here I am.”