Babes of Bass Interviews at Shambhala
By Abby Cooper
Shambhala with bass n Babes
The trip to Shambhala from LA is a mission for our team, but it is always worth it! This year, we arrived early on Monday night so we could set up camp early on Tuesday morning. Even though music doesn’t start until Thursday, arriving early to hang out in the river and attend workshops with friends is a huge vibe. We had two interviews lined up for the week and a number of sets to catch!
Shambhala is one of Canada’s biggest music festivals and attracts over 20,000 attendees from across Canada, the United States, and more. It is an annual electronic festival held on Salmo River Ranch in British Columbia, filled with beautiful natural scenery and magical energy. Shambhala is known for its six unique stages, stunning art installations, and being a place that returning attendees call home.
Interview with Shosh
Shosh is a staple in the UK Garage scene, being at the forefront of 24HourGarageGirls for 10 years. Recently, she decided to explore a new sound and found her passion in the world of dubstep. She brings an exciting new energy to the scene, combining UK and US culture with her unique UKG/140 flavor. She’s released on UKF, Deadbeats, and Deep, Dark & Dangerous, and performed at major festivals including Rampage, Shambhala, and Breakaway. We were so happy to connect with Shosh for the first time at Shambhala!
Abby: What is your advice to aspiring women DJs and producers? T
Shosh: Trust your gut and be authentic and consistent. It can take longer than you want and it can take longer than you expect, but it does get results.
Abby: Can you tell us your artist name and how you came up with it?
Shosh: My name is Shosh, and that’s just my name! I have weird hippie parents and they call me Shoshana. Shosh has been my name my whole life and it just works. It’s weird enough I think.
Abby: How would you describe your flavor of bass?
Shosh: I love the flavor! My bass is like an angry bee, but the bee just wants to party, but it comes across super aggie.
Abby: When did you realize you wanted to be a DJ and music producer?
Shosh: Ever since I was a little girl, I was playing with instruments. I knew I wanted to be a producer when I saw Flava D do Against the Clock. I saw her absolutely kill it and I didn’t even realize there was space for women to do that until I saw it. Ever since then, I’ve been hungry and I’ve been obsessed with Ableton.
Abby: Who are women who have inspired you on your artistic journey?
Shosh: I mean, Flava D, who I’ve mentioned already. Sippy, I love Sippy’s energy and her authenticness. A Hundred Drums, she’s championing women of color and creating new genres. We’ve covered US, UK and Australian artists right there, we’re worldwide! I love seeing the girls do what they do.
Abby: What’s the most memorable rave trinket that you’ve received?
Shosh: I love playing in the States and Canada because the PLUR gift giving is really strong. This girl made me a little Zebra. I was like, cute okay someone’s given me a stuffed toy. That’s sweet right? Then she ripped its head off and inside was a whole massive pot of weed. It was like a fluffy zebra teddy bear thing. It was amazing, I love it. I still have it at home right next to my studio computer.
Abby: What is one thing in the EDM scene you wish you could change?
Shosh: I would love to see artists that get paid a lot of money and stand up on stage in front of a lot of people, I would love to know that every single one of them is making their own art form. I think we should be clamping down on ghost production and AI production right now.
Interview with Mantra Sounds
Mantra Sounds is a Philly-based DJ, producer, and vocalist known for her dark and edgy lyricism combined with experimental bass sounds. She has paved her own way within the scene being one of the first femme artists to rap and write lyrics for their own songs. We brought Mantra Sounds out to LA to headline our Bass n Babes n Blaze show in 2025 and interviewed Mantra Sounds at Lightning in a Bottle in 2025 as well. We were excited to connect with her again and ask some brand new fun questions!
Abby: Can you tell us your artist name and how you came up with it?
Mantra Sounds: My name is Mantra Sounds, I was just thinking of words that I wanted to resonate with my project. It’s just like a constant for me.
Abby: What is the most memorable rave trinket that you have received?
Mantra Sounds: Jared, my manager, he put on my rider cute cat pics without me knowing. And now every time I play a show, I receive cute cat photos. And one night in Pittsburgh, they gave me an entire scrapbook of people that came to the door and brought pictures of their cats. I put the pictures that everyone gives me from shows in that scrapbook now and just keep building it.
Abby: If you were to start an alias project under a different genre, what genre would it be?
Mantra Sounds: Right now, I’m in a vampire rock era. Heavy bassline, guitar bass, just very minimal stuff with 70s vampire rock aesthetic.
Abby: Who are some up and coming women and LGBTQ artists that you are listening to right now? Put us on!
Mantra Sounds: So Sus, she just sent me a beat I’m hoping to work on with her, NotLö, basically anyone in the Bass n Babes collective of course.
Abby: What came first the bass or the babe?
Mantra Sounds: The Babe! Always. You can’t have the bass without the babe.
Other bass babe sets we enjoyed
While we only connected with two artists for interviews, there were a number of women’s sets we absolutely loved at Shambhala! They include:
Two Girls One Laptop
Flava D
Joanna Magik
Uncle Waffles
Clozee
Zingara
We thoroughly enjoyed exploring all that Shambhala had to offer for our second year at the festival! We can’t wait for 2027!
