Merissa Mahilaa (@merissa_mahilaa) is part of a newer wave of club artists thinking carefully about how music moves through the scene now. Born in Germany with Nepalese roots, she has been building a groove-led sound that moves between house and tech with a clear dancefloor focus, and her recent collaboration with J. Wheel, “Slushy,” gave that direction another strong release point via Motel Calypso Records.
Now that the track is out, the bigger conversation around it feels less about rollout and more about what it reveals: how artists cut through in crowded environments, how club momentum still builds offline, and how much of a career is shaped by what people hear versus what they see.
That tension sits at the center of this interview.
Mahilaa speaks directly about visibility, word of mouth, and the difference between online response and what actually happens in the room. She also gets into protecting the creative process from outside pressure, staying selective with digital presence, and trusting the dancefloor as the clearest measure of connection. Framed against the release of “Slushy,” her perspective lands with the voice of an artist who still sees the club as the place where music proves itself first.
Interview With Merissa Mahilaa
Do you think it’s harder now to cut through on music alone?
The landscape is definitely more saturated than it used to be; that’s undeniable.
There are more artists releasing music and more content competing for attention at the same time. But in the club environment, music still functions independently of visibility. When a track lands in the right moment, people respond instinctively, regardless of who made it. I’ve experienced some of the strongest reactions to completely unreleased tracks, sometimes from artists who don’t even have a public profile yet.
A moment that really stood out to me was playing at the Nowhere showcase during Amsterdam Dance Event, where I played almost entirely unreleased music from myself and other artists. The response in the room was incredible. Experiences like that remind me that in the right environment, music can absolutely cut through on its own.
How much of your booking momentum do you think comes from how people see you rather than what they hear?
Visibility can sometimes create the first point of contact.
Social media might introduce someone to your name before they’ve actually heard you play. But in my experience, most of my bookings have come from people hearing me in a club setting. In Germany, especially, many opportunities have grown through word of mouth and repeat invitations after shows. Promoters or other artists
hear a set and that connection often leads to future bookings. For me, those relationships are built around trust in the musical direction and the energy of a set. Once you’re in the room, it’s the sound and the atmosphere that people remember. That’s what really builds momentum over time.
Have you ever had to consciously protect your process from becoming too image-driven?
Yes, I think that’s something many artists are aware of today. With social media being such a strong part of the industry nowadays, it’s easy for external expectations to influence the creative process.
For me, protecting that space means keeping the studio and my DJ preparation very separate from everything around promotion or visibility. When I’m producing, digging for new music or preparing a set, the focus is purely on sound, energy and how the music feels in a room. I don’t think about trends, algorithms or how something might perform online in that moment.
Those things can easily shift the intention behind the music. For me it’s important that the creative decisions always come from instinct and musical direction first. Everything else can happen afterwards.
When does staying visible online feel valuable—and when does it feel hollow?
It feels valuable when it reflects something real that is already happening through the music.
Sharing moments from shows, studio sessions or creative processes can help people feel connected to the journey behind the sound. In that sense, visibility can strengthen the relationship with the audience. It becomes hollow when visibility becomes the objective itself rather than a reflection of the work. Music often requires time, experimentation and sometimes even silence in order to develop properly.
Not every step of that process benefits from constant exposure. Some parts of creativity need space to unfold. For me it’s about finding a balance where online presence supports the music instead of replacing it.
Do you ever feel like people are responding more to your aesthetic than your actual sound?
Online reactions can sometimes be detached from the context in which the music actually exists. Peo
ple might respond to a visual moment or a short clip without experiencing the full atmosphere of a set. In a physical space it’s very different. In a club, the response is always tied to the sound and the energy unfolding over time.
A DJ set builds gradually and the connection between the music and the crowd evolves throughout the night. That dynamic can’t really be captured through a few seconds online. For me, the most meaningful feedback always happens on the dancefloor. That’s where the music speaks for itself.
Have you seen good music get ignored because the artist wasn’t playing the game?
Yes, that definitely happens. There are incredibly talented producers whose music circulates quietly within DJ circles but doesn’t necessarily receive the same attention online. The current system often rewards constant presence and visibility more than depth or musical identity. At the same time, I’ve also seen the opposite: tracks building their reputation purely through club play.
DJs start supporting them, crowds respond to them, and the music gradually spreads from dancefloor to dancefloor. That kind of organic growth still exists within the scene. In environments that value musical continuity, quality tends to find its way eventually. It might take longer, but those connections are often more meaningful.
What helps you stay grounded when the algorithm rewards surface over substance?
For me, the energy in a room is always the most grounding reference point. When you’re standing in the booth and you feel the crowd responding to the music, everything else becomes secondary. I often test unreleased tracks in my sets, including my own productions.
When you play something that nobody has heard before and you feel the room connect with it, that’s a very special moment. It reminds me of why I started making music in the first place. I experienced that very clearly last year when I played at Tantra in Ibiza. The crowd’s response to the music was incredibly immediate. Moments like that always bring the focus back to what really matters: the shared experience on the dance floor.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
