Formerly known as MK Ultra, Leah Culver established herself in the Atlanta EDM scene before venturing out to Los Angeles to take her career to the next level. Known for dynamic performances that range from catchy pop hooks to aggressive breakbeats and low end, she now splits her time between the two cities. Following a massive performance at Imagine Festival last month, Culver returns to Atlanta for Iris Presents‘ Halloween party with Laidback Luke at Believe Music Hall. Wrestling with Pop Culture had a chance to talk to her about this show and other upcoming developments following her Imagine Festival set.

We last encountered each other at the 3Teeth show at The Masquerade last August. I take it you’re a fan.

I am absolutely a fan. Chase [Brawner, guitarist] worked at the production school I went to in L.A., so I met them out there. They’re just so insane to watch. I wouldn’t miss their show ever. It’s so raw and it makes you feel how you really feel.

You’ve played every Imagine Festival so far and you always bring a big production. In addition to having a full band and other performers on stage with you this year, you also had fellow Atlanta DJ SyLo helping you out. How did all that come together?

SyLo is so special and important in general to me because he started DJing a little bit before me, but I started in 2011 and he was a homie from the very beginning. I remember the day I met him, he just shook my hand and welcomed me in like one of the boys. Back then there weren’t a lot of girls, so it was nice to have a good friend like that. Over the years, we’ve played a million shows together. Then we did our Sex Sells duo for a while where we were performing together.

When I started singing on songs and decided I should be singing on my sets, at first I was running back and forth DJing and singing. It looked ridiculous because it was ridiculous. Then I was like, “I’m going to be smarter about this and section the songs. Who should I have do this with me? Of course, I want SyLo. He’s been so amazing!” Without him, that production this year wouldn’t have gone off the way it did.

Jon Wilkes was my first roommate in L.A. and he used to be the drummer for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. His energy level never changes. He is continuously nailing it and drumming with a lot of energy. We had violins, guitars, drums, an electronic percussionist, a choir that I pulled out of my butt the other day. We called that set Leah Culver & Friends and it really was. It’s a 69-person production and it just keeps getting bigger. It takes so many people to get this done. We rehearsed choreography for weeks and [our choreographer] was Eric from Jamaica Craft’s crew.

This year was just so next level from last year because of the amount of hands on and the amount of care we put into this one. Just doing choreography was kind of scary because I’d never done that, but it worked out. I knew it was going to go one of two ways: I either totally black out [from the adrenaline] and maybe it works or I totally black out and it definitely works.

For people who have only seen you at Imagine Festival and may not have been to one of your other shows, you don’t typically have such a large production in club settings, right?

It won’t be just at Imagine Festival for much longer. But, yeah. For club settings I can’t do as much a lot of times. A lot of things are changing right now in a really good way. There will be more bigger stages to fill with very talented musicians that I’m lucky to get to play with. I’m working with Mama Jan, who is home-based Atlanta – she’s a powerhouse, she’s incredible, she’s very inspiring. She’s a vocal coach, a vocal engineer and now she has formed a label with Brian Miller, who is my manager. They’re so much more connected than I’ve ever been and hopefully what it takes is being connected with the right people and having something to offer. I think we showed the right people last night [at Imagine Festival] what we can do. With that comes the good things that are going to happen with those people in the crowd that we impressed, hopefully.

What can you tell me about any new music you have coming out or other happenings in your world?

I made a song “It Ain’t Easy” that’s kind of like we flipped the Eagles’ song and made it a little harder. We’re going to release that soon. We’re going to be releasing a lot of new music. I say “we” all the time because I really do feel like it’s such a big team effort. I don’t feel alone in it.

Will that all be released digitally or will you be putting out vinyl or physical releases?

We did go to Kindercore Vinyl in Athens, Ga. and met them. We do plan on doing vinyl and CDs, if people want that. I’ve definitely always wanted to do real distribution through bigger outlets. Again, it’s not something that I did. That’s going to be with the help of these wonderful people that I’m grateful to have aligned with me.

What can you tell me about your Halloween performance Believe Music Hall?

That one’s going to be really important to me. Not to go too dark, but I lost somebody and he died right before his birthday, which is also Halloween. So, that time period is going to be kind of tough. But I’m going to be able to rely on the crowd to let me sing to them, so that’s nice.

When and why did you decide to start singing?

As long as I can remember, I’ve been singing. There’s a girl named Jenny Helms who was my first friend in kindergarten. She’s an amazing singer, one of those little kids that are made to be a Disney Channel-type kid. I think because she was my best friend and she was always singing, my memories of that time period are we’d be playing, but we were always singing. One of us could be talking, and the other one would just be singing. But it was fine because it was respectful. I think that influence at such a young age really did this ultimately. I grew up in a very musical family. Everyone plays drums, DJs, produces. My mom played bagpipes and a big bass drum. She’s like five feet tall, so that was funny.

Are you back in Atlanta now or still based in L.A.?

I pay rent in L.A., but I stay [in Atlanta] with family. I might come back soon because there might be work to be done. My team, at one point, was like, “Let’s move you back for six months. We have work we need to do here.” Now, every two months or so I’m like, “Am I moving back to Atlanta?” Right now they’re saying they’re going to put me on the road.