As we morph onward through time, seeing shifts for both better and worse, it should be awe-inspiring to realize the sheer magnitude of change some of our heroes have had to endure to rise above and remain relevant. As a gifted female non-conformist musician, dealing with inherent sexism in the system (see Lush), it must have been daunting. But moving from a time of popularly perpetuated art and luxury to today of requisite fighting for an often inequitable semblance of life-sustaining income (let alone the creation of new art) has to have been overwhelming. And yet she has continually striven to overcome.

“Me being frustrated only hurts me in the end. But we still need to come up with ways to be able to make a living. It’s a challenge, and it is a true democracy. It’s exciting and scary at the same time.”

Often referred to as the female Nine Inch Nails, the one-woman industrial band (with gothic tendencies) that is Shikhee D’iordna, better known as Android Lust, was born in Bangladesh, schooled in England and the USA, eventually deciding on NYC as her current resting place. Quite a feat considering her avid love of cities, especially Berlin, Germany.

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“A lot of my musical influences had their origins in Berlin so I wanted to travel there for inspiration. It’s a city that doesn’t let you forget its history and you can feel its weight wherever you go.”

Mother-album of “Stained”, The Dividing is an edgy emotion-laden veritable Molotov cocktail of loneliness, lust, impatience, and fury. It is an album that would divide and diversify D’iordna’s fanbase with its addition of live acoustic instruments, of which she would solely perform on them all. However, the song “Stained” seems to speak of yet another dividing brought on by an anger born of a unilateral breach of trust. An unreasonable stain, callously applied, permanent, and deeply unfair.

“I used to feel that I needed to prove myself constantly. I think writing The Dividing freed me from some of it because it was a departure from my original sound, and a lot of people hated it. I learned that I didn’t have to please everyone, not that I ever could, but I felt that weight lift.”

The song’s video is a tour-de-force of brilliant planning and execution primarily by director Daniel Ouellette. In all, it took 30 people more than two full days to complete, and even though some donated their time and effort, the final outlay was still a substantial $25k. Their combined efforts resulted in an infinite house-of-mirrors illusion that is visually stunning, especially as it is in actuality a relatively small box with D’iordna inside, “Hot as fuck“, still undaunted, and steadfastly yearning for more.

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Destroy the illusion and watch the series Making of “Stained”
Many thanks to D’iordna for taking the time to speak with me for this piece