There is something to be said about people who are destined to be creative. They are living on life’s edge because of being driven by emotion, passion, dedication, and the pure curiosity of what life has to offer. It might not have been the exact path that they had planned for themselves. However, it is the mindset to keep going, move forward, and never giving up that is so inspiring.
Helena, real name Helena Atherton, is a person who has lived an extraordinary life…one that the average person wouldn’t quite understand. Born and raised in Bristol, England everything creative interested her: arts, music, and sports, which were what helped her make it through school. Helena had music in her veins. She learned music theory through school while playing the piano and cello. Driven by the techno and drum n’ bass scene in Bristol—along with her brother being a DJ—becoming a club kid was a natural upbringing for her.
At 14-years-old, one of her friends, Eats Everything, finally introduced her to life behind the decks instead of being in front of them. Helena became obsessed and practiced in her bedroom every day. 
“It was a passion… I didn’t think I wanted to become a DJ (professionally),” exclaims Helena. Around five years ago, she started to test her limits and tried out producing. She says, “DJing came naturally but producing happened more slowly…a lot of producers aren’t great DJ’s and many artists that have come from DJing first aren’t able to produce right away. It’s like learning a new language.” This is a rather true statement for anyone trying to make it in the music industry.
In the midst of all of Helena’s passions, she had endured yet another adventure – following her heart to Sydney, Australia. As everyone knows, following your heart is often a big risk and can pose as a challenge.
Sydney wasn’t so easy at first knowing only a few people and being broken up from a long-term relationship after moving there with her now ex-boyfriend. She had few friends, worked a ton of different jobs to survive, and wasn’t able to work on music as a reliable income. “I had no money and had to work many terrible promotional jobs that I hated in order to survive, as it was too hard to commit to a 9-5 job because there wouldn’t be enough time to work on music,” she says. But after sticking to her plan to focus on music, she eventually overcame the odds and broke through in the Australian dance scene. Within awhile, she was touring every major club and festival in the country.
Helena achieved huge success in Australia, which led to an interest from across the seas. She signed with U.S.-based booking agency, Spin Artist Agency and has now found her new place of residence in Los Angeles. Her resilience paying off, she tours all over the world from the U.S. to Asia, Europe, and beyond and has found herself playing some of the most prestigious festivals in the world like Tomorrowland and Stereosonic.
Although triumphant in all her expeditions of life, Helena has discovered that finding “her sound” is one of the most difficult things in music. Having love for most dance genres like progressive, trap, electro, house, and groove, finding a niche in this oversaturated, effortlessly growing industry is a bit of a struggle.
“EDM apparently isn’t ‘cool’ anymore, yeah, that has been a big struggle… A lot of record labels don’t want to sign ‘EDM’ yet everyone is playing it. The scene has been going through a confusing time. I have been in the studio a lot working on tracks and trying to figure out how I can really make an impact on the scene.” Helena says brilliantly.
As a female artist in a male-dominated industry, Helena definitely has the odds against her, but she is powering through. It is a tough industry, but she can give a lot of thanks to her fans. Her fans started calling themselves “Helena’s Legends”. She says, “Without your fan base you are nothing and it is really important to have a good relationship with your fans… it is a two way street.”
Without a doubt, Helena has a life of adventure. It isn’t for everyone. However, her life of living in three continents, a drive to continue pursuing her greatest passion, and an undying love for being creative, makes her a well-seasoned class act. At this point, Helena is unstoppable.
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