While many DJs turned to livestreaming as a means of pandemic survival, Liona Stone saw this as a new home for her career.
For Ukrainian DJ Liona Stone, 2015 was the pivotal year that she committed herself fully to life as an artist in the electronic music scene. Before that, she was hosting a popular music television show, one that allowed her to rub elbows with the biggest names in the business. Leaning on the relationships she’d established during the television show, she was able to quickly land some important DJ gigs and from there, her talent took over and her career blossomed.
In her first half-decade as a DJ, she had a broad range of showcases – from spinning soundscapes at the beach clubs in Bali to the energized nightclubs in Dubai. But when the pandemic shut down all the venues, she took to platforms like Twitch like so many others. However, where the majority of DJs performed 1-3 sets a week for a few hours, Liona Stone embraced extended sets and could often be found streaming 6+ hours a day 5-6 days a week. She immediately saw the value of livestreaming as a career enhancement rather than a sanity saver and she embraced isolation as a way to actually broaden her reach.
I think many DJs saw livestreaming as a backward step to their goals, imposed by the pandemic. But, I viewed it as a way to let down my guard and open up to a different type of audience than I was used to. I let people know the real Liona and that allowed me to experience the most pivotal period of my life and career.
Liona Stone
Now, as clubs are hosting live events again, she’s taking a different tack from most and has no intention of cutting back on the livestreams – effectively making a new home in the digital realm. She’s grown a dedicated following online and connects with her fans on a deeper level while showing sides of herself that could never be seen on a stage. For instance, Liona has shared her fitness commitment while streaming by doing fitness-focused techno sets in which she works out on a stair machine while DJing flawlessly.
While no one really knows what’s next these days, Liona Stone is continuing to grow her livestreaming presence for the foreseeable future. She’s constantly exploring new ways to engage her audience and seeking ways to build a strong community. In an ideal world, her community would have a bond that goes beyond her sets, and this is something she believes can be done better through livestreaming than at live shows. She may be onto something here, The Pinecone Club has become an organic offshoot of Gabriel & Dresden’s Club Quarantine and perhaps The Lion’s Club will be born out of Liona Stone’s committed fan base.
Be sure to follow Liona Stone on socials to see her livestream schedule on Twitch and listen to her guest mix below!
Stream This Is Home 039 || Liona Stone [Kiev] on SoundCloud:
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