Cardiff-based artist AIIME C is stepping into a new chapter with the release of her debut EP Up in the Air, a project shaped by change, uncertainty, and creative growth. Blending drum & bass with electronic pop, the EP captures a moment of transition - both musically and personally. Developed with support from the Youth Music NextGen Fund, it marks an important milestone in her journey so far. We caught up with AIIME C to talk about making the record, navigating pressure, and what comes next.

When did you realise Up in the Air was going to be your first EP, rather than just a collection of songs?

I had a plan to make a small liquid drum & bass EP, but I think I properly realised it once I had a body of demos and the songs started developing alongside my life.

I’d heard the phrase “it’s just a bit up in the air” a lot over the past few years, especially working in production, where things are often unclear or constantly changing. That phrase really stuck with me because it summed up how I felt at the time — distracted, confused, clouded, and in this constant state of uncertainty.

The EP starts with “Head in the Clouds”, which I wrote on a plane after releasing my first song. That feeling of literally being up in the air became the starting point. I knew I wanted a turbulent liquid drum & bass track, and then I found the beat maker Cloubee through BeatStars. His name reminded me of clouds, which felt weirdly perfect, and I became obsessed with his liquid drum & bass beats. Once I found those tracks, I knew I wanted to buy all three and create an EP because the sound connected everything together.

Even though each song came from a different moment in my life, they all kept circling around the same feelings — uncertainty, transition, movement, identity and figuring myself out. Once I noticed that connection, it stopped feeling like random singles and started feeling like one bigger story.

As I kept writing, the idea of being “up in the air” became a much bigger metaphor. It connected to my Saturn return, my spiritual awakening, and that feeling of recognising patterns repeating in my life. The title just made sense. It summed up that whole chapter for me.

Your sound mixes drum & bass with electronic pop. What attracts you to those styles, and how did they shape this project?

I come from quite a theatrical and performance-based background. I grew up doing stage school as well as high school, and I also have a degree in stage design and visual storytelling, specialising in immersive experiences. So I’ve always been drawn to creating a full world around an idea, not just a song.

But I’m also a genuine raver I have been to Boomtown for nearly a decade - since 2015 - and I’ve loved drum & bass culture ever since , and I wanted to challenge myself by writing songs that could live in that high-energy environment. My first release was garage, which was slower, so liquid drum & bass felt like a way to push myself as a songwriter and performer.

With this project, I wanted to balance emotional songwriting with energetic electronic production. Liquid drum & bass has this euphoric sense of movement and release, while electronic pop lets me focus more on melody, atmosphere and storytelling.

A lot of the project was developed independently from my bedroom — building demos, visuals, concepts and ideas, while figuring out how to make everything feel visually exciting and emotionally immersive. Once I found the beats, the EP suddenly felt possible. I always believed the songs had potential, but financially it would have been difficult to bring them fully to life and uphold the entire vision without support.

The project allowed me to create a world that felt cohesive sonically and visually, while still keeping the music intimate, vulnerable and personal. It also helped me develop the wider aesthetic of AIIME C as a brand.

Themes like uncertainty and transition run through the EP — were you going through a lot of change while writing it?

Definitely. The EP captures a period where nothing in my life felt fully settled. I was balancing multiple creative paths, navigating personal changes and trying to understand who I was becoming, both artistically and emotionally.

There was also a relationship in my life that constantly felt very “up in the air”, and that influenced the writing too. That same feeling was also present in my work and creative life — never fully knowing what was coming next, but still trying to keep moving.

Although the songs are personal, I think uncertainty is something everyone experiences at some point. I didn’t want the project to feel overly polished or perfect. I wanted it to feel honest, relatable and human.

I also feel like I really developed my sound through this project. It made me want to keep exploring different sub-genres and different ways of expressing emotion through electronic music.

How important was the overall concept of Up in the Air compared to just making individual tracks?

The concept became really important once I realised how connected all the songs were emotionally and sonically. I still wanted each track to stand on its own, but I also wanted the EP to feel immersive from beginning to end.

I released the tracks as singles as well, because I wanted to grow my catalogue, see how people responded and build momentum around each song. I had lots of feedback, and the project has had some positive traction and support from press, which has been really encouraging.I have recieved a lot of feedback to improve also as this will help to refine my sound further.

The sequencing, visuals, atmosphere and themes were all designed to exist within the same world. I think “Loop” especially helped tie the wider narrative together.

Up in the Air  EP is also dedicated to my sun conure, Sunny, who was genuinely a huge part of the process. She would sit with me while I was making music, dance with me and nod and sing along and would see if she approved. She’s no longer with me physically, but she is in spirit. 

You made this EP with support from the Youth Music NextGen Fund — what did that funding help you to do?

The Youth Music NextGen Fund made the entire project possible. It allowed me to properly invest in recording, production, visuals and the overall development of the EP, which elevated the project creatively and professionally.

As an independent artist, that support was incredibly important. It gave me access to resources, equipment and opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It also meant I could bring the project closer to the vision I had in my head, instead of feeling limited by finances. It helped me believe in myself and my vision and gain confidence in multiple different areas like graphics, marketing and press. 

It gave me a stronger foundation for future releases and helped me and become more disciplined as an artist to set and achieve results. 

Did getting the NextGen Fund change how much focus you have been able to put into your music career? How has it impacted your journey as an artist?

Absolutely. It was a massive deal for me as a small artist with only one song out at the time. To have my project funded felt like a huge achievement, and it gave me a lot of confidence and validation.

I don’t think I would have been able to release the EP in the same way without that financial support. It allowed my true vision for the project to exist. Being supported by the Next Gen Fund made me feel like people genuinely believed in my vision, which motivated me to push myself further creatively. It also expanded my network and introduced me to more like-minded creatives, collaborators and opportunities. 

The experience helped me focus more seriously on developing my sound, visuals and brand  as an artist, without feeling as restricted by resources. I now have a full recording set up and ready to create another EP independently. 

Now that the EP is finished, what have you learned from the process?

Making this EP taught me how many different roles independent artists have to take on. Throughout the process, I became a songwriter, creative director, designer, editor, marketer and project manager all at once. It pushed me to learn new skills, new software and new ways of working.  It taught me how to build a brand, create social media content, make marketing visuals and think about the bigger picture around the songs. It also helped me meet targets within a timeframe and become more disciplined with my own free time. Most importantly, the process taught me to trust my instincts, invest in myself and fully commit to my vision. I learned the importance of building a strong concept early on and allowing the music, visuals and storytelling to evolve together naturally.

I’m incredibly proud of both the music and visuals I created for this project. It’s helped me develop a much clearer sense of who I am as an artist and what my aesthetic is moving forward. It’s shown me that there really are no limits when you fully commit yourself to something creatively and express yourself through music. 

Connect with AIIME C:

Instagram: @aiimecmusic

TikTok: @aiime_c

Listen AIIME C's EP, UP IN THE AIR below: