Leila

Musician & producer originally known for her work supporting Björk and Galliano, but now seen as a mainstay of the British IDM genre, signing to Aphex Twin's Rephlex Records in the mid 90s.
Born in Iran, Leila spent part of her childhood there but was forced to flee to London with her family. She became interested in DJing as well as keyboards, and left college to play with Björk on her first album, 1994's 'Debut'. Leila graduated to sound engineer for the second Björk LP, and began setting up her own home studio.

Signing to Rephlex Records for her first solo album, she released the single 'Don't Fall Asleep' in 1997 and the 'Like Weather' album the following year. 'Love Story' and the 'Sodastream' single appeared in 1999. The following year, Leila released her moodier second album, 'Courtesy of Choice', on XL. Shortly after that album's release, Leila's mother died, and she coped with her grief by touring and doing mixing work for Björk. She didn't return to music until her father also passed away, and enlisted her friends and family to help with her third album. In spring 2008, it was announced that she'd signed to Warp Records; a pair of singles, 'Mettle' and 'Deflect', heralded the arrival of 'Blood, Looms and Blooms', which was released that summer. For 2012's 'U&I', Leila collaborated with Mt. Sims, who helped her take her music in a darker direction influenced by punk and hard-edged techno.