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For Xandra Pohl, music isn’t just a passion — it’s a lifeline in an often chaotic world. As a teenager, she spent every weekend lost in rap festivals, hooked on artists like Playboy, Cardi B and 21 Savage. But everything changed the day Alison Wonderland took over Lollapalooza’s main stage — a female DJ electrifying a massive crowd with raw, underground energy.
At the time, Pohl wasn’t really into electronic music. She knew the big commercial names like Zedd and Martin Garrix, but Alison Wonderland came from a cooler, underground scene she hadn’t yet explored. Watching her perform, Pohl thought, “That’s exactly what I want to do.”
That night, she went home and told her mom she wanted to be a DJ. With her mom urging her to find something to focus on, and armed with restless energy and a dash of ADD, Pohl dove in headfirst. The very next day, she bought her first DJ board, turned to YouTube tutorials and began teaching herself — enduring months of frustration before finally mastering her craft.
“There are videos from high school and grade school of me on the floor of my room with just two big speakers,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively over Zoom. “I had the little 100 DJ board for about two months. Then I told my mom, ‘I want to get a really nice bigger board — I’ll pay you back someday because I’m going to figure this out.’ She said ‘Okay,’ and we bought the bigger one.”
Eventually, Pohl graduated high school and became a freshman at the University of Miami, where she upgraded to actual CDJs — a massive professional setup in her dorm room. As she settled into college life, she continued experimenting with her music and even sharing it on social media.
“I remember my freshman year — especially during quarantine — just posting random funny stuff,” she says. “Then, by senior year, I was serious about becoming a DJ. I saw guys booking gigs and wondered how to get ahead. They told me I needed a bigger social media following, so I started posting everything — funny stories, get-ready-with-me videos, vlogs — and it blew up from there. It was crazy.”
Now, years later, 2025 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for Pohl, who goes by the stage name XANDRA. The Cincinnati native, who’s amassed over 1.3 million followers on TikTok and 600,000 on Instagram has steadily built momentum with original music, including her latest single, “I Won’t Sleep,” featuring vocals from Jordan Shaw.
This new release follows her 2024 debut original single “Body Say.” Over the past few years, she’s also DJ’ed at the F1 Miami Grand Prix, the 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Runway Show at Miami Swim Week (where she’s walked the runway for the past three years) and Spotify’s Women In Music Event during Miami Music Week.
“There are so many incredible festivals around the country, and we have these little pockets for the rave community,” the 24-year-old says.
Her latest track’s creation, however, was a long and painstaking process. She recalls working through 15 different versions, constantly revisiting the song to get it just right.
To test each iteration, Pohl developed a unique ritual: bringing friends along for a car ride, blasting the track loudly, and gauging their reactions.
“Every time we thought we had the final cut, everyone would ask, ‘Are we good to go?’ And I’d listen and say, ‘No, we need to tweak this. Make it faster, change the chord progression,’” she recalls.
The final version came nearly a year after she first created the hook — after stripping the song back entirely and rebuilding the chords from scratch. When she heard the finished product, she knew they’d created something special.
“I felt like this could be a real summer banger — cool, fresh, and different,” she says. “I love it, and I’m excited to see where it goes. It’s already doing well, so now it’s about pushing it so everyone can hear it.”
Reflecting on her journey, Pohl points to one person who’s left an indelible mark on her career. Though she’s crossed paths with countless incredible artists, Steve Aoki stands out as someone truly special. More than a collaborator, Aoki, 47, became a mentor, guiding her early on.
“One thing he told me that really stuck was, ‘You’ll never forget how you treat the people around you.’ I don’t remember his exact words, but the meaning stayed with me,” she says.
Added Pohl: “Working with him so early showed me what an amazing person he is — not just as an artist, but as someone deeply committed to uplifting the next generation of electronic music.”
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As Pohl’s career takes off, she’s constantly on the move, hopping between venues and shows. Naturally, managing sleep depends entirely on her schedule and location.
One weekend, for example, she had two festival sets plus the Sports Illustrated Runway Show — yet barely got four hours of sleep in a bed across three nights. Most of her rest came on planes, where she’s surprisingly good at falling asleep even while boarding.
“One ritual I never skip is stretching before going on stage,” she shares. “After long flights, I’m like, ‘Wow, I’ve spent way too much time in the air.’ So stretching is key. For late-night sets, I always have a Celsius in hand — chugging one at 2 a.m. before a 2:30 start, thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ My team and I do a quick fist bump, they say ‘Kill it,’ and I say, ‘Let’s rock.’”
“Then, when I hit the stage, I’m in my own zone,” she continues. “No talking, no distractions. You won’t reach me until I’m done. I shut everything else out.”
Looking back, Pohl says it feels surreal to reflect on everything she’s accomplished at such a young age.
“I had a bunch of goals I crushed early on — things like Forbes and Sports Illustrated — and now I’m like, damn, I need to come up with more,” she says with a laugh. “I’m so grateful to have been in a position where I could make those things happen.”
Now, her focus is fully on the music. With a steady stream of new tracks on the horizon and her DJ career gaining momentum, Pohl is eager to see where the next chapter takes her.
“It really does take time,” she says. “I graduated two years ago and have been touring nonstop ever since. We’re still building, still coming up — but I can feel the growth, and that’s exciting. The feedback I’ve been getting has been so overwhelmingly positive, and I’ve dealt with a lot behind the scenes to get here.”
What keeps her going, she says, is the support from her community: “The way people have embraced this side of me — coming out to shows, supporting the music — it’s been really, really cool to see.”