For Maddy O’Neal, stepping onto the stage at Mission Ballroom as a co-headliner feels both surreal and deeply earned. Over the years, she’s played nearly every room Colorado has to offer, from college bar sets at CU Boulder to Cervantes, the Bluebird, the Ogden, mountain town tours, and multiple Red Rocks support slots. The progression has been steady, built on groove, consistency, and community. Now, sharing a Mission Ballroom bill with TOKiMONSTA marks a new milestone in a career that has evolved in public.

Colorado has always been more than a market for Maddy O’Neal. It’s the foundation. The scene raised her, challenged her, and shaped her understanding of what real community looks like. Returning home for a next-level moment carries a different kind of weight. Fans who have watched her move through different phases and eras are still here, and that continuity has become one of the most meaningful parts of her journey.

Creatures of My Mind arrives at a moment of creative expansion. While funk, soul, and groove remain embedded in her DNA, the EP leans heavier and darker in places. That shift didn’t come from chasing trends. It grew out of lived experience. Years of nonstop touring and festival sets sharpened her approach to sound design and live impact. Writing with the dancefloor in mind requires a different kind of intention than building a long-form listening project. The energy of heavier festival slots began influencing the studio, and the music naturally followed.

At the same time, a more personal recalibration was taking place behind the scenes. After years immersed in grind culture, Maddy O’Neal began prioritizing her mental and physical health in a way she hadn’t before. That shift changed everything. Inspiration, she explains, cannot exist in a vacuum. Creating from depletion is not sustainable. Reclaiming balance, nurturing life outside of touring, and allowing herself space to exist beyond the release cycle brought a new glow to both her presence and her art. The result is music that feels intentional rather than urgent.

That creative openness extended into the Creatures of My Mind remix EP, where she invited producers to reinterpret the project through their own lenses. Remix albums have long been one of her favorite exercises, not just as a producer but as a listener. Hearing trusted friends and rising talents reshape her ideas injected new energy into the material, and in many cases, those reinterpretations became staples in her live sets. The process reinforced something she has always believed: music grows when it is shared.

Her Mission Ballroom co-headline with TOKiMONSTA adds another layer of meaning. When Maddy O’Neal began producing in 2011, there were only a handful of visible female producers in electronic music. TOKiMONSTA was one of them. Sharing a stage now feels cathartic, a generational bridge between early inspiration and present reality. The significance extends beyond the headliners as well. With Mary Droppinz, Neumonic, and smores opening the night, the lineup reflects a broader cross-section of the scene’s evolution. Mary Droppinz, in particular, represents yet another powerful female voice carving her own lane in electronic music. The result isn’t just a show, but a statement about intentional curation and expanding representation in a space that once felt far more limited.

Mission Ballroom itself represents growth measured over time. To stand in that room as a co-headliner is not a sudden leap but the culmination of years of groundwork. Each earlier milestone built toward this one. Each mountain town run and late-night set contributed to a foundation that now feels solid and self-assured.

Looking ahead, the horizon feels wide open. Maddy O’Neal is entering what she calls her “dreamer phase” at the start of the year, taking time to reflect and imagine what comes next. A new album concept is already taking shape, one that promises to dive further into darker, sexier territory while maintaining her instinct for groove. Two additional EPs, one bass-focused and one house-leaning, are already in the pipeline. Many of those unreleased tracks will debut at Mission Ballroom, a gesture that feels fitting for the hometown crowd that helped build this chapter.


Exploration remains the guiding principle. Refinement is part of it, but evolution is constant. For an artist who has grown up alongside her community, this moment doesn’t feel like an arrival. It feels like momentum.

We caught up with Maddy O’Neal ahead of her Mission Ballroom co-headline to talk about Creatures of My Mind, creative balance, and what exploration looks like in 2026. Check out our conversation below!

[Rooster]: Your music has always carried funk, soul, and groove at its core, but Creatures of My Mind feels heavier, darker, and more experimental in places. What were you feeling creatively when this EP started to take shape?

[Maddy O’Neal]: Inspiration comes primarily from experiences…I’ve been playing a lot more heavier dubstep festival slots etc and honestly was inspired and challenged by the vibes. The more and more I’ve sharpened my sound design skills while simultaneously immersed deeper in the bass scene I think my sound just naturally evolved and got heavier. I have also been touring pretty nonstop and having the mindset to produce for a live setting is much different than writing vibes for a longer record for example. It’s been super fun.

You’ve spoken openly about finding balance after years of constant grind, touring, and release cycles. How did prioritizing your personal life and health change the way you approached making this record?

It was huge. I’ve made a lot of changes over the last year or two specifically…prioritizing my mental and physical health (because they are one in the same). You cannot be inspired to create if you are not fulfilled and living a full life behind the scenes. I think the grind culture is overrated…sure, you can work hard but you cannot sacrifice nurturing your personal life in the process cause it is not sustainable. I had a producer friend come up to me at my new years show and say “girl what the hell you been doin? You are glowing and you are outside like doing shit all the time? How do you do it?” and its as simple as making it a priority…it has made a big difference in my quality of life and mentality with time and creativity as well. 

Earlier this year, you invited other producers into that world through the Creatures of My Mind remix EP. What was it like hearing those songs reinterpreted through other creative lenses, and what did that process reveal to you about the project?

Doing the remix albums is honestly one of my favorite creative exercises / processes. It’s a way to connect with other producers on a very unique level where you get to hear their interpretation of your ideas. A lot of these end up being the versions I play live because they breathe new energy and life into them. This one was one of my favorites to date…I tapped some of my favorite producers who are already friends of mine like Thought Process, Seth David and Yoko and also hit up some up and coming rippers that I just recently discovered and had been playing out some of their tracks in my sets. They were stoked and they all absolutely crushed.

You are co-headlining Mission Ballroom with TOKiMONSTA, which feels like a meeting of two distinct but intentional creative worlds. What excites you about sharing that stage, and what does that moment represent for you right now?

Honestly this is such a full circle moment for me. When I had the opportunity to hit up TOKi to be a part of this show it was very cathartic for me. When I started producing back in 2011 there were about 5 female producers that I knew of…Jen being one of the best. She has always been a huge role model and influence to me coming up in a scene with very little females to look to. That is only one aspect of the show that marks is super special. On top of that, I really wanted to do something different with this show. I feel like especially lately people so often get stuck in their ways in a genre or a cliche…I wanted to bring worlds together for a more eclectic night to showcase on a broader spectrum than just having an entire lineup of just Dubstep or just house or just this or that. Almost like a mini festival where you can have a night that spans a range of vibes and bring people together in a new way. It’s going to be such a special night I have chills thinking about it.

Colorado has been home for much of your career, and Mission Ballroom is one of the city’s most defining rooms. How does stepping into that space as a co-headliner feel compared to earlier milestones here?

It feels very very surreal. Throughout my career I think I have played just about every venue there is in Colorado…worked my way up from playing the goose bar in college at CU to cervantes, bluebird, ogden, multiple support slots at red rocks, mountain town tours for 8+ years and just continuing to evolve and level up. Making it to a point where I’ve grown enough to have my own co-headline at mission is such a massive milestone and honor for me. The Colorado scene literally raised me as an artist and taught me what real community is all about and every time I return for the next level up moment I am reminded how special the community is again and again and it blows me away. As cheesy as it sounds, an artist cannot survive without the support of their friends and fans and for the length of my career and fans to have seen me go through so many different phases and eras WITH me is the coolest feeling in the world. 

As you look ahead to 2026, what feels most exciting creatively right now? Are you feeling more pulled toward exploration, refinement, or something entirely different?

I took the last few weeks as I typically do at the top of any year to really pause, reflect, and take up space in my “dreamer phase”. I take a look around and try to give myself props for what I accomplished and dream / lean into how I am feeling and how I have evolved or want to continue to. I have a whole concept of an album fleshed out that I am extremely excited to dive into this year…its going to be long term project but the ideas are churning in my head already and thats super exciting. Expect a lot more of the dark and sexy vibes. I’ve got 2 EP’s worth of material on deck already (one bass and one house) I will be releasing in the meantime while I go on that writing journey. A lot of those new tracks I will debuting for the first time at Mission Ballroom – cause I gotta give the hometeam the first listen, naturally! And to fully answer your question – exploration and evolution ALWAYS. I let my intuition be the guide and put in the hours to follow it up.