"I wanted it to be like that scene in The Matrix where they're partying in Zion"

Throughout the summer, we're following around some of our favorite bands and DJs as they head out on tour. In each installment, these road dogs will be sharing a photo diary and sharing stories about what they do, see, and hear and eat while criss-crossing the country and the globe. Next up: Wynter Gordon, the dance pop singer-songwriter whose collaborated with everyone from David Guetta to Flo Rida, Major Lazer to Afrojack. Currently hard at work on a new project, Wynter & The Righteous Young, the artist has been busy in the studio laying down tracks for their upcoming album and working with her latest collaborator -- A$AP Ferg. She took some time away from recording to play a show last week at Williamsburg's Glasslands -- her first with the new project -- and here, she tells us how it went.

That's my friend Phil adjusting my dress. We call him 'Style by Phil.' He convinced me to wear that dress, because I never wear dresses! I'm an A-cup and I never wear those, but he pulled it up tight and made me cute. He's an amazing person.

That's our prayer circle. We always pray before every show, asking God for peace, that everything works. We want a good vibe. As an artist, you want things to go right. Music, for me, is all I have. It's my one thing, my baby. It's different now in some ways, since it's been a year from the last time I performed. Then, I was still growing up, trying to figure myself out. Now, I know who I am. It's my vision.

I'm always nervous, but especially since it's been so long since I went onstage. I'd forgotten how it felt. I came out to "Everything Burns." I had to pace the stage a little bit since it was my first time in a year. I didn't look up until it was over. But once I was onstage and it came out, it felt like home. I let go.

This picture is home, that's definitely home. I had a Kanye moment, you know where he's like 'Where my lights at?!' I was waiting for the lights to go off and for the strobe lights to appear. I was trying to make it a bit more epic, so I brought strobe lights. I see it as a bigger show. I wanted it to be like that scene in The Matrix where they're partying in Zion, like that.

That was when I didn't realize the set was over, so I kind of just did a jam. We don't even practice sometimes at rehearsal, we just wanna lay. I love to hear them [ The Righteous Young] play, they're so good. This time around I'm only working with who I love, like my band mates and A$AP Ferg. He and I gel really creatively; he thinks outside of the box more so than anyone I've worked with so far in hip-hop. He's like a brother to me, he's so down-to-earth and open.

Here I played an oldie-but-goodie, "Still Getting Younger." It's a fan favorite, I always get requests to play it from Twitter and Instagram. It feels like summer, it makes my set better. I wrote that song with Nick Littlemore from Empire of the Sun. When I went out to London a few years back, I went to his house and I was kind of depressed at that time. I was making electronic dance music and I wanted to make something else. Nick was like, 'You can do whatever you want, you're an artist!' He's so crazy, he had on like a trench coat and an afro, and made me fish and beans, it was delicious. After that, we went on a very inspiring trip to Israel and Egypt together.

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