Amelie Lens reflects on her sound and career

A distinguished DJ, producer, label owner and – maybe her most exciting role yet – self-proclaimed touring DJ mum, Amelie Lens has become a venerated figure in the realm of techno.

The Antwerp native’s meteoric rise is a testament to her profound and enduring passing for music, which secured her for techno stardom ever since taking up her first residency role in 2014.

With a healthy obsession for telling stories through radical combinations of sounds, she exhausts search engines looking for new material to create that narrative while producing the fiercest of techno tracks.

You can witness the First Lady of Belgian Techno in full swing today at the Mainstage – but first, some words of wisdom from Amelie herself.

Your trademark is uplifting, harder techno, and that’s what your fans love you for. Recently, however, an even rougher blend of techno has been gaining popularity. How do you reflect on that development? 

I don’t think my sound is considered ‘hard techno’ anymore within the techno scene itself. There is indeed a huge new scene vibing on very hard and fast techno, leaning closer to hardcore.

My own sound is very energetic, but not always that ‘hard’. I see myself as floating around somewhere in between several subgenres of techno.”

One of the subgenres you have incorporated in your work is a vintage kind of trance sound, like in ‘You And Me’. Where did you pick up that idea? 

"That track was specifically made for my Tomorrowland Mainstage set last year! I really wanted to make something memorable to close my set with. So the idea comes from me imagining myself playing the Mainstage while producing the track (laughs).”

Does playing in front of huge crowds, like at the Mainstage, ever bring back memories of when you first started going to clubs and festivals yourself? 

“For sure! Every time I play I think back to when I was in that crowd and whenever I play I also put myself in the crowd mentally. I try to read the room and feel what they feel.

I don’t think I would ever be able to do that if I hadn’t spent that much time on the dancefloor myself. Even today I often go and dance in the crowd because I really need that energy to feel inspired.”

You have mentioned before that fame came at a prize and involved some unexpected experiences. Have you found a way to manage it? 

“I still find fame a bit challenging. When I started DJ’ing I never even considered the possibility that I would also become a role model – a status that, to me, involves a lot of responsibility.

People often expect you to be perfect, have all the answers, and burst out perfect statements about literally anything. I genuinely want to help and inspire people, but I’m not perfect. Maintaining that high standard is practically impossible, so it can be challenging at times.

I have indeed found my own ways to accept this reality, but I must admit I really underestimated how difficult it can be.”

What did it feel like to go back to work after becoming a mother? Do the contrasting wild world of festivals and of a homely environment go well together? 

"When I was still breastfeeding, finding that balance was hard. It’s not only the ways in which you miss your baby on an emotional level, there’s also the physical and hormonal reaction.

You have all these hormones racing through your body, making you feel like you should have never left your baby in the first place. I felt actual physical pain being away from her and I was very emotional during those first shows.

I tried to think of the fact that I’m so lucky to be with her 5 days a week, and I tried to keep my weekends as short as possible, taking the last flight out and the first one back home. But now, that balance is restored, which was imperative really. Festivals and club culture have been a huge part of my life as well as that of my husband (DJ Farrago).

And because I was still playing some shows while I was pregnant, you could also say that it is already part of my daughter’s life. She was actually in my belly last year when I played the Tomorrowland Mainstage and Exhale stage.

I turned the volume down in the DJ booth but she must have felt my energy, my dance moves, and all the love, for sure. So yes, it’s been hard, but these contrasting worlds do go well together.

They are both indispensable key elements of my whole being. This is who I am now: a touring DJ mum, and I love it!”