A fresh dose of celestial sounds by Lauren Hansom.
Lauren probably needs no introduction, but we’re giving it to you anyway. After spending the better part of her 20s deep diving into dusty crates, Discogs wormholes and narrating dance floors across the globe, the avid music collector knows a thing or two about weaving oddball selections and creating soundscapes. The Aussie native known for her wide-ranging sonic stature, continues to provide vibrant atmospheres and fresh perspectives by way of her endless versatility.
As one of the first people on our shortlist, we’re beyond excited to welcome Lauren to the platform. Moving back to the city she lived in pre-covid times, we reached out to hear about her upcoming relocation to Amsterdam, a hectic EU festival season in the works, moving into music supervision and things to come.
Welcome Lauren, absolute pleasure to have you with us today! How’s life been in the Southern Hemisphere recently? We saw you made your Boiler Room debut a couple of weeks back – how did that all go down?
Hiya! Thank you for having me 🙂 life has been sooo good Down Under. I am absolutely loving it here in Oz – enjoying the surf, nature and good food. Oh cool you saw the Boiler Room! I honestly didn’t know what to expect from it as it’s quite an intense thing to do (I was super nervous, I almost pulled out!), but I surprisingly had a really fun time. I think by the end of the 2nd song I forgot that it was a streamed event and just enjoyed the energy from the crowd. So… I think it went OK in the end.
It’s been a while since we first connected – about 2 years ago if I’m not mistaken. I can recall you mentioned your life was spread-out between Amsterdam, Berlin and Sydney at the time due to all the Covid stuff – can you tell us a bit about that period in limboland and the decision to stay in Oz?
Aha, good memory! At the end of 2019 I had partially moved to Berlin and then had come back to Australia for 1 month in February 2020. Whilst I was here, COVID rolled out and I got stuck in Australia with just a suitcase. After a year of not being able to get back to my new house in Berlin, I decided to ship everything back to Australia. I suppose being back with my mum and (at the time) my grandma (she sadly passed in 2020), made me realise that I needed to be closer to home. I suppose just like many other COVID lockdown experiences, the last two years have reminded me what matters to me and where I should put my energy / focus.
You also joined a new booking agency, Ekipa, headed by the wonderful Nadja. As one of the first signees and having worked with Nadja before, can you tell us a bit about that shift, your connection to the people involved in the agency and the variety of artists you share the roster with?
Yes! Big ups to Nadja for establishing a new business during an incredibly unstable and tough time. I think the roster is really well selected and diverse in many regards. Many of the artists are from the UK and is growing to include exciting artists from South Korea, America and another from Australia. I think for me, moving to a slightly smaller scale agency feels right and having already worked with Nadja in the past, it already felt comfortable. She’s an incredibly hard worker, professional, smart, funny and deserves all the success from Ekipa.
I get that you’re heading back to Amsterdam for the summer with a hefty schedule in place. Having lived in Amsterdam for a big chunk of time, what are some of the things you hope to see unchanged and what are you most looking forward to upon returning? And how’s your summer in the EU shaping up?
Oh yes, another thank you to Nadja for setting up the most chaotic Summer to date. I don’t think I’ll get much sleep to be honest hehe. There’s Dekmantel Selectors coming up as well as Kala, Solstice, Paraiso, Glastonbury and a load of other things in the works. I’ve got every weekend from May to mid September booked, so yes, one hefty schedule in place. Yikes!
I’m really excited to go back to Amsterdam as it was my home for some time and I still identify it as my home or at least a home away from home. I do hope to see the bubbling music community still bubbling away despite the changes that happened a couple of years ago (mainly Red Light Radio closing, which was an incredible hub and platform for connecting people and communities). I’m really looking forward to catching up with friends and cycling around the beautiful city. I’m also hoping to hop in the studio with some mates.
You told us that you’re looking to move into music supervision. Can you tell us a bit more about that and where that idea stems from? And are certain brands or media forms in particular you would be interested in supervising – film, television, advertising, etc.?
I used to work in the film industry, mostly on big budget (Hollywood) features. I’ve always loved storytelling and I suppose that’s why I was in film. I got pretty burnt out from the hours and ended up falling into music. I guess I see a problem in the industry where the music is mismatched to what’s happening in the story and thus creates a disconnect. I understand why big productions do it, but it seems a shame to sacrifice storytelling for the hope to connect with a young crowd by playing some random top 10 track in say the middle of a scene where there is a Middle Eastern market. I saw this in a film recently and thought, where’s the soundscape of the market vendors and people walking through the streets? Where’s the Oud or the hand percussion? It really took me out of the story straight away.
I’d like to offer my knowledge of music and apply it to modern day film or perhaps some interesting campaign work for fashion brands with the hope of not only creating a much more effective immersion into the storyline, but also potentially opening up the ears of wider audiences to the music world that I love so much.
What kind of energy are you bringing us with this mix today? Any favourite bits in there you would like to mention?
Hmm I’m not sure, I guess I imagined what the life of a Quasar might be like or perhaps what it’d be like if we could travel through theoretical cosmic wormholes hehe – I’m fascinated with space, so I suppose a lot of the music I collect sometimes sits in this sort of sci-fi soundscape. It’s also nice to play some more electronic music – I get the feeling loads of people assume I only collect jazz or ambient or new wave, which I also have haha, but also I collect A LOT of music and it just takes time to share it all, you know? You can’t just share thousands of records in a handful of mixes.
I have to say, I really love my friend Gee Dee’s new track – go check him out as he’s a sick producer and Deej. To be honest, I like all the music! I really love the opening by David Morley – it’s soooo wild!! Also the two tunes at the end are pretty sick with Well Hung Parliament and Sun Kings – all 90s baby!
What’s next, are there any specific projects you’re working on or things you would like to see happening this year?
I’ve been trying to sort out my music room in Sydney and set up my machines haha! Slowly writing some things and looking forward to doing some stuff in Europe (just for fun though!!). Other than working my way into more music supervision stuff on the side, I think I just need to get through this chaotic Summer first. Oh and if anyone has any hot tips on where I could surf in Europe, I’m all ears – already booked in The Wave in Bristol and thinking of finishing off Summer in Portugal.
