But when the hospital called that day telling me that I had to come to say goodbye to my father I was home and immediately jumped in the car, but I got there too late. My father has been sick on and off for many years, and when I started traveling a lot there was always the idea in the back of my head that if something bad would happen, it would take so much time for me to get back home. Also, my father’s cancer came back for the third time and sadly he passed away. My boyfriend had a stroke at the beginning of the lockdown and I’m glad we could fully focus on his recovery during the last year. We were the first ones to close down and are going to be the last ones to open up again. It's been difficult because our industry, like many others, was hit so hard. Lens: “It’s hard to sum up all the feelings I've had in the past year into a few words. Kocay: As someone who regularly headlines festivals with a touring schedule of up to five shows a week, how have you been coping with the pause on touring caused by the pandemic? But I am sure once I go touring full time again that my creativity will come back quickly.” I played two gigs in the past 15 months while I usually play over three gigs on one weekend. I need the drive and adrenaline rush from being on the road constantly, going from festival to festival. I feel like I have lost a bit of my creativity. I like to test my tracks in several countries and on different stages before I finish them for the release. ![]() I have always made music for the dance floor and this is also where I feel the most inspired. I feel the most creative after a busy tour. Kocay: Can you share if the pandemic has changed your production and creative process and, if so, how? They kept listening to club music and so many have been watching live streams from their homes.”Īmelie Lens perform an EXHALE show at Awakenings Amsterdam Dance Event. Lens: “Because even during the pandemic, we stayed ravers in our hearts and felt the same as many other people. Kocay: How did you pick the name of the EP? What does Raver's Heart mean to you? We are grateful for this technology and being able to work together, even with the distance between us.’ Lens: “Because of covid restrictions, we were not able to be in the studio together, so we sent parts back and forth and did a lot of Skype and WhatsApp calls to communicate with each other and work on the tracks. Kocay: Can you share any stories on how some of the tracks were created on the EP? ![]() After the first track, we wanted to make a second one and so on. We did not plan to make an EP-we just wanted to work together and see where it would go. I had the feeling that our sound would blend really well together and it just happened so naturally. ![]() Lens: “I’ve always loved AIROD’s sound and that’s also why I signed him on my label, Lenske. ![]() Kocay: How did you and AIROD get connected, and how did you decide to make this EP together? I think it worked because people had already guessed it was a collaboration track before we even announced it.” We also really wanted to include one track (‘Join Us’) that people would expect from us. As if it wasn’t apparent after all this, Amelie is just getting going and there seems to be no decrease in her pursuit of world wide dance floor domination.Amelie Lens: “We missed the dance floors so much and wanted to create something energetic for big stages and festivals. From Awakenings and Circo Loco to today’s best clubs like DC-10 Lens commands an intense touring schedule trotting to all corners of the globe on a weekly basis. With these critical foundations laid, it was no time before she began headlining the industries most acclaimed events. At the same time her releases started to flow consistently on high level labels, Amelie started her own event EXHALE at Labyrinth Club where she invites todays hottest acts as well as her “All Night Long” sets which prove she embodies an equal mastery to that of her peers with years more experience. With her debut release on Italian imprint Lyase gaining a massive amount of attention, Amelie seized the moment and quickly delivered her first release on Pan-Pot’s highly lauded label Second State and followed shortly after with a stellar EP on one of the undergrounds most championed outfits ARTS. Lens’ rise to the top may seem to have happened in the blink of an eye, but her work ethic, composure at the controls, crowd engagement and an incredible prowess in the studio have proven to be the perfect ingredients for her swift ascent to the apex of her trade. She has, in a little more than a year, soared from relative anonymity to one of todays most in-demand DJ/Producers the world over. One would be hard pressed to find another artist whose meteoric rise parallels that of Belgium’s most exciting new export, Amelie Lens.
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