Living the LOLiFE with Lauren Lo Sung

Photo: Lauren Lo Sung Credit: Samantha Milligan Photography

Rising to prominence through her revered clubnight LOLiFE, the past five years have seen Liverpool based DJ Lauren Lo Sung busily ingraining her seductive, dubbed out techno into the minds and hearts of ravers across the country, with recent times seeing her gaining recognition from some of the biggest hitters in the underground.

With DJ Sneak, Sidney Charles, Duky, Him_Self_Her, Hector and Samu.l amongst her supporters, it's been a combination of determination, passion and downright skill that has seen her rise through the ranks of the deep and techy netherworld.

Now with residencies at Egg London, Waxxx in Liverpool and TRMNL in Birmingham, and a recent win at Liverpool's ECHO Awards for best DJ, Lauren is at the peak of her powers, with the trend only set to continue. We caught up with her ahead of her set for Submerged at South in Manchester to catch up on her huge past twelve months.

It's been just over a year since last we spoke, how have things been? It seems you’ve had a really busy past 12 months, can you tell us about any highlights?

Hey! Thanks for inviting me back. A few highlights of the year would have to be; starting my radio show on EGG London (listen below), being asked to be a resident for EGG, becoming a resident for TRMNL in Birmingham, playing Gottwood Festival for Waxxx and playing for Electric Days in Dubai a few times. I've been really busy this year which is great.

Well done for ensnaring the Liverpool ECHO DJ of the year award, despite some very stiff competition! How much is this level of recognition in your hometown a positive thing, and what DJs in the city do you respect?

Thanks very much. I'm still buzzing from finding out. 

Growing up, I've always been interested in who wins DJ of the year in the Liverpool ECHO. So when I found out I had won it was an amazing feeling. I could never of imagined winning it years ago, let alone be the first girl to do so.

Liverpool's music scene is growing all the time- there's an increasing number of underground nights starting too, which is great for the city. Some of the local DJs/ producers from Liverpool are doing really well, the likes of David Glass and Kydus have been playing for Yousef's CIRCUS and have released on some great record labels. Both lads are so down to earth too, and really deserve to do well. 

Let's talk about the night that kicked it all off for you - how has LOLiFE been going? Has it been tough keeping that going with an increased number of gigs elsewhere?

LOLiFE is going from strength to strength, we've only put on a couple of parties this year, but behind the scenes the brand has been growing due to my LOLiFE Radio Show on EGG London, as well as a podcast series we've started which has showcased the likes of; Shaf Huse, Duky, Loquace, Rhadow, Samu.l and more.

We'll also be doing a series of parties in EGG London in 2015 too, with our first one being in support of the CIRCUS party on Sat 17th January. The parties we've had in Liverpool this year were brilliant too, only resident parties but we managed to have a queue down the street to get in.

You'll be heading to South in Manchester for Submerged on the 30th with him_self_her and Jay Kurmis. Is Manchester like a home away from home when DJing? How do you find the crowd there?

I absolutely love Manchester. It is a close favourite to my home town Liverpool, and the nights there are really cool. I've played in Manchester quite a lot now and the crowd is always up for it and the venues and sound systems have been great too which is important. I've hosted a few Warehouse Project after-parties with my brand LOLiFE at South, so I'm looking forward to returning. 

We're interested to know how your love of dance music started. You previously told us you started DJing at the age of eleven! How did that happen? And where have the musical influences come from in your life?

My love for dance music is all because of my older brother and sister who are a generation older than me. They listened to a lot of Cream, Subliminal, Hed Kandi and nineties house so by early teens I fell in love with house music because it was all I heard at home ha ha!

I wasn't really your average eleven year old girl, I asked for a set of CDJs for my birthday, so from then on I have practised in my bedroom and eventually began to play to the public back in 2010 when I started LOLiFE.

What artists have continued to impress you as you've delved deeper into the scene?

I'm influenced by the likes of; Maya Jane Coles, Ricardo Villalobos, tINI, The Martinez Bros, Samu.l. There's some amazing up and coming producers at the moment too, and the likes of Shaf Huse, Proudly People, Rhadow and Selma are definitely ones to keep an eye on in 2015.

Have you been working on any new material recently? We’ve seen that you’re due your vinyl debut next year, tell us more!

I'm currently working on my fist solo EP for Draft, a label based in the US which I released my track 'Get To This' (listen below) on a couple of months ago. I'm also working on a track for the vinyl label Semani which is based in Germany, I'm really excited about this as it's always been a dream of mine to have a track pressed to vinyl.

Samu.l and I have been working on music together too, it was an honour to make a track with him and I've followed his music for a while so I was buzzing when he asked me. 

And with us being so fresh into 2015, have you made any New Year’s resolutions?

I would like to have at least four EPs out by the end of next year, so I'm going to push myself harder than ever in the studio. I am also starting a digital/ vinyl record label in 2015, so I'll be working hard on that too.

Finally, hypothetical situation - you’re asked to curate your ultimate edition of LOLiFE, and you can be joined by any DJs, alive or dead. Who would join you, where would you have it, and what tune would you play to define the evening?

DJs I would have are- tINI, Dana Ruh, Martinez Bros, Ricardo Villalobos, Rhadoo and Nina Kraviz.

I would have it in the summer on a beach somewhere in Mykonos, Greece, and keep it as intimate as possible, with a crowd of around 400 to 500 people.

A tune I would probably play would be Shaf Huse 'Comfortably Numb', the vocal in it gives me goosebumps.

Thanks Lauren! Catch her at Submberged on January 30th by grabbing tickets here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event