Why Noordwijk as a base? Especially following on from your time in the electronic music mecca that is Berlin. 

My main reason to move to Noordwijk (a small beautiful town on the beach, around 40 min. from Amsterdam) was to move in together with my boyfriend in October 2017.

Before I was actually based in Zurich for 5 years, my Berlin time is long ago. The Netherlands is treating me well and offers me an amazing techno scene.

Can you tell us about a Berghain memory of yours?

Mhh when I think back of going out in Berghain, I remember it being a mixture of exciting, a bit scary, a lot of sweat, very dark (until the sun rises at the Panorama Bar) and it always gave me the feeling of freedom. I also remember being afraid of not getting in of course.

You’ve previously said that your sets go between melancholy and more upbeat. Is that still the case now when you play?

Yes mostly, but at the moment, maybe that’s because it is summer time, I enjoy a lot to play some pumping tech house as well.

What’s in the pipeline for the future? Where do you see yourself ideally in 2 years time?

I’m having two releases coming up shortly, first I am happy to have my track “Resolute” being released on Blockchain Records just this week. Then in September, you will hear my latest EP “Before Acid” dropping on NaturaViva Music. It also includes a remix by Belocca, whose work I admire very much.

And for the future, I definitely want to focus on producing, but I also would find it very interesting to create my own event at some point.

Being a DJ seems like it’s all fun and parties, but how much of it is hard work, meetings and travelling?

Well, I would say fun and hard work with djing always go hand in hand. Mostly you have to travel a lot to then enjoy an amazing party later. And I guess that “stress” everyone handles a bit different anyway. I like to travel, so it doesn’t really feel like work to me and even if it is exhausting sometimes, I just tell myself that I am living my dream at the moment and then I can’t really complain about it.  

Besides the weekends and touring there’s definitely a lot of other stuff to do, we for example try to create a lot of our artwork and social media content ourselves and that always takes a lot of time. But what I really love about this job is that I can most of the time decide myself when/where and how I want to work. I can sleep until 10 in the morning but then work late until 1 a.m. in the night if I feel like. So for me, it’s all about the balance!

What’s your first recollection of a track that really hit you? When did you decide that you wanted music to be the core part of your life?

I have to be honest here, I have listened to electronic music for 12 years and I can’t really remember which track exactly excited me back at that time. But I remember that three years ago, just before I started djing, I was super fascinated by Patrice Bäumels remix of “Endless Games” by Blondish. Very beautiful and melancholic track.

I decided to be a DJ after I broke up with my last boyfriend (pretty clichè, I know), I finally felt brave and free enough to give it a try. Since then I am addicted to it and also gave up my company as a nutritionist to focus completely on music.

We’ve seen technology transform the world of electronic music thanks to cheaper gears and incredible DAWS. Where do you see technology being revolutionary for people listening and discovering music?

I think listening and discovering music nowadays is becoming easier and more complicated at the same time. Easier because we have so many new possibilities with all these streaming/online platforms and apps which offer an incredible amount of music and more complicated because it is maybe even too much sometimes to really discover your kind of music and you can feel a bit overwhelmed as well.

DJs are the new rock stars. What do you think of that? What do you think of the concept of one person controlling tens of thousands of people at once?

I like it of course. Well, times are changing and I guess social media had a big impact to make DJs so famous nowadays. I personally don’t have any problem with that, as long as you can also still enjoy and appreciate small, underground events just for the music and the experience and not for the name of the DJ.

You’re a Volareo ambassador and interested in blockchain. Where do you see that going? Do you believe the music industry needs a revolution?

Maybe “revolution” is a very strong word, but I definitely think that it’s time to balance the fairness of the industry a little bit. And for that, the blockchain technology is just the right thing, as it is so transparent and decentralised. Musicians should be paid more fair for their music and listeners should know where their money is going and be able to decide that more transparent as well.

You’re a blockchain enthusiast. Why did you join this emerging movement as an established DJ and artist with gigs around the world?

Because I like to give new things a chance and joining passionate and super motivated people who are behind the Volareo project. I am very curious about what’s going to happen.

How important it is for you to take back control of your fanbase?

I really like it that Volareo is giving the artist all the fan database so that I can see exactly where my listeners are coming from. That makes it much more easy to advertise in an efficient way.

– Listen to Lilly Palmer’s Resolute on Musicoin here.

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