It is a personal mission of mine to offer an inclusive voice to electronic music in Scotland at all levels here at Discovery Music Scotland. There are many exciting ideas and events in the pipeline but I thought where better to start than with Dundee DJ Hannah Laing to chat about Scotland's vibrant yet somewhat disregarded electronic scene on the launch day of her new underground dance event 'Hannah's Choice.' Her passion and talent for the decks has took her around the world yet she goes under the radar in Scotland compared to acts of other genres when she has just as much to celebrate and shout about if not more in some cases!
Rant over, let the interview begin...
How did your passion for DJ'ing start and eventually evolve into becoming a successful artist yourself?
'My Mum and Dad are heavily into house music so from a young age I was brought up listening to that kind of music. I was in to DJs when my friends weren't really so then I started going out and seeing DJ's and from then I just knew I wanted to start learning how to do it myself. I did take me a while to actually be able to do it but the main reason that I got into it was through my Mum and Dad and they love it to this day, they still come to my gigs.'
How would you describe your style and who you take inspiration from?
'So my main inspiration would have to be Roger Sanchez, I followed him for a while and when I was first learning how to DJ I used to watch his videos, his technical ability on the decks is second to none so I picked up a lot of techniques that he done. Literally just watching his videos and practicing, downloading the exact same songs that he would mix and doing it exactly how he would do it taught me a lot. His style is right up my street, he's an older guy so all the music that he plays would be stuff I got brought up around.'
What's been your career highlights so far?
'Well because he's my biggest inspiration it has to be getting put on the same bill as Roger Sanchez. I've got a few, I do some massive gigs like on massive stages with massive production but I like the small intimate gigs so I think doing these big shows, yeah it's amazing but when it's an intimate gig and you're closer with the crowd it feels better. Highlights would have to be both, so playing an intimate gig in my hometown at Reading Rooms probably supporting Camelphat and then DJ'ing at Braehead Arena or Ingliston. I've DJ'd a lot abroad but I'd still say Scotland honestly has the best atmosphere, we're so lucky!'
What's your opinion on electronic music in Scotland? We've seen a rise in events such as FLY: Open Air and Terminal V is there a need for an underground scene to form?
'We've obviously got the bigger night like you mentioned but I do think we struggle with the more intimate parties. I get a lot of bookings down south and they're all in intimate clubs and up here I just don't get that, hence why I wanted to put on my own one. Festivals and that are great but there's loads of room for intimate parties and don't get me wrong there are some in Edinburgh and Glasgow but in the smaller cities there's nothing so this is why I'm trying to do my own night.'
In Scotland there is a lot less commercial coverage and media support from both major publications and small blogs on electronic music compared to other genres. Why do you think that is? Is it a lack of up and coming DJ's or lack of interest in covering them?
'I don't know because there's a lot going on, in comparison to bands there's probably just as many DJ's these days so I'm not sure why. For example, I'd approached a couple of venues and they didn't want to have DJ's on so I think it's maybe tarnished with the stigma of the rave scene, from my experience anyway.'
Are there any Scottish DJ's or local club nights that you would recommend at the moment?
'There's a couple of guys from Dundee called Michael and Paul who started up their own night at Reading Rooms and it's going really well so watch out for that because the tunes they're churning out at the moment are getting a lot of love. It's called Frequency, it's still quite small but ken when you just see something about to blow! As for DJ's Paul Findlay for sure, Calvin Logue from Glasgow, they'd be my 2 to watch because the track they're putting out are unreal and they're getting a lot of support from bigger artists. That and they're both really genuine guys not dicks.'
What's your plans musically for the rest of the year?
'So this year my plan was to maybe chill it out a bit on the gigs and do more production but what I've done is more production and not chilled out on the gigs. When I first started out I was just a DJ and that's what I wanted to do but once I realized I wanted to make a career of it 3 years a go I thought I'm gonna have to learn how to make music so I've had my head down in the studio a lot . I've got a few upcoming releases but I can't say anymore! So this year I've got a couple festivals abroad and focus on production.'
Thanks to Hannah for taking the time to have a wee chat be sure to keep up to date with her upcoming events and new releases!
LINKS N STUFF
Hannah's Choice events page: https://www.facebook.com/Hannahs-Choice-314947912499872/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hannahlaingdj/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahlaingdj/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/hann-1
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