SO GOOD TO BE BACK IN TUNE
HAVING seen their livelihoods whipped from under them for almost 18 months as the pandemic kept the shutters down on the UK’s nightclubs, you can forgive DJs for getting emotional when they finally got to return to the job they love.
Lauren Lo Sung admits she found herself quite overcome when she stepped back onto a stage for the first time in more than a year.
“You have probably seen the video of me crying my eyes out... it was really emotional,” she laughs.
Then again Lauren’s return to gigging didn’t come post-lockdown. When she was playing to thousands of clubbers in her hometown of Liverpool at the end of April, clubs were still firmly closed and we were all walking around in face masks.
That’s because the 30-year-old was one of the artists chosen to play at The First Dance.
Hosted by clubbing brand Circus at the city’s BramleyMoore Dock warehouse, the two-day show was part of the national Events Research programme (ERP) and saw 6,000 clubbers allowed to party with no social distancing, to provide the Government with scientific data as to how events could be permitted to safely reopen in the Covid era.
“I played the first show. I was one of the first on and I played a really emotional intro track,” Lauren recalls. “Two years of not playing just hit me in one tune. It ended up going viral... it was on Sky News and all sorts.
“I was so fortunate to get to do that,” she adds. “It was such a special gig.”
As we know, it was another couple of months before clubs opened properly, but once they did Lauren – who also runs the LOLiFE club brand and record label – saw her diary fill up very quickly.
“It has been so mad since everything opened back up,” she reflects. “I kind of knew it would be because there had been such a drought for so long. It has been really good.”
Later this month Lauren will join some of the other First Dance artists – among them Yousef and Heidi, as well as Camelphat and Radio 1 legend Pete Tong – for the Warehouse Project and Circus Presents Radio 1 Dance at Mayfield Depot.
However when we talk, she is still recovering from a tour of the United States.
She elaborates: “I played at Space in Miami, for Fuse London with Enzo Siragusa. Then the next day went straight from the club for an 8am flight to Austin, Texas, which was amazing. Then I went to LA to play a warehouse rave, then onto Salt Lake City and San Diego. I played a rooftop venue there that was just insane. The final stop was Las Vegas. It was my first time in Vegas and I think I was only there for about 15 hours, I am still catching up on my sleep...”
It certainly sounds like something of a punishing schedule. Especially when you consider that
Two years of not playing just hit me in one tune Lauren Lo Sung
Lauren had to travel alone due to ongoing US travel restrictions because of Covid.
Not that she is complaining for one minute about being busy.
“You have to just throw yourself in,” she smiles. “You can’t complain when you compare it to what we have just been through.
“It has been intense getting back to work and being so busy, but I am eternally grateful for the position I am in and grabbing it with both hands because times were tough 18 months ago. I feel so fortunate to be doing what I am doing...”
● Catch Lauren Lo Sung alongside Camelphat, Hot Since 82, Alan Fitzpatrick, Pete Tong, Yousef, Heidi and more at Whp & Circus Presents Radio 1 Dance at Mayfield Depot on November 26