reading time: 7min

If you didn’t know about Lola Haro, you will definitely remember her after this mix and keep an eye on her. She only appeared in the scene around 2018 but won hearts and dancefloors since then - through becoming a resident at the charming Paradise City Festival as well as nailing her first Boiler Room in 2019. Her sets and mixes have an eclectic, easy flow built by carefully selected tracks that seem totally trend agnostic. There is good vibes, there is melancholy, there are highs and lows knitted together effortlessly leaving you not only once asking for the track id. There is something very bright, easy around her and her DJing that will hopefully come to shine even more in the future.

Lola was a long contender for a “delayed with..” edition and meeting her for the interview and learning about her process it only leaves us with three words: we are fans!

Hi Lola, nice to chat with you. Where are you taking this interview from and what are you up to in these times?

I’m taking this interview from my home. Sitting in my living room while my dog is watching me and my cat is jumping around. I have a weekly radio show on Saturday night at Stubru so I’m busy most of the time looking for new music. Twice a week I’m also having a zoom-call with a friend I met in South Africa during a gig at Wolfkop Weekender. He teaches me the basics of Ableton. It’s a slow process, but I’m learning a lot and I really enjoy it. Since last month I started working on a healthier lifestyle. In the past, I lived in a constant rush and the covid-19 period forced me to live in a more conscious way, focusing way more on self-care. I’m taking my time for the fundamental things in life. A lot of reading, shifting my eating habit, and going to sleep early makes me feel much better, physically and mentally.

How would you describe your development as a DJ from the beginning until now? Can you identify certain phases for yourself?

I was only DJing for one year when I started playing at gigs so, at that time, my taste was still a bit different than now. I was always really interested in music and also played drums when I was a kid. My parents listened a lot to electronic music and since the day I heard it for the first time, I wanted to know everything about it. My parents have a friend who runs a record shop in Antwerp ( Wally’s Groove World) and I went there to discover music. In the beginning, I was so overwhelmed by all the different kinds of music there are and didn’t know where to start. A lot of DJs passed by the shop and I always wanted to know what they were buying. I bought the same records as them because I thought it must be good if they play them. With hearing so many different styles, I started to develop my own style and I also found out that my taste can also be different from what other people like. From that moment I started to care less about what other people were buying or playing and I could start looking at a more specific kind of music. I like all kinds of genres but what most of my tracks have in common is that they have a certain emotion in them. The gigs throughout my short career also inspired me a lot.

Looking at your career so far and the DJ gigs you played - which ones are the most important ones to you personally, the ones that stand out?

My last gig for a dancing crowd was last year in March at Hoppetosse and that was for sure one of the best nights of my life. I met so many great people there. I had a really good connection with the crowd and it felt like we really understood each other. I cannot even describe this crazy connection I felt! This gave me a lot of confidence to keep on doing what I’m doing now. I’ve also been invited by Giegling twice and this was a huge honor to me. I’ve always been a big fan of them. They create such a specific vibe and they've been really inspiring to me. The fact that they gave me the trust and belief in me was really motivating. It’s always fun to play with them!

Tell us about an artist you really want our audience to discover. What music or art are you inspired by yourself?

Seduction is an artist from Switzerland that I accidently found on Soundcloud who makes incredibly beautiful music. Such strong emotions you hear in the tracks. I also included one of them in my set for Delayed. Also Ebende. I found him on Soundcloud and he has so many great productions. It goes from floaty to trippy, to dark and happiness. I get inspired from every nice track I hear. If I discover something new, something I haven’t heard before, it always challenges me to keep digging in this certain style or vibe and try to create something new.

A record you never want to trade?

The first record I got was when I was a kid: “Dumas presents Langstrump”. Not because of the music, but because of the sleeve. It’s a picture of Pippi Longstocking, a Swedish fictional character in a series of children's books and it was also on tv. She is a young girl of 9 with reddish hair and always wears 2 braids. Everyone always said I looked like her so my father had given me this record as a gift. The track itself is a remix of the theme song from the TV series but is a bit weird. This record is on my fireplace and people who come here still make the comparison.

Who were important people on your path that mentored/supported you?
My management team in Belgium were the first people who supported me. We’ve been friends for some time now. They organize Paradise City festival and lots of other parties. As I was always busy looking for music they told me that maybe I had to try out DJing. One of them taught me how to do it and soon I was warming up at some parties they organized. I never expected that it was really going to be something. I was just having fun and hearing all the tracks I collected over the past years blend into each other, gave me a lot of satisfaction and I just wanted to keep going! Last year I signed with Temporary Secretary, an agency in Berlin. They saw my Boiler Room in 2019 and invited me to meet with them. I couldn’t believe what was going on. The idea of people hearing my sets in a foreign country seemed insane :D I wasn’t confident enough to believe that people were really liking what I was doing, because I still couldn’t believe it myself I was actually doing what I love and that it was catching on. All these opportunities gave me such an exciting feeling.

For someone that never saw you playing, what would be the perfect description of your sound in your own words?

That’s a difficult one. I think I really play all kinds of music. But all of them have this certain strong emotion in it. I love this floating deep electro vibe but also straightforward and catchy.

What was your inspiration for this “delayed with …” mix and where did you record it?

I wanted to create a trip between different emotions.

I wanted it to be dreamy but also mysterious and with some euphoric moments.

I recorded it from my home booth.