Amelie Lens is a Belgianelectronic musicDJ, record producer, and owner of the Lenske record label. Her debut release came on Italian imprint Lyase, and soon after a trio of releases on Pan-Pot’s Second State. As a resident at Hasselt’s Labyrinth Club, Lens started curating her own nights under the name EXHALE. Lens has expanded the EXHALE parties further afield, with regular showcases at the London’s fabric club and at Creamfields, OFFSonar, Dour and Extrema festivals.
Early life
Lens was born in Vilvoorde. From an early age, she had a diverse interest in music, citing Nine Inch Nails, Underworld, Boys Noize and Ellen Allien as early influences. She became absorbed in electronic music at 16, after attending the 2006Dour Festival in Belgium, an experience she describes as "life-changing". She says: "As soon as I got home, I started reading about the history of electronic music and discovered so many new artists and labels. It was like a whole new world opened for me; I made playlists in iTunes, putting tracks in an order that I liked, kind of like a podcast but not mixed.
Career
Lens gave up her work in the fashion industry in 2014, and began to DJ under the name Renée, playing mostly bass-heavy minimal techno, earning a residency at the Labyrinth Club in Hasselt, Belgium, where she built enough of a reputation to tour across Europe. More recently her high energy sets are known for their mixture of classic acid and tribal house influences along with more contemporary European techno sounds.
Musical sound and equipment
She often plays live using a Pioneer effects box, which she uses "to add layers to the mix. It has a built-in sampler and personalised effects that can entirely reform the track that is playing. Like everything, its use is situational. Sometimes I hardly touch it, but when I play a peak-time set it truly shines. I specifically look for and buy tracks that will work well with the device. Very stripped-down or minimalistic percussion locked grooves." When recording, she mostly uses Ableton Livemusic sequencer and digital audio workstation, as well as the Elektron Analog Four synth and sequencer.
