In 2014, the young and talented producer from Belgium, Felix de Laet, started out his musical project Lost Frequencies and a few months later, he brought his world striking hit “Are You With Me” into the dance scene, released on Armada Music sub label The Bearded Man. It has earned the title of “Most played record in Europe” and is now seen as a worldwide hit single.
For a short period after that, Felix released his single “Reality”, together with singer/songwriter Janieck Devy, which includes all elements of an ultimately relaxing summer tune. Felix describes his music as inspired by indie rock as well as dance music and he has the ability to transform his sources of inspiration into something completely different. The tracks of Lost Frequencies are already very well received in Europe and the feel good vibe and originality that they hold have great potential.
RaverRafting got the opportunity to have a chat with Felix de Laet, where he tells us all about his journey from high school to the international music business.
How long have you been producing music?
I’m already producing music since high school, so that would be 5 years now.
What triggered you to start producing music?
It wasn’t really a decision for me to start producing music. I got a computer which gave me the possibility to produce music, so I did. I’ve always wanted to produce music, so I just started doing it. I really liked it and this way, it has grown to what it is now.
Did you know that you wanted to produce music, ever since you was a little boy?
No, I have always liked music and at a certain point I started producing it, because I had the possibility to do that. I started sharing it, but I never expected it to become so big.
What was your moment of break-through? Was it your first single?
Yes, I think my first single ‘Are You With Me’ was my moment of break-through. It was actually pretty funny that it started charting in Belgium at first. That was easy for me, because I lived in Belgium and this way, I got in touch with the music business. I started doing promo’s in Belgium for the first time and this was nice, because I could work from home. After this, my singles got more famous in countries such as the Netherlands, France, Germany and this was easier for me, because I already got to know the world of music a little better.
How would you describe your sound?
I like to think of my sound as indie dance, which is a reference to Indy Rock. I lived in California for six months and over there, people listened a lot to independent rock music. People produce a lot of garage music over there, in their own way. It contained a bit of a hippie vibe. I like to produce music alone, in my room and that’s how I created the reference. I sent it out to my label and they released it. Besides the influences of indie rock, my music also contains dance music. This is why I think indie dance is a good mix, it’s how I like to call it.
You produced ‘Are You With Me’ two years ago, right?
Yes, I produced ‘Are You With Me’ two years ago, that was the remix. After this we released a cover in August, last year. So that one has been released for one year and 2 months now. It did really good! 🙂
Were you still in college back then?
Yes, I studied economics in Brussel back then, but at a certain point I had to make a choice. In May that year, I was supposed to perform at Tomorrowland Brazil and in those five days I also was supposed to be at a test for school. I had to choose between those important events and I decided to go to Brazil. At that moment, I made the decision to choose music. I had a lot of gigs and I was constantly touring. I was touring all summer, four to five times per week. So back then, I made my decision and it was a good one.
What was the best place you’ve performed so far?
There are a lot of places I have performed so far, but I don’t think I’ve had the best one yet. I think this will happen when I have more singles. More personal music where everybody can dance on, maybe enjoy and that’s probably going to be the best performance. I’ve had a lot of fun gigs, all of them were really amazing, but none yet that was ten times better than all the others. I haven’t had THE best gig ever. Tomorrowland was amazing, other great gigs were also really awesome, it’s incomparable. But I haven’t had the best one yet.
Can you name a location you would really like to perform sometime?
Burning Man would be really cool. Also, because I actually don’t understand that festival at all. I think it’s in August and there are so many videos and photos being uploaded online and it’s all so vague. I would like to go there myself sometime, to see what happens there and how they handle the artists and people, because I don’t understand it for even a little bit. 🙂
What do you like most about your work?
The best thing is playing my music and seeing the crowd sing along. I put on the lyrics on the screen and then, I can just stop the music. Seeing everybody sing along is really the best thing ever.
What are your sources of inspiration?
I gain my inspiration from other music genres. I listen to a lot of deep house, that’s what I kind of do, but what inspires me are very different kind of songs. If I find a nice tune or a good vocal that is being used, or an idea, I try to use it in what I do myself. The audio of ‘Are You With Me’ is coming from a country song and ‘Reality’ was also sort of an acoustic, rock song. We adapted it with the singer. I change some things to a different style and it’s really funny to see what it does like this.
Have you got a favorite artist?
Yes, you are my favorite artist. 🙂 Just kidding, my favorite artist is Flume.
You’re a producer who has accomplished a lot in a really short time period. Do you have any tips for starting producers?
What’s really important, is that you like your own music and don’t try to please or copy someone else. If you become famous, you become famous with the music you’ve made, so you have to be sure that you like it yourself. Not because it’s a hype, but because it should be your music style. I’ve always liked really rough music, but I just can’t produce that because I want to make music that is a little more chill out. I have always wanted to produce the genre I’m producing now and at a certain point I did. I don’t see myself with another music career. I do have another artist name and it would be cool if this project became bigger as well, it’s also a little more rough, but I really love my Lost Frequencies project. I can do anything, very melodic, but I can also use non melodic, fun tunes. It’s very differentiated, so I’m really glad with what I have now.
You’ve probably worked together with several different artists by now. Do you have someone in mind, you really would like to work with sometime?
I would love to work with Kid Cudi, that’s a hip hop rapper from the USA. He has made all kinds of music, so I think he’s also capable of doing new stuff and I think it would be cool to bring those two worlds together. I wouldn’t choose to work with someone who has the same music style as me, it doesn’t add a lot to the songs. I prefer to work with people from other genres and then, mix it up. I would also like trying to mix my style with drum & bass music, see what it does it could be fun. I think I would be capable of doing that.
Connect with Lost Frequencies:
https://www.facebook.com/LostFrequenciesMusic/
https://twitter.com/LFrequencies
https://soundcloud.com/lo-freq-1
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