Lost Frequencies Interview

Belgium chart topper stops off at Egg on March 11th for another showcase with friends

After scoring a No.1 across the world - including the UK - with his 2014 cover 'Are You With Me', Belgium's Lost Frequencies has been forging ahead with a succession of poppy house hits. Looking ahead to a year that includes appearances at Coachella, plus a a pair of TomorrowLand festivals, one in his home country, the other Brazil, he returns to Egg this Friday 11th March. Check the full line-up and buy tickets here.

Before this appearance, we chatted to him about cross genre music making, hosting his own festival stage and why he avoids using sample packs...

Your breakthrough hit was a cover of country artist Easton Corbin. How did that come about? Are you a fan of country music?

No! I accidentally found it on SoundCloud, which is pretty unusual. And when I heard the first 30 seconds I was like, “Ok, this was the track I was looking for to remix!” Now I have a new singer on it, so it’s actually a cover. 
So no, I’m not really a country boy fan.

You've just got back from a tour of America? How was that? Is there a difference in the size of the shows there or the atmosphere? Despite inventing house music much of America only seems to have got into dance music since the birth of EDM.



Well, I wasn’t really playing in really big venues, I wanted to play some nice shows in little/medium clubs to get connection with the people. It was a really incredible adventure. To be on another continent and hear people sing your music... It's a crazy feeling! I’m really looking forward to going back there. I’m actually going back on Monday, for the Miami Music Week. I’m going to play some shows there, and try to meet some artists and enjoy some other showcases! And it’s true that we have to give them a lot of credits, because Chicago and LA are kind of the deep house “homes”, but electronic really became big with the EDM scene. A lot of people do enjoy deep house actually though, so that is pretty cool.

Incorporating proper songs and lots of guitars, tracks like 'Reality' seem to owe as much to singer-songwriters and pop as they do to house music. Is it fair to say that you have mixed influences? 



Yes, completely! I listen to a lot of different kind of music, like right now my favourite track of the moment is Blurry Face's 'Stressed Out’, which isn’t really electronic music. And I’m getting some ideas of incorporating sounds they used into my next tracks! That is what I like about music, people like to put a sound in a box and label it, but as long as it's good I don’t really care what kind of music it is!

How did you first get into producing electronic music? 


I was listening to a lot of electro-house and house when I was younger, by younger I mean 12-13 years old. I remember in my class there weren’t a lot of people listening to that kind of music. But I just loved it, and when I went to the boarding school I arrived in a class where everybody was listening to this kind of music! Which was really cool!

Are the instruments you use in your track samples or do you play them yourself?


No, these are no samples, real recorded guitars sounds are what you hear! They are recorded by professional players, or sometimes by the singer them self. Because, for me, the soul of a real guitar is much better than just a sample. And I have to say, I’ve been through all those guitar loops, where some of them are really tempting to use! They have a catchy melody and are HQ, but you have to remember that everybody else who bought that sample pack also has them. So sometime when I get promos, I can tell if the tracks were samples are not, and sometimes it feels unprofessional. So that’s one reason more why I will not use those loops/samples!

You're represented by TomorrowLand. What does being affiliated with such a huge festival mean to you? How would you describe the TomorrowLand experience for someone who has never been there.



It is true I am working with them, and I am so happy to have my own stage this year called ‘Lost Frequencies & Friends’ with amazing artists like Sigala, Felix Jaehn, Robin Shulz, Lucas & Steve, Feder and way more! I have to say that I’m really looking forward to Tomorrowland, the Belgian one and the Brazilian one. The vibe there is crazy, people are there to have a good time, the decor is breathtaking.. You have a lot of different genres with a lot of different stages, so everybody there can be happy.

You also played the first TomorrowLand in Brazil? What was that like?

The vibe is crazy! I’m really looking forward to going back, enjoying a fresh beer and playing some music for the crowd, which is really energetic, I have to say!

What was your last trip to Egg like? Have you got anything special prepared for this visit?


Last time at Egg was really cool. That’s why I’m coming back, the staff there are really nice, and the ambiance in the club is amazing. I love clubs like the Egg. I’m working on my album right now, but all my album tracks are pretty cool and played down, so a club like the Egg won’t be a place to try them out, so I made more deep/techno remixes of my own tracks to see how people will react. I’m really excited to try them out!

Are there anymore releases on the horizons? How does the rest of your year look?


Yes! My next single will soon be released. We are shooting the video right now. And I am working on my album. Really excited to show everybody all the music I’ve been working on... I hope people are going to like it. I know expectations are high but I will just produce music I love and trust this feeling!