Undefined by sound or genre, LICA is an artist who unravels all boundaries and sets the tone for herself - both DJing and producing. There’s plenty for that to account to - from her love of Drum and Bass back in Estonia, to delving into the more melodic, minimal and indie dance sounds after moving to London, with a sprinkling of education and awe of Jamie Jones and Nina Kravitz along the way. Yet, even with such a solid, deep understanding of music, it is wild to think LICA only started producing in 2023 - some 15 years after beginning her beatmatching journey. Delving into the production side has proven her successful, after seeing her release on some well-known labels including Frau Blau and Secret Fusion.
Now as LICA looks backwards with her upcoming EP on Buttress Records, as well as starting her own event in current home Lisbon, we catch up with her to discuss all things which makes her an artist.
WEDNESDAY 5TH FEBRUARY 2025
INTERVIEW START
SO, ILONA, OR AS YOU BETTER KNOW YOU, LICA - IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU JOINING ME FROM LISBON. YOU WERE RECENTLY PLAYING IN MIAMI THIS PAST WEEKEND - HOW WAS THAT FOR YOU?
It was so exciting because it was my first time in Miami - I didn't really know what to expect! I was playing at this legendary club called Do Not Sit. The vibe was just electrifying: it was very packed and people were dancing and enjoying themselves, so I played a bit harder. I played a four-hour set and it was a really cool journey. Also in Miami there’s such an interesting and entertaining music culture over there, which was super cool to experience - Miami is like a little playground.
THE FIRST THING I REALLY WANT TO DIVE INTO IS TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT YOU AND YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY. BORN IN ESTONIA, WHERE YOU STARTED TO PLAY DRUM AND BASS IN 2008 - YOU MOVED TO LONDON FOR MANY YEARS AND CREATED A NAME FOR YOURSELF IN THE MELODIC DANCE SCENE, AND NOW YOU’RE LIVING IN LISBON, CONTINUING TO PRODUCE AND PLAY THIS GENRE. CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THIS AND TELL US YOUR STORY?
That's totally correct. When I first got curious about music in Estonia, Drum and Bass stood out from everything else. It has this completely crazy energy that tells much more than any lyrics or melodies. The bass sounds are interesting, and at that time I felt so much emotion in it, plus the way it made me dance was so new to me at that time. And so I started exploring it more and started to learn how to mix - I was practicing every single day for three hours until I learnt how to mix on vinyls!
I then decided to move to London for the Drum and Bass scene, but I didn’t feel that I really matched it - it was a bit of a dissonance - I remember when I started going out I was enjoying myself as an audience, but didn't feel I was connecting with the crowd. It was just a different feeling, I suppose. And so I started looking into new genres which were inspiring me. I will never forget when I started looking into Nina Kravitz - her style and music at that time. She was playing this minimal, big techno, like very experimental. I was really drawn to it and I started diving into more of that kind of genre. I started to discover minimal, electronica, experimental and electro. And now I currently play melodic house, electro, a bit of this new wave, the indie dance sound and breakbeat. These are my main genres at the moment, after all this long journey. It’s actually very difficult for me to choose just one sound, so I accept my sound is more eclectic: an underground sort of eclectic DJ.
YOU MENTIONED YOU WERE SEARCHING FOR DIFFERENT EVENTS. DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST ONES YOU WENT TO AFTER DISCOVERING NINA KRAVITZ?
There were so many events back in London, but seeing Jamie Jones playing really captivated me. Although the night wasn't even my style of house, it was what he gave away as an artist - that was super interesting to me and gave me something to learn and be inspired from. And I will always remember my first trips to Ibiza and to DC-10 - the energy and the sound I've experienced there. I don't remember who was playing, however the sound would range from techno to melodic house, and sort of meet somewhere in the middle, you know?
I was just going to many different events, and was just sucking everything in like a sponge. I was observing and learning from both the music and audience perspective - like how this sound makes people feel? What kind of vibe and mood it creates on a dance floor? What I noticed with melodic house and techno is that there’s a certain kind of melancholy present, you know? People go into their own kind of head space with melancholic feelings, right? Like people are not necessarily jumping, they are moving around and vibing to it. Whereas house music is more of a jumpy vibe, where there's more of a release of the energy. So it was really interesting to learn how you can manipulate this melancholic state into something that is more jumpy and fun, and then bring it back to the melancholic state. So that was like something that I always wanted to do, not just to stick to one thing but experiment, make it more eclectic.
AND HAVING SEEN YOU PLAY BEFORE, I FEEL THIS MIX OF SOUNDS AND MOODS REALLY REFLECTS IN YOUR SETS AND YOUR PRODUCTIONS. YOU DON’T JUST GO FULL-ON MELODIC, YOU BRING A LOT OF ENERGY - SO IT’S VERY OBVIOUS YOU HAVE SO MUCH UNDERSTANDING ABOUT SO MANY DIFFERENT GENRES…
Yeah, exactly. I'm still in an experimenting state still - I feel like there's still a journey to go and I’m enjoying this journey. I feel it would be really boring if I told myself this is the finish line, this is it - I'm going to stop right here and continue doing this. I want to keep on learning. I want to keep on inspiring, going back and forth and experimenting. Just be daring and see how it makes me and people feel.
Right now, the music I'm focusing on has more of a nostalgic twist to it. I’ve been exploring music from the beginning of 2000s, like the 2000-2005 era and there’s a very relevant and current sound in these tracks, which I’ve tried to apply it into the current moment. Because of this, I’ve been making and using sounds that take us back to this time period - as reflected in my upcoming EP, ‘Never Look Back’, which is coming out on Buttress Records in August. There’s still some time until it is released, but I believe it’s going to be a really great summertime track. It reflects on how I see music now and how it makes me feel currently.
TYING INTO ALL OF THIS, YOU'VE ALSO GOT YOUR NEW EVENT TIMELAPSE, WHICH YOU’VE ALREADY KICKED OFF WITH A SHOW ON BLOOP LONDON TWO WEEKS BACK. WHEN I HEAR THE WORD TIMELAPSE, I THINK OF GOING BACK IN TIME - IS YOUR NEW EP TYING IN WITH SOUNDS OF THE PAST, AND THE PAST IN GENERAL?
Yes, definitely. Timelapse is basically from something that was made before, yet forgotten and is still current. So sometimes I feel like it's cool nowadays, especially how fast the world is moving forward, and how fast the music industry is moving forward with all the AI around. I mean, people are talking about creating music on AI - too many steps ahead in the way of thinking. And I feel it's very important to remember where we're coming from and the sound that was created before; I'm not talking about the old like throwback classics, more like the sound which is, and will always be current. And this is what I want to do with Timelapse - I want to remind others of these sounds and bring it into current sets.
WHAT DIFFERENT THINGS HAS ESTONIA, LONDON AND LISBON OFFERED TO YOU AS AN ARTIST THROUGHOUT YOUR JOURNEY TO THIS DAY?
Estonia made me realise that it's not enough for me just to listen to the music. I had to act upon it - I had to deliver it. It was a very, very direct kind of message of okay, you need to play music. You are a DJ. There were no questions asked. Like I was telling people I'm a DJ before I became a DJ, and even before I even touched the decks. It was done. That's why I totally believe in manifestation - it becomes a truth, you know. Like I had no choice. And you know, I'm not a patient person at all. So for me to practice for three hours every single day after school is something. I remember I was exhausted, yet it felt so good to be that exhausted. This is exhaustion. I really like it. So this made me keep on going, until I managed to beat match, and from there on it became more of a pleasant journey. I found it really interesting how I didn't lose my patience because normally I would. And so Estonia definitely gave me this call to be a DJ I would say.
London made me observe. It gave me so many different and new perspectives: new angles and visions, you know like okay maybe it's time to move on maybe it's time to do something else. What am I gonna do? So I just started diving into everything and I put myself everywhere, telling myself I was going to play here and there. At that time I had never touched CDJs in my life, haha. I was asked if I could play and I said I could. I was like yes yes yes - everything yes. And at the same time I was just looking around - I was meeting everyone - again I was just like a sponge. I wanted to meet everyone - I wanted to know everything - I wanted to hear, and see, everything. So yeah, London was educational. From the moment I moved there, until the moment I moved away, it was a total transformational journey. Even multiple lives in one.
So when I moved to Lisbon I thought I knew it all, however it felt like the beginning of my time in London. I had to do the same journey all over again, however this time around it has been a lot faster. And actually the Timelapse inspiration came from Lisbon because I felt everything moving - I remember the scene was in this moment where everyone wanted to have all these unreleased tracks - they were chasing the future, when all this good music was being left behind like it never existed.
EXACTLY AND IT'S SO REFRESHING TO HEAR WHEN DJS PLAY LOADS OF OLDER TRACKS, ONES WHICH ARE FORGOTTEN ABOUT TEMPORARILY.
That's what Lisbon made me realise, because there’s always this appreciation towards the past. At some point it was even too much, again another throwback party with classic house, but then it just opened my mind about what else is happening in our genre. I then started doing a lot of digging - I bought a lot of vinyls from 2005 and and I was amazed of how much great music I found - I was literally amazed, and this appreciation towards this old sound came back to me and the way it was created. These days music is made 10x times quicker, and back then there was a different process behind it. It was very careful and very mindful and I'm just fascinated about how much good stuff was done immaculately back in all that time ago.
“I feel like there’s still a journey to go and I’m enjoying this journey. ”
I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE ONLY BEEN PRODUCING MUSIC SINCE 2022. WHAT MADE YOU START PRODUCING A FEW YEARS AGO?
I was always sort of producing but I never released anything. Even back in Estonia I was playing with Fruity Loops and just doing some Drum and Bass tracks, but I never even thought about pursuing it further. When I was in London I suppose I was always like this perfectionist that was so scared of showing my music to the world I had to be ready for it.
So in 2022 when I did this first EP I was doing this very mindfully because I didn't want it to be a dance floor banger, so the debut of the Wild Awakes was a little introduction of myself.
Ultimately I started productions because the music industry is always moving forward and as an artist you need to evolve - being a DJ on its own wasn't enough for me anymore, no matter how good of a DJ I am. Producing makes you this ultimate package that is needed - it means that you can both create and then you can deliver it. It's a natural evolution I think. And then when I started producing I fell in love with it - it was almost like one of those moments if I could choose production before DJ I would definitely be producer first before. It sucks you in and the more you do it the more it opens up possibilities. It's an endless journey, and I don't know there is an end to it - there's so much more to learn.
HOW DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FOR YOUR TRACKS? IS IT FROM YOUR RICH MUSICAL HISTORY OR MORE FROM WALKING ALONG THE STREET AND SEEING THINGS?
The elements of my musical history are definitely part of inspiration when building a track. However ultimately I want to create music that is interesting and doesn’t follow any trend. I also think about how it will be perceived on the dancefloor, how will the audience hear it. I don’t want it to come and be just a banger, I want it to create feelings.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE YOU'LL ALWAYS GET THERE IN THE END. YOU NEVER KNOW HOW BUT THAT'S KIND OF LIKE THE BEAUTY OF IT I SUPPOSE...
Yes exactly, there always needs to be some sort of magic and you can't create magic intentionally. It has to be like a surprise sort of thing, even for yourself and it always takes like a few days to let it rest before you listen to it from the third person perspective. And you're like ok that works nice and it also happened that I made a track that was like a completely different vibe like, so a completely different direction. A perfect example is this melodic techno track I was working on, which I let rest like for a week, and then I came back to it and I got a nice UK Acid house out of it in two hours. It took me like two days to make it, I put it on the side and then I came back to it, and in two hours it was a new kind of perfect.
WOULD YOU SAY THAT SINCE YOU'VE STARTED PRODUCING TRACKS YOU HAVE ALTERED THE WAY YOU DJ AND DISCOVER MUSIC?
It's different for sure. I feel that now that I'm producing I obviously have to play my tracks when DJing, and that I have to stand for more of a specific sound and play that message out stronger. It also serves as a reminder that no matter what journey you go on, you always need to come back to yourself - to remind myself that this is who I am and this is what my sound is. It has also made me more balanced I feel, because before I was maybe too experimental, like I could go from dark disco to broken beats - I was just all over the place. Now I'm more compact. I know I have my four specific styles and I make them all sync with each other.
I WANTED TO TOUCH BASE MORE ABOUT YOUR ‘NEVER LOOK BACK’ EP COMING OUT ON BUTTRESS RECORDS AS WE DIDN'T REALLY SPEAK THAT MUCH ABOUT IT EARLIER. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE RELEASE?
It will be released on 25th August - actually as I told you a bit before about that melodic techno track I put to the side and came back to it and made it into a very UK housey kind of sound - well this is the one. The second in the EP is of course called ‘Timelapse’, which was made mindfully with inspiration from artists like Gabriel Ananda and Martin Buttrich, who are artists I was listening to a lot, from back in the day.
I was listening to the structures of tracks from these kinds of artists and they're all eight minutes long, compared to tracks these days which are around six minutes max. The structures of these long tracks really fascinated me because the energy never dies - it's very constant and even though the breaks are so minimal, the sound is rolling and consistent, and that’s what drives the tracks continually; why the dance floor will never die. So this is what I wanted to do with my Timelapse track - I wanted it to be very riding and constant. It's a very subtle track and is around 123 bpm, yet it's rolling and it never stops.
The third track is called ‘It's Not Real’. Just like the other two, it’s got acid sounds in it; it’s very bumpy and fast - it’s a ‘ravey’ track so to speak.
WAS BUTTRESS THE FIRST LABEL YOU HAD IN MIND, OR DID YOU APPLY TO OTHERS?
I wasn't applying to any labels, although it had got a lot of interest. When I was at ADE I bumped into Mauro (Musumeci) and I was telling him about the tracks and he said to send them over; so I did and he said he really liked ‘Never Look Back’. He then asked if I could make another track and we can do an EP out of it. I love Musumeci, so to work closely with someone like him is a dream come true!
Nowadays you have to be very mindful of what labels and where you release, because sometimes there's no-one looking after you - there is no feeling of community as such, right? I really appreciate when I just don't just release a track as a one off, but there's a relationship that starts after that.
FOR ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS YOU ON INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK, THEY’LL KNOW HOW YOUR BRAND COMES ACROSS QUITE PERSONAL, WHICH I THINK IS WHY A LOT OF PEOPLE CONNECT WITH YOU. DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE A SEPARATE IDENTITY?
Oh, that's another journey that I'm still making that I'm still discovering. I feel like my Instagram doesn't tell enough about me as an artist and this is something that I'm really working on at the moment. There's so much happening behind the stage - I'm spending time with my music in the studio, DJing, digging and going to record shops. I feel like there's a lot of that missing. It has to be very clear on your social media. I'm still on a journey of doing that and figuring out how much to put out there, without bombarding with lots of things. I want to add more music material, to share with the world how I’m inspired and what my main inspirations around music are; whilst being subtle in how I communicate with my audience - this is something I'm working on basically.
YOU HAVE TRAVELLED TO MANY DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD AND PLAYED IN MANY DIFFERENT CLUBS AND FESTIVALS OVER THE YEARS. OUT OF ANYWHERE, WHERE HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO PLAY?
I played at Siin Experience in Syria - it was probably one of the most significant moments for me as an artist to be able to play there. It was in the desert, and out there it never really rains. So after the girl Pat plays and I come on, as the headliner, it started raining - cold rain, and there was no cover because it came as a total surprise. 15 minutes into my set the equipment started jumping and jamming, so I was restarting a track all over again. The organiser came to me and said I could stop playing, that it was ok. In my head there was a choice to stop or to continue. I hate these situations, but I decided to dive into continuing - fuck it, lets make it through. It was a magical moment - no-one in the crowd left - everyone was just dancing under the pouring rain. There was so much appreciation, so much love. I didn't even realise what I was doing at that moment. And guess what? When I started playing and the other DJ came in, the rain stopped.
WOW, THAT WAS A MOMENT INDEED.
And it was the moment that made me really known in the Middle East because I didn't give up. I stayed and I delivered. I got a lot of followers and a lot of appreciation from the audience because of that moment. And yeah, it was like a phenomenal moment. Since then, I’ve returned to Siin Experience many times. Every time I’ve gone back the crowd and the scene has grown. From the first event, at 800 people now it’s 2,500 or something. It really made me realise that as an artist, you can never be a diva - you travelled all this way to deliver your music, and especially to countries like Syria, who are so hungry for someone to come and give them something new.
Of course, other highlights are to play in institutions, to deliver a really good set and get really good feedback - such as when I’ve played at fabric and Bar Americas; in Bar Americas, I played for seven hours non-stop. It was probably the longest set I've ever done.
I FEEL LIKE THAT RAIN WAS REALLY TESTING YOU. DO YOU TAKE THE EASY WAY, OR THE HARD WAY - AND OBVIOUSLY YOU TOOK THE HARD WAY BUT ULTIMATELY THE MOST REWARDING.
Yes, the reward comes from situations like this; moments like this are very crucial to have in your personal journey. It's a reminder that this stuff is in you already. It's up to you to accept the challenge from the universe.
TO CLOSE OUT, WHAT IS THE TRACK YOU'RE CURRENTLY PLAYING ON REPEAT AT THE MOMENT?
Never Look Back.
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INTERVIEW BY JOANNE PHILPOTT