Chloe MooreChloe Moore chats to LIA, a new and exciting emerging DJ who, despite having been playing for just two years, has quickly made her mark on the Irish dance music scene.
Having held down residencies in Ibiza and recently securing gigs in the UK and the Netherlands, she proves to be a promising rising talent, bringing her energetic flair to every performance. Although she doesn’t like to define herself by genre, her sound is predominantly rooted in house. LIA loves to bring a sense of nostalgia to her sets with everything from uplifting euphoric melodies to more modern funky basslines. She is definitely one to watch in the dance music scene and shows no signs of slowing down.
Hey LIA, thank you so much for sitting down with me today! You’re one of Ireland’s fastest rising DJs with gigs in massive venues such as Index and your recent debut at Electric Picnic. What was your first introduction to DJing? How did you find your way into the world of electronic music?
My journey as a DJ began just two years ago. At the beginning of my third year of college, I discovered and decided to join my college’s DJ society. I went by myself on the first day, purely for fun and out of curiosity. I made many friends there and became seriously interested in pursuing DJing. I bought my first set of decks and began to practice a lot in my spare time. The society had weekly lessons and mixing sessions that acted as a driving force for me to stay motivated. The community I found there greatly influenced and inspired me to keep going, being surrounded by people who had been doing it longer than me. Without the TU DJ Society, I don’t know if DJing and playing gigs were something I would’ve ever believed I could gain access to.
Your sets are mainly house and minimal tech music. How did you decide that those were the genres for you?
I’ve had a love for house music since I began going to The Wright Venue when I started secondary school. Wrights really was my first time experiencing club culture as an early teen, and a lot of people my age would agree that it holds a lot of special memories for us still. That era of deep house around 2016 was golden in my eyes, and I still pay homage to it a lot in my sets.
Since spending my summers living in Ibiza for the past three years, my love for house music has grown even more, with my eyes opening up to the newer minimal tech sound as well. My sound as a DJ is definitely rooted in house, but I don’t like to close myself off as just a house DJ, as I have a love for many genres of music and really enjoy experimenting with new sounds in my sets. I think it can hinder your creative process to box yourself off too early in your career. I found myself feeling a bit plagued by the thought that I needed to narrow myself down to just one genre and find my niche, but in reality, I love too many different styles of music to put myself into a box just yet.
As well as house and minimal tech, I’m really loving trance lately and enjoyed getting to incorporate some old-school trance into my set at Anachronica. I’m also quite drawn to garage-inspired basslines and have been exploring more old-school driving techno lately, too. Until I start producing myself, I don’t think I’ll be able to know definitively what I want my trademark sound to be, and I think that’s okay. Experimentation is essential to creative expression and self-discovery.
You’ve had a busy summer, from playing festivals such as Electric Picnic and Longitude to supporting huge acts, namely Kettama and Jamback, and also your months in Ibiza playing in huge clubs like Eden. How do you handle such a busy schedule while also keeping your sets fresh?
In terms of handling my schedule, this summer was definitely a whirlwind to say the least and tricky to manage at times, but it was absolutely incredible and one I will never forget. This was my third summer spent living in Ibiza and my second summer spent DJing over there. I was a resident DJ at Itaca Ibiza for the second time this summer and was lucky to be given flexibility so that I could also play gigs at Ibiza Rocks, O Beach, Eden, and Café Mambo. My flexible hours also meant that I could fly home for gigs when I needed, and I ended up flying home a total of four times during my three-month period of living in Ibiza.
In terms of keeping my sets fresh, I am constantly on the lookout for new music and digging for older gems. I won’t play the same set twice, and I don’t like to overplay my songs, but of course, I do have my few go-to tracks. I like there to be a nice balance of older and newer tracks in my sets, and also a mix of underground and more well-known music too. Depending on the type of gig I’m playing, I can lean into certain aspects more.
What artists did you look up to growing up?
I’ve always had quite a broad music taste and an appreciation for all types of music — pop, rap, indie rock, classical, you name it, I was listening to it. As a child, I remember discovering electronic music for the first time when Avicii started entering the charts. I remember being particularly enthralled by Avicii. I found his music just touched my soul and made me feel emotional whilst still wanting to move and dance, which felt new to me and is something I’d love to encapsulate when I go on to produce my own music. I was devastated when he tragically passed away in 2018. I love to close out my sets occasionally with remixes of Seek Bromance and I Could Be the One. They never fail to stir up a reaction. I think Avicii’s story is very important and relevant today as a cautionary tale of the pressure that the industry can put on you and the damage that not having the right support around you can cause.
What’s your creative process like when curating a set?
In the beginning, I liked to always have the bones of a set planned to help ease my nerves, but nowadays I like to freestyle my sets a lot more so I can rely on reading the crowd — something I pride myself on being skilled at. I’ll still usually prepare playlists on Spotify or SoundCloud of new music I’ve found and am interested in playing, and then go and buy those songs on Beatport. I love to go digging on Bandcamp as I think it’s the best for finding underground music, and I’m always checking my SoundCloud DMs for unreleased gems and browsing my feed for new tracks. Every song tells a story, and music taste is very personal. Recognising that no two crowds are the same and there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to planning a set helped me realise that sometimes the less rigid you are with what you intend to play, the better.
Is there a huge difference in your choices when it comes to playing in a club as opposed to playing at a festival?
My choices definitely vary from gig to gig, depending on the setting. When I’m playing at a festival, I do feel there’s less of a need to cater your style to somebody else, like you would when you’re opening for a specific headline DJ at a club. With this comes a bit more freedom as to what you can play in my eyes. At the same time, though, you’re usually clashing with big headline artists when you’re playing at a festival, so I like to keep my sets quite high energy if I can.
I also like to play more crowd-pleasers at festivals than I would if I were opening at a club, for that same reason of wanting the crowd to stay at your set and not wander elsewhere. When I’m playing at a club, I do like to play a bit more underground if I can, especially if I’m opening. I have opened for many big DJs now with quite differing music styles, so when I get a booking like this, I like to play in accordance with their sound as best I can.
The electronic scene has come a long way, but it’s still not always an even playing field. What has your experience been like as a woman building your name in the industry?
My experience overall has been quite a positive one to date, but naturally, a male-dominated scene can be difficult for any woman to navigate at times. Being a female DJ in the electronic music scene today can feel a bit like a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s fantastic; you’re being given lots of opportunities as women now have more of a place in the scene, and on the other hand, you find yourself having to work a lot harder to prove yourself as a female DJ and hoping you’re being booked because of your skill and not just to fill a gender diversity gap.
I try not to think too much about this, as I like to believe that people have good intentions, but you definitely need to look out for yourself as a woman in the scene to make sure you don’t get taken advantage of. I have occasionally caught myself overthinking the clothes I wear while I’m playing for fear of not being taken as seriously, which is something that men in the industry never have to consider. I think worries like this more so come from the sexualisation of female DJs online, but the unfortunate reality is that clothing choice won’t shield you from this, so you might as well wear what you like anyway.
It’s important to have a good support system of people you trust around you and to prioritise your safety at all times. I hope I can inspire women to believe that they, too, can achieve what they set their minds to and not let anybody make them feel unworthy or undeserving.
Do you think social media has a huge role in bookings and success nowadays?
Social media undeniably plays a part in bookings and success in the music industry today, and while I’ve seen a lot of discourse online regarding this topic, I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. We’re inevitably moving towards a society that is heavily reliant on technology and social media, so whether people like it or not, I think it’s important for artists to move with the times and use it to their advantage.
I actively decided to utilise my social media as a means of marketing myself and catering towards my success, and I don’t think there’s a problem with that. I think that there’s a bit of an unfair narrative that becoming a successful DJ should come from raw talent alone. Of course, you must be talented, and being skilled at the craft is an absolute necessity, but truthfully, it also takes being able to network, promote yourself well, and be in the right place at the right time to become successful as a DJ.
How do you stay inspired?
Lately, I’ve seen a lot of female DJs achieving great things globally, and that definitely keeps me inspired. Jazzy being named recently as the highest-streaming female DJ in the world is absolutely huge for women in the industry and for Ireland. Committing to keep learning about the history of our scene and continuously searching for new artists, music, and perspectives also keeps me inspired.
I recognise that, having been DJing for just two years, I cannot possibly yet know everything there is to know, but I find that the journey, the learning, and the growth are the most exciting parts of it all. The fact that this time last year I was completely unaware of the opportunities that were about to come my way, in itself, is inspiring to me.
Do you have particular people, mentors, collectives, or other artists who helped you navigate or find confidence in the industry?
I definitely have to give a shoutout to Reboot Events and Omni Dublin. These two collectives believed in me right from the beginning and gave me two massive opportunities early on in my career, namely my residency at Eden Ibiza in 2024 and the opening party of Block Dublin at the start of 2025, which I think greatly contributed to my growth in Ireland and Spain. The team at Slither Dublin and the District 8 team have also been very good to me and continue to support and give me opportunities. Sexy Dancing also gave me opportunities to play when I was starting out, which I am grateful for, and of course, my TU Dublin DJ Society also.
What do you hope people take away from one of your sets?
Whether it’s a festival, warm-up gig, or closing slot, I just want the crowd to get lost in the music during my sets and feel something. Whether that be a feeling of nostalgia from an old track I play or a feeling of curiosity from a tune that they don’t know, I just want people to immerse themselves in the music and feel free to express themselves on the dance floor. I hope that people feel the connection that I try to build with my audience each time I play. My favourite thing about DJing, especially in smaller settings, is looking into the crowd, seeing the looks on people’s faces, reading their body language, and gauging from all of that what I think they need to hear in each moment.
Finally, what can we expect from you next? Any upcoming and exciting gigs?
I have lots of exciting gigs coming up at home and abroad, which I am extremely grateful for. I’m playing at Slane Castle on Halloween night, which is an exciting one, as anybody who knows me knows how much I love Halloween. I’ll be making my debut in Amsterdam on the 9th of November with NRG Raves, which I am absolutely ecstatic about, as it’s one of my favourite cities. After that, I have a few more local gigs in Dublin, and then I head over to Belfast for two more gigs on the 28th and 29th of November, one of them being opening up the main room of the Telegraph for Alan Fitzpatrick and Ben Hemsley. I’m absolutely buzzing for this gig, especially getting to hand over to Alan Fitzpatrick, who was one of my favourites when I first got into electronic music. Ben Hemsley is also a huge inspiration of mine and undoubtedly a modern pioneer of trance music, so I can’t believe that I get to open up his show. I’m also beginning my journey with music production at the moment, which is really exciting and something I’m really enjoying. I can’t say when it’ll be that I’ll put something out because I have a bit of a perfectionist streak in me, but I definitely aim to have something to release by the beginning of 2026.
