Amelie Lens

From an early age, Amelie Lens had a passion for music, listing artists such as Nine Inch Nails, Boys Noize, Underworld, and Ellen Allien as personal favorites. When she turned 16 she attended the 2006 Dour Festival in Belgium and became absorbed in electronic music, describing the event as “life-changing”. As soon as she came home from the festival, Lens began to research this genre she had fallen in love with, discovering new artists and labels to fill her iTunes library with.

Though she was consumed with electronic music, her first creative pursuit was in the fashion industry as a model. It wasn’t until 2014 that Lens began to shift gears toward music, first DJing under the name Renée where she played mostly bass-heavy minimal techno. For some time her two worlds merged, producing music for several fashion brands like Armani, Lanvin, and Yves Saint Laurent and playing at other fashion industry events. While under the moniker Renée, she earned a residency at the Labyrinth Club in Hasselt, Belgium, and eventually built up a reputation that led her to tour across Europe. As a resident at Labyrinth, the young artist began hosting her own nights under the name EXHALE, a techno dance-party that has since expanded to new territories around the world.

After deciding to step out of the fear of people knowing who she was, the name Renée was out and Amelie Lens was in. Since then, this techno trailblazer has exploded in the scene playing huge festivals and club nights across Europe. Over time her productions have evolved, building on her low-key atmospheric techno sound. Now her high energy sets are known for their mixture of classic acid and tribal house influences along with contemporary European techno sounds. Between making music and putting on shows, Lens set up her own label, Lenske, which apart from pushing out the owner’s originals, also supports new underground techno from artists such as Farrago, Milo Spykers, and many others.