Australia, Belgium, Sweden, UK… LICIA is everywhere. She started DJing during Covid, but ever since the clubs opened up again she couldn’t be found anywhere else. But did you know she didn’t even like drum & bass at first?? LICIA started out as a singer-songwriter on YouTube and even was in an indie rock band for a while. It wasn’t until 18 years old that she discovered her true calling and bought a pair of decks.
She hasn’t looked back since. Inspired by A Little Sound, Emily Makis, Kanine, and others, she’s known for heavy energy behind the decks, combined with powerful vocals. After building momentum in the UK, she won the Rampage x Crucast competition in 2025, and ever since, she’s been growing internationally as well.
It’s high time for a chat with this rising star.
How are you doing?
I’m doing great! I had my Antwerp debut recently, it was really lovely, and I also had my debut in Lincoln. To be honest, these past few months have been crazy. I’ve had huge shows every weekend, which has been the first time doing that. It’s been incredible, quite stressful, but obviously very worth it. It’s been really fun trying to get all the content out each week, and then I also released my track with DUX, who’s just rebranded from Dux and Bass, called ‘Electricity’. He lives in Perth at the moment, so it’s been really interesting trying to coordinate trying to get all of the content. Back in January I was actually in Australia, in Perth, so we managed to get a bunch of stuff filmed there. It’s been busy, but right now, I’m looking to get more writing done in the studio, because I’ve not really had a chance to do that.
You mentioned your track ‘Electricity’ with DUX… How did that happen?
My agent, Koen, at Tea Leaves, is also helping DUX with music and working with him a lot. I was saying I wanted to get bigger collabs in and I’ve listened to his music for so long, and Koen asked me if he should set up a collab. So, it happened. When we first started the track, it was just over Discord, we were writing together in a call. It was a new way of working, but it was really nice. Usually, if I’m not in person with someone, you send them the track and the vocal, and then they write something back, and it’s quite a back and forth. Whereas this wrote itself whilst we were on the call. We finally met in Perth in January after the track had been written, which was really nice.
You’re saying that you found this a refreshing way to work, why’s that?
When you write tracks with producers, a lot of them aren’t in the UK, or you can’t have time to both get in the studio in person. Getting on a call together made it so easy to work, because we could go back and forth, sing ideas, or chat back and forth about the lyrics. When it’s online and via email, I’ll write it all and send it over, and then it can take a couple of days for them to get back. It just lengthens the process. But when you’re chatting in person and working on the project together in real-time, you can both get all your ideas out really quickly, and both be really happy with what you end up with.
You’ve had a lot of debuts lately, and you’re doing shows every weekend. How does it feel to get to that point of your career?
It’s crazy. When I first started DJing six years ago, it was always just a hobby, but I fell into doing it more as an artist. I grew up with classical music, singing and songwriting, and it felt very natural to go into that “trying to be an artist”-realm, because I’d always wanted to be an artist, I just didn’t know it would be drum & bass. I’ve now been playing shows for four years, but especially in the past two years I’ve been working so hard on building my career that it’s almost like I’m doing the same thing consistently, but now it’s getting recognition.
You started DJing six years ago. Is that also when you started singing?
I started singing when I was like 10 years old, just for fun. I grew up dancing and doing a lot of musical theatre, so that helped with that side of it. I started writing songs very young as well, and played piano and clarinet. I taught myself the guitar later on, so I could do singer-songwriter stuff. I did covers on YouTube, and I was in an indie rock band for a little bit. I’d written my own tracks when I was 14 years old, and then when I was 16, when I was doing music A-level, we were doing classical composition of classical scores. I absolutely loved it, I was always making music there. My music teacher said, “Let me crack Fruity Loops for you, I feel like you’ll really enjoy music production.” Don’t worry, I bought Ableton soon after! That unlocked that egg, and then at 18, my best friend and her brother were really into drum & bass, and he’d just been at uni DJing. They showed me all of it, and I was obsessed. It pieced everything together, to be honest.
Was that your entry into the scene then as well?
Throughout school, a lot of people would be playing it, and I remember my exact words were, “I don’t like this music at all, I think it’s rubbish.” And then, within a month of listening to it, I was like, this is the best thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve got members of my family who were into liquid drum & bass, and were raving in the 90s, so I feel like it was always going to happen at some point.
What were your first memories of getting into the scene?
When I was 18, it was 2020, so we had the COVID lockdown, and that’s when I was just listening to the music a lot. I went into my first year of university in Leeds, and I had a bit of leftover money from working at Tesco, so I bought myself some decks. We were isolated the whole time, so that’s when I just went all in on DJing. Clubs didn’t really reopen until a year after, so I’d been DJing and listening to this music, getting really excited about it without having actually stepped foot into a rave. Once that happened, that opened up a whole new thing to me. Before I’d always just DJed for fun, and now you’re seeing a DJ on stage, and seeing them perform to all these people. It’s completely different.
When you first started out, who were the people that you looked up to? And who are your inspirations now?
I really look up to A Little Sound. I’ve always been someone who loves vocals, especially female vocals, and she’s someone I massively look up to. One of my first big sets was me handing over to her which was so exciting. At that point I wasn’t singing on my sets, but it was so cool to see someone doing that. Producer-wise, I look up to Kanine, because he does a lot of heavy dancefloor, and Wilkinson because of the classics, and old school dancefloor. Emily Makis inspires me with her performance, and the way that she can carry a crowd. I saw her perform with Lens In Antwerp Expo for Andromedik Invites, and it was insane.
Some of my biggest inspirations however, are my peers and other upcomers in the scene. I’ve raved and played with so many incredible people over the years that have shaped my journey today. I played at Leeds Fest in 2024 as one of the campsite DJs with Hooked Sounds. It was the first time meeting many others such as FMS, Elsie, Froidy, JayBee, and more, to see where everybody is now is so inspiring!
When did you start singing during your sets?
I got booked for K Motionz’ Crowd Control in Leeds in 2023. I’d just released a track called ‘Stay Bright’ with Fanchu. It was my first vocal track produced with someone else, and I was friends with the stage manager at the time. He asked me, “Why don’t you jump on the mic?” I was terrified, but it was incredible. It was a really pivotal moment. Nowadays, me singing is pretty much a guarantee in my set. All my music has my vocals. But when I first started singing, it would be on and off, depending on the venues.
Looking back on where you started, how did you grow as a DJ and a singer?
I did a lot of sets at uni, and during that time I made my fair share of mistakes. I’m almost grateful they went wrong then because now when I perform, I feel like I’ve got such confidence. I know I can do it, and also I know if something goes wrong that it will be fine.
Are there any other projects you’re working on at the moment?
I’m looking forward to writing more, and getting in the studio with new producers. I love it, because you learn so much about production and songwriting. I’ve written all my songs myself until this point, but I’d love to collaborate with other songwriters, just to try and get some variation.
Any shows that you’re excited about?
I got announced for Rampage Open Air, which is really exciting. I won the DJ competition last year on the Crucast stage, and that was huge. It was my first time playing in front of an international crowd, which was quite scary. In the UK I can gauge who I’m playing to, the vibe they want, and cater to that. When it’s a whole new group of people, you have no idea what to expect. I’m very excited to be going back there. I’ve made quite a few friends nearby who are going to the festival. Another show I’m looking forward to is supporting ÆON:MODE in Bristol for Clock Factory’s Free Summer Rave Series, because I’ve not played in Bristol for three years.
You’ve done some big things already, but what are some goals you still have? A big goal of mine, because I mentioned I did classical music growing up, would be to incorporate some of that. The Red Bull Symphonic Orchestra with Camo & Krooked, that entire album is just incredible. To see that live one day would be amazing. Keeno and Vio.let are incredible at incorporating classical music into drum & bass. I’d love to be able to do that. It’s a long term plan, but it’s something exciting to think about.
