Hannah Laing

Having been raised on a diet of Paul Oakenfold, Roger Sanchez and a treasure trove of Hedkandi cassette tapes — all from archives of her rave-loving parents, Laing doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t surrounded by dance music. Her first encounter with the club was at age 15, an experience that fundamentally affected Laing’s musical outlook; she recalls watching on eagerly as Dave Pearce dropped trance classics such as Delirium’s ‘Silence’. From that day on, Hannah had caught the bug, gaining her first ever DJ gig at 18 at a tiny pub in Arbroath attended by a coach load of her friends and family — from here, she took every opportunity to show off her skills with both hands: weddings, baby showers, birthdays… you name it. Her move from mixing to making music came about through a mixture of opportunity and dedication, first by chance having heard about a fellow Ibiza worker who was giving lessons to budding producers on Ableton — becoming so engrossed in her tuition, she dedicated every day off she had on the island to learn the new skill. Once back in Scotland, she signed up for a course at Escapade Studios and also works with longtime friend Erskine Audio — transitioning from looping basics to full-blown breakdown ecstasy, all with a dancefloor destination in mind.

Coming up this year, Hannah Laing has a massive club and festival calendar ahead. Heading back to the White Isle, she’ll be joining Patrick Topping’s TRICK party at DC10 as well as TRICK’s Glasgow instalment at 100 Eastvale — alongside festivals Creamfields, Beatherder and TRNSMT. With features on Data Transmissions Spotlight Mix Series, a peak time mix on Sarah Story’s Future Dance on BBC Radio 1 and many more, expect to hear much more about this rising star this summer.