Lauren Mia (@laurenmia) approaches electronic music with a perspective shaped as much by environment and inner alignment as by club mechanics, and that outlook sits at the center of “Elysium,” her collaboration with Australian duo MAMI on Enhanced Recordings. The track brings together her melodic, emotionally focused approach with the duo’s club instincts, landing as a record built around atmosphere, detail, and forward motion.
For Lauren Mia, it adds another release to a run that has already included support across major stages, releases with labels such as Armada and Insomniac, and the continued growth of her Halcyon imprint.
In that context, “Elysium” feels closely tied to the broader direction of her work, in which sound, feeling, and setting all move together.
What gives the collaboration even more depth is the way Lauren Mia talks about her relationship with club culture itself and how, over time, her connection to the scene has changed from the intensity of warehouses, underground raves, and industrial spaces toward open-air settings, festivals, and venues where the wider environment plays a bigger role in the experience. She speaks very directly about needing air, sky, and a stronger sense of connection to the physical world around her, and that perspective helps frame the emotional character of her music.
It also shows up in how she describes creative decisions, with intuition and self-trust guiding when to stay the course and when to move in a different direction.
That sense of inward focus also shapes the advice she gives to other artists. She talks about tuning out the noise, looking inward, and creating from a place that feels true, which aligns with how she describes fulfillment in her own work. Part of that comes through solitary studio time, where music becomes a private form of expression, and part of it comes through sharing those records with people in a room and seeing what they open up in others.
Across both our conversation with her and the music itself, there is a clear emphasis on connection, emotional clarity, and building experiences that feel fully lived rather than simply consumed.
Interview With Lauren Mia
Have there been phases in which your relationship with club culture and the music industry overall has changed or evolved?
Absolutely.
I’ve gone through many phases in my relationship with club culture and the music industry over the last decade. There was a period of time where I absolutely loved underground raves, warehouses, abandoned buildings, underneath train tracks in places like Berlin, Melbourne, LA, and New York.
But as time has passed, I’ve definitely evolved out of that phase. I would say now I prefer open airs, nature, festivals, or venues with production that create a full experience, where you can move between inside and outside and feel connected to both the environment and the music. Something shifted for me, and where I am now, all I know is that I need nature. I like to breathe fresh air, feel the wind, and see the sky.
What helps you recognize when it’s time to pivot toward new environments within club culture and the rave scene?
Honestly, I am very connected to myself and my truth. I trust my intuition, my heart, and what feels right for me. If something is not aligning creatively, I can feel it, and I pivot. I shift into a direction that is in alignment with what I’d like to create and contribute to this industry.
How has your definition of “the scene” changed over time?
“The Scene”… well, where do I begin? The scene has changed astronomically in the last 10 years.
But even before my career, I was a raver. I started going to raves when I was 15 years old. My first one was here in California, in San Bernardino, Audiotistic, actually by Insomniac. And I’m almost positive Infected Mushroom was playing there. Yes, psytrance. At that time, we would buy paper tickets from a shop called Groove Riders on Ventura Blvd., and tickets were like $50. You could also buy rave accessories there, like fluffies or light gloves. It was a whole culture I deeply fell in love with and devoted myself to from that time onward.
You would find me on the dance floor every single weekend, sometimes even just by myself.
Where have you found unexpected creative fulfillment?
I feel creatively fulfilled in a multitude of ways.
Some moments come through collaborations, others through personal experiences, plant medicine journeys, emotions, and other times simply creating music on my own in my studio. That period of solitude, where I get to create, self-express, share my story sonically, or convey a message I want to share with the world, is a deeply personal experience. I find it is my true happy place.
But of course, getting to share the music I put my heart into creating with others is where I find a lot of fulfillment, because it’s nothing without sharing it. It’s meant for everyone. I feel I am a piece of source consciousness, so the art I create is meant to be shared with others. It’s special to experience how people receive it on the dance floor, creating moments of connection, liberation, self-expression, alignment, healing, love, and so much more.
How would you advise someone who loves the craft but feels unsure about the surrounding culture?
My advice: tune out the noise. Don’t look at what’s going on around you. Look inwards, create from within, from your heart. Do what you love. What makes you happy.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
