We are stoked that one of the rising stars in the international Raw House scene found the time to chitchat with us about his project and his love of Antwerp. Lenny, one of our locals, met up with Antwerp-bred DJ/Producer , aka Teun Lauwerier. BABEL, still weary from his late-night set – or should we say early-morning set, took our questions like a man and answered them all with a smile.

Let’s start with where it all began. How did you get into DJ-ing and producing music?

T: To make a short story long (smiles): It started at the local boy scouts where my buddy and I were getting interested in turntablism and, I’m not going to lie, being the party starters. We operated under the DJ name ICONS. We mostly played at small local parties. That’s how I rolled into the game. After a while I started my solo project BABEL.

So DJ-ing is what you like doing the most?

T: What I actually like most is mixing other people’s music. That’s a skill I still try to perfect every day. Getting my first setup installed and starting to play with it like it’s my new favourite toy. I put my first mixes on SoundCloud and soon started to get a growing group of followers.

So is that when things started to happen for you?

T: My remix exploded on SoundCloud. I didn’t see that coming. All of a sudden I scored 190,000 plays and more than 3,000 people following me on SoundCloud. Wicked! Everything’s going really fast. I have to give a shout out to @The Sound You Need. Without him I wouldn’t be where I am now.

In the intro I called you a Raw House DJ/producer. How would you describe your music style?

T: Tough question. I don’t know really. I don’t really fit into the Deep House scene, which is rather big in Antwerp. I’m a resident DJ at Ecstatic Events. They focus mostly on UK House DJs. So when I play a gig I probably lean more towards UK House than Deep House. But getting into all that technical stuff would lead us way too far (smiles).

How do you combine all of this with going to college?

T: I’m just going to wait and see what happens. I love to make music and all that but I don’t want to give up on college. Right now I am trying to combine both. It’s hard sometimes but we’ll see where I end up. Right now I’m mainly working on new mixes and hanging out with friends. I just hope I can keep making music and keep growing. I realize to achieve something in the music scene you need to work hard. Most important though, I want to stay true to myself.

You have a rather large international fan base, mostly from France, the UK and the USA. Could you picture yourself living somewhere else?

T: It’s weird to see, but the music I make is getting much more attention in countries like France and not Belgium. Over here it’s really hard to break through as a Feel Good House producer. That being said I love living in Antwerp. I was born and raised here and all of my friends live here. Some even claim Antwerp is the best city in the world (smiles).

Do you have any secret hangout spots in Antwerp?

T: Maybe I do, but I’m not going to tell you because then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore!

Noted (smiles). Let me put it differently. Where do you go when you just want to relax in Antwerp? Places people visiting Antwerp should definitely know about.

T: I love to eat at my mum’s because she’s the best cook in the world. But I don’t know if she would be very happy to cook for all of your readers. I usually hang out in behind Groenplaats. It’s a really cosy bar with democratic prices. It’s just a very nice place. If you ask me, you can’t get much more Antwerpian than that. Or maybe you can! There’s always . Less comfy than Bar Deco but a perfect example of an old school Belgian bar. In my opinion they serve the best ‘pintjes’ (pils beer) in the whole city!As far as parties in Antwerp go: to name two, I would say all parties and . They are always spot on and in really nice locations. I like the fact that all their parties have an underground feel to them.

Thanks! Is there anything else you want to tell our readers?

T: Just keep following me on , and so you know where you can find me this summer for those great parties!