Never allowing herself to be confined by genres, Loryn’s versatility sets her apart from other dj’s.  At the same time, she has developed and refined her own unique sound.  A transplant to the San Francisco Bay Area scene from Buffalo, New York, DJ Loryn brings more than just music with her when she steps behind the decks.  Having acquired over a decade of knowledge and experience directly from San Francisco’s burgeoning underground dance scene, Loryn has no shortage of stories to share.  As a singer-songwriter turned DJ "mixtress", she was first influenced by electronic dance music from Detroit, Toronto, and NYC in 1998.  In her formative years she experimented with music styles from Drum&Bass/Jungle to UK Hard House and Techno.  It wasn’t until 2002, while studying Film at the University of California in Santa Barbara, that she was first introduced to LA House by fellow film student and soon to be founder of HAWT Music, Mikey Velazquez.  Having grown up in Los Angeles, Velazquez was a perfect tour guide for the young dj.  Together they explored pockets of the LA underground scene – immersing Loryn in the bright, uplifting sounds of LA/Chicago house and styles of DJ Mes, Derrick Carter, Diz, Joshua Iz, DJ Heather and DJ Sneak.  When questioned about her connections to genre of house, without hesitation Loryn says, “it’s really the raw soulfulness of house that keeps me coming back for more – and also the fact that there can be so many different styles and sub genres of house music.  I like that the boundaries of the genre can be blurred sometimes because it leaves so much room for innovating and experimenting”.

   

     Driven by curiosity and a natural desire to create, she began slowly working funky bass beats and swing/soul/jazz elements into her live techno sets.  When Loryn made the decision transfer to San Francisco in 2003, she had no idea she was about to partake in an explosion of Techno & House music in San Francisco in just a few short years.  While Loryn was adjusting to her new urban environment and getting to know the locals, Barclay Crenshaw (aka Claude VonStroke) was laying groundwork for his now popular and internationally recognized label, Dirtybird Records, which was launched from SF in 2005.  During this time Loryn had been dabbling in the underground scene with a more “stripped away” style of techno now called Minimal and was experimenting mixing techno with 80′s style Electro breaks creating a “tech-punk” style sound similar to artists like Tiga and bands like The Ting Tings.  When asked about being a DJ in SF during the whirlwind that has now been coined the “San Francisco Techno/Tech-house Movement”, she said she would rather talk about an event called [Kontrol].  Kontrol, a concept conceived by Greg Bird and comprised of other pioneers of SF Techno including Nikola Baytala, Sammy D, and Alland Byallo, was clearly a very heavy influence on Loryn’s style.  At this time, she recalls going out solo just to catch an ear of what Nikola and Charlotte the Baroness were playing at SF’s legendary club The Endup.  Both Nikola and Charlotte combined more tribal house elements into their techno sets and, as Loryn states, “they illustrated a very eclectic and wide range of sounds; which was quite appealing to me at the time because I had already covered so much ground musically.  It was nice to finally see other people mixing a broader spectrum of techno while still keeping the set cohesive and ‘together’ sounding – which isn’t always an easy thing to do.  I have mad respect for them [Nikola and Charlotte] along with Greg Bird because I feel that they were the ones who really carved out a niche in the San Francsico scene for techno.  They made it easier for someone like me to rock the techno beats in this city.  They’ve impacted my music in a very positive way I feel.  I am grateful, they did the hard work and they did it well and with style.”  Loryn was partial to these Kontrol events because they were consistently importing fresh European techno talent on a regular basis which, in turn, was exposing her to fresh, international talent.  Loryn states, “I think that was the first time I really understood and…realized, I guess, that this was something that happened all over the world.  I mean, I was meeting some really amazing people from all over the world right on the dancefloor.  We all shared a love for this style of music and people were coming out of the woodwork for these sounds, it was wild for me to see and experience this during a really independent, formative part of my life.  I guess most of the folks that really loved techno were not originally from SF or the West Coast and even more were not from this country (USA).  San Francisco is still a very international city but back then it was such a magical and exciting time for me, as an artist to be meeting all these people and just being able to go to hear techno at the Endup all weekend long. ” ​
 

     By 2009, tech-house had exploded it’s way into mainstream music culture, and in the Bay Area DJ Loryn had become synonymous with the genre.  She was also being recognized as one of the first female pioneers of SF tech-house and "electrotech".  The sudden attention was embraced, but being a true originator at heart, it wasn’t long before she dove back underground to experiment with new music technologies and sounds like a mad scientist, trying to re-invent herself.  By 2012 Loryn had gotten her hands into some serious audio engineering and production work with some of the best producers in the Bay Area electronic dance scene.  Surviving over 10 years of active performance and a whirlwind of changes in music technology, Loryn has managed to stay afloat as a creative performer/artist while also growing and developing as an audio engineer in the producers chair.  Now gravitating towards a more conceptual approach to music, Loryn talks about how she likes to work with themes and stories now, as she fuses her own emotions into her live sets.  Her sounds are constantly evolving but she seems to never loose sight of who is in front of the speakers.​  Openly stimulated by visual art, Loryn also draws musical inspiration from her personal experiences, ideas and dreams of the future. 

 

    Between 2009-2014 Loryn’s performance schedule was jam packed.  To date she has performed festivals and massive outdoor events such as Burning Man (lovepotion/heart deco/robot heart/universe), LoveFest/LovEvolution (strategik), HowWeird (dusty rhino), SF Pride (tantra underground dance stage & the womens music stage), Psymbiotek, Friends & Family, SF Decompression & PreCompression events, among others.  She has held residencies at venues such as The Endup, F8, Mars Bar, Harlot in San Francsico as well as playing a slew of underground events and raves across the United States, Canada, and Europe.  Loryn was a resident of the Sonus Collective, a tech and minimal based crew that organized events with an international vibe and was design + technology focused.  She was also an part of Strategik SF crew, an SF based collective of dj’s, producers and oddballs who work hard at keeping the renegade alive, and have helped to bring back the true meaning of underground dance music. 

 

In 2016 Loryn made the leap over to the other side of the "pond" and now bases herself out of Berlin, Germany as she continues to focus on Production & Design.  Much like her approach to performance mixing, in the studio, Loryn has no limitations and likes to work with what moves her in the moment.  Over the past year she spent most of her time in the studio, prepping for Europe, and saying farewell to her 12 year "love affair" with San Francisco.  However, in just a few short months it seems already her move to Europe was indeed in the right direction for this energetic audiophile as she has already been causing a stir on dancefloors with her tracks.  Loryn seems to have a natural ability for production and her music is getting picked up quickly by solid, quality labels while also turning some major label heads right now.  Staying true to her versatile nature, Loryn produces beyond genre boundaries.  Her first breaks release “Whipper Snipper” on San Francisco Electro House label Mizumo Music immediately charted in the top 100 breaks genre on Beatport.com and has been remixed by top producers such as Art of Hot, DJ Denise, Viro & Rob Analyze, and DJ Hero.   She again rose to the top by winning a remix contest for a French record label, So French with her Electro/Disco/House remix of Adrian Wreck's "Clip Clap Club".  In addition to winning the remix contest, she was the first female producer to be welcomed on board the Paris based label.  Currently Loryn is signed to the Get Up Recordings (NYC) roster along side artists The Black Madonna, Jason Kendig, Lauren Flax, Honey Dijon, David Harness, Johnny Fiasco, and her old friend from LA Mikey V.  Loryn released a remix in 2016 with  So French Records (Paris), and in 2013 with Barely Legal Records (Oakland, CA).  Her first release was in 2008 with USB Digital (Bulgaria), and Mizumo Music (Oakland, CA).  Recently, Loryn has been in the studio crafting an original release while simultaneously cranking out a wide variety of remixes and putting together a Live Audio/Visual performance project with visual artist & VJ Zoey Vero called "Lichtronik".  Loryn also continues to break barriers and tear down stereotypes as a veteran female in the music industry while she pushes forward and tirelessly works to raise the bar on her own abilities and for women producers and musicians globally.  Her strong passion for music and technology drives her forward and enthusiasm for performance art has propelled her into the most exciting phase of her career yet.  Loryn has performed and recorded music under a growing list of aliases including: DJ Loryn, Loryn, D-Weasel, Loryn Buffalo, Missao, Liesel Von Trapp, Polly Chromatic, Source4, Twins From Outer Space, Chromatek, and her upcoming Live AV project, Lichtronik.

 

  Stay up to date with new music from DJ Loryn by signing up to her mailing list.  You can support her music by purchasing her songs at beatport.com, iTunes, junodownload.com, and everywhere digital music can be purchased.