Home is at the heart of Hannah Laing’s global success

“There was never anything else I was going to be doing than music, I don’t think,” grins Hannah Laing. It’s a phrase you hear many a DJ throw around, but for the Dundee-hailing artist, it’s nothing but the truth.

For all she’s had a stratospheric rise to the forefront of club kids and old school ravers’ psyches alike in recent years, Laing openly describes her rise as “10 years of overnight success”; a refreshing reality check amidst a backdrop of DJs pining for a viral moment that’ll allow them to drop everything and become the next big thing with the least amount of effort. To understand it all, it really is appropriate to cast an eye back to the earliest of days – the ones before she was operating on the four gig per week schedule she does today.

Born in 1994 to 17-year-old parents immersed in the world of rave, Hannah Laing’s childhood was soundtracked by old school trance and hard house. On the dancefloor by 15 and repping for events shortly afterward, there was one motivation: “I just wanted the free tickets to go to the events.”

“I'd be putting up the posters and handing out the flyers so I could get free tickets for me and my mates. Because I was PRing for these events, I got to know some of the people that were running them. I'd end up going to afterparties with them, where people were always on the decks. That's how I got introduced to DJing.”

A handful of afters spent “messing around” and one second-hand purchased Hercules controller later, she was hooked. Her daytimes were filled working towards a dental nurse qualification, but any free moment was spent fantasising over mixes and track combinations that might fit like a jigsaw. 

Anyone chronically online will have heard of the ‘canon event’ - a decision or experience that shifts your life trajectory - and Hannah’s emerged when she decided to spend a season in Ibiza, just six months after she’d started DJing.

“I would have done any job, whether that was PRing over there, working in a bar, whatever I needed to do to make money to be able to live over there, go to all the clubs and see all the DJs.” A wry smile appears on her face as she recalls her spot of solace, Ibiza’s only Scottish bar The Highlander, in an effort to simultaneously escape her English-filled apartment and find WiFi. “I felt like I'd connect with these people at The Highlander because they were Scottish.”

A series of fortunate events followed. Laing dropped a self-made DJ CV into the bar after becoming part of the furniture as a punter, and later when its resident DJ cancelled on a night last minute, she was called up as a substitute. Just hours later, following the set, she was offered a three to four night per week residency.

“That's where I really learned to DJ; the bar's empty, you're trying to fill it up, and keep people there. Some are just going there before the clubs, some are coming there to stay. You got paid depending on how the bar done, so you're trying your best to keep people in there to get paid more, whether that's doing shots with the customers or just engaging with them and obviously trying to play music to keep them in there. I ended up doing that for three seasons, and got to know people, which allowed me to be able to play the other small venues. I ended up getting to play places like Ocean Beach and Eden, and because I was seen to be DJing in Ibiza back home, it became this big thing.”

Mixmag named Hannah Laing one of our Top DJs Who Defined 2025 for a plethora of reasons, one of which being her pure relatability. Many years were spent juggling full-time work with music; a reality for all too many artists, particularly those from working-class backgrounds. 

“Ibiza started in 2014. I left my job as a dental nurse in 2022. There'd be times I'd be in Ibiza on a weekend and then I'd come back and I'd be straight back into the dentist on a Monday, but I was never, ever late for work. I never called in sick. I was trusted by the employer. They saw me start to do well, and then they were all rooting for me. It was great because I'd go in, I'd tell them all the stories on a Monday morning. My colleagues were like: ‘what have you been up to at the weekend? I was just walking my dog’. I was like: ‘I've been DJing in Ibiza’. I had older colleagues I worked with, and being able to share these stories with them was great. 

“I started getting press and I'd be literally sitting in surgery in my dental uniform doing an interview with the BBC, or sometimes there would be times where I was needing last minute time off. I was so, so lucky that I had the support of them. Don't get me wrong, it was difficult. I was shattered because at night after work, I'd be going into the studio, because during that period I was learning music production as well. I'd go back into work when I was dying. It was hard work, but honestly, I enjoyed that process. It was sad to leave, but at the same time I was so ready.”

We still remember that Instagram video of Hannah in her scrubs. 

Though she’s gone from repping around San Antonio in 2015 to bagging a residency at Hï in 2025, as well as making her Tomorrowland debut, and embarking on a US and Asia tour among many more endeavours, another compelling theme in the Dundee native's story is firmly keeping her hometown at the centre of her world. Amidst a time where the erosion of regional nightlife feels more concerning than ever, she’s re-empowering a spot outside of your London, New York or Berlin metropolises. On her journey to the top, Hannah Laing wants to bring her people with her. 

“I love being Scottish. I love Scottish people, I love my country and I've always been quite patriotic. When I played my first huge show in 2022, it was at Creamfields. I opened up the stage for Patrick Topping’s Trick and it was the first time I’d been able to play the music that I love to a crowd that size. Because I was opening, I was worried whether anyone was going to show up, and got there 20 minutes before the set. I was just having a little mix on the monitors with nobody there, but then I could see the stage slowly getting more and more full. There ended up being 10,000 people there. I'll never forget that moment because it was literally a sea of Scotland flags. I'd been building up this Scottish fanbase, because I’d been playing in Scotland for nearly 10 years. That support built up into this bigger thing; without that fanbase and me doing hard tickets in Scotland, I wouldn't be playing all over the world where I am today. So the least I can do is try and give back.”

Enter doof: Hannah’s increasingly global brand with a strict rooting in Dundee. An international name bringing eyeballs to a humble Scottish town, home to a population 60 times smaller than London.

First came the doof events and label - both inherently successful in their own right - and then came doof In The Park, Hannah’s very own festival. “I knew I always wanted to do a festival in Dundee because we don't have many venues,” Hannah explains, quite literally brimming with passion. “We did two nights at the Caird Hall in 2024, the biggest venue in Dundee, but from the people on the waiting list, we could have done five nights. I didn’t want to go outside Dundee, so thought that if we want to keep it here, we're going to need to just build our own thing.” A move to Camperdown Park was the answer. “We ended up selling out 15,000 tickets instantly with no line-up for 2025. We needed a monster line-up.”

That was delivered, and then some. We’re talking an intergenerationally stacked bill including Armin van Buuren, Judge Jules, Lisa Lashes, Charlie Sparks, ØTTA, Hannah herself, and many, many more. It’s no wonder, then, that the audience age was such a mixed bag – a reflection of Hannah’s audiences more broadly. 

“I checked our ticket data from last year, and our highest ticket buyers were aged in the 34-49 bracket. So it's a majority older crowd, and I think they feel that my sets are bringing back the sound which they lived through. And that goes back to my parents’ influence. It’s so cool.” 

“I never thought I would have been able to get Armin van Buuren because obviously he's so in demand, he gets paid massive fees. Armin and I had been working on a track together at the time, and he agreed to do the show. He wasn't getting paid nearly as much as he usually would, so it shows a lot about him.”

doof In The Park returned for 2026 this month with an increased capacity of 17,000, and when we spoke before its sophomore offering - which has since had fans eagerly asking for 2027’s edition - Hannah was optimistic. “I feel a lot better going into it this year. I was losing sleep last year with worry of how it was going to go. You're building a festival from scratch. I really felt the pressure because everything's on me. You will not believe my inbox; people will come to me directly about how they’re meant to get the bus to the festival, where’s this and that. Because you're the face of it, it really is all on you, so I really felt the pressure. But now I know how it all runs and how it all works, I definitely feel better going into it.”

The one thing she was set on nailing this year? The loos. “It was the biggest complaint of 2025. Honestly, the amount of times I’ve mentioned toilets to my team, they’re probably sick of me. This is how bad I was, right: I was playing at a festival in America of the same capacity. I counted the toilets. Literally counted them. That's how sad I am, but that's how much I genuinely care about people’s experience.” The learning from last year was that, although they did have enough site-wide, people were congregating at the same blocks in busy areas, causing queues.  “What we've learned is you need to have a reason for people to use these other areas. This year, we've also got stewards with big microphones telling you that if this toilet block's busy, toilet block two over there is dead, so off you pop. It was such a frustrating one for me last year because I'd spent so much time and energy making sure it was going to be okay. But we learn.”

It’s worth noting at this point that at the core of her work is care. This is not only exhibited via ensuring affordability for all who want to attend, but also being open and vulnerable online. A recent example of this arose from a similar origin when she shared an incident she’d experienced at a festival in Germany. Following her set, Hannah innocently shared a portaloo with her cousin, and upon exiting was detained by undercover police on a false suspicion of drug use. They were publicly walked through the site, hands bound, before being subjected to an invasive strip search, with the pair at no point clearly informed that the stop would involve such a procedure. “I completely understand how important it is that festivals have drug policies. But the situation felt disproportionate,” Hannah wrote on her Instagram. “I felt extremely degraded and embarrassed. My cousin was crying because she felt the same. They found nothing because we weren’t taking drugs.”

While her self-told story going viral was certainly anxiety inducing, the festival changed their policy as a result; a win in Hannah’s eyes because “so many people who were at that festival and others in surrounding areas reached out to me saying that happened to them. I've been able to make that change for others from doing that post. I'm glad I shared it.” 

Hannah Laing’s ultimate mission is clear: she wants people to have a great time, and for that to be as accessible as possible.

This year at doof In The Park, Hannah was joined by Paul van Dyk, Lilly Palmer, BK, Eddie Halliwell, Clara Cuvé and several more at the now four-stage festival. Fresh in the afterglow of the 2026 edition, things are feeling positive. “I’m so proud of what we created at doof In The Park this year. The atmosphere across the site was unbelievable and seeing everyone enjoy the new additions like stage four and the doof Hub made all the hard work worthwhile.” The open-air fourth stage, named Keep It Fucking Moving, offered a space to champion up-and-coming artists, inspired by the Max Power era of modified cars, big soundsystems and boy racer culture. It tied in with the old school rave, trance and hard house influences behind doof that Hannah grew up on. Meanwhile, the doof Hub was a place for the community to hang out, connect, meet the team and some of the DJs on the line-up. It was also where aspiring DJs and producers could submit music directly to Hannah, dropping off USBs to be heard by the label and considered for a release. 

“It was also incredibly important to me to introduce the Ellie Phone, in memory of Ellie Scanlan, where everyone could leave messages to those they've lost. It's a lasting tribute that carries a meaningful message that I'm really proud of,” shares Hannah. 

Amidst her monumental success, Hannah has been an open book about her journey with grief; after losing childhood best friend Ellie Scanlan she released ‘Have You Ever Loved (Ellie)’ featuring Hannah Boleyn. The accompanying video features an old television screen cycling through cherished moments shared by those closest to Scanlan. From past nights out to Dundee’s club streets and the late-night kebab shop, it’s a moving tribute that captures the spirit of Hannah’s late best friend and their bond.

For all she has had enormous success with her productions, releasing tracks such as 2023’s ‘Good Love’ with RoRo which hit seventh in the UK charts, the infectious ‘Party All The Time’ featuring HVRR, more recently ‘U Got 2 Know’ with Armin Van Buuren and Wippenberg on Armada Music, what matters most is those closest to Hannah. It’s home, and it’s celebrating everyone around her, inclusive of those no longer with us.  

And as of December, doof isn’t just a label, a festival and events brand; it’s also a studio. A physical space to nourish those at the beginning of it all, providing an ecosystem to burgeoning artists to thrive, and another string to Hannah’s community-focused bow.

“When I was learning music production, I wasn't able to access tutors or equipment. There's no studios in Dundee electronic music, just rigs and recording studios for bands. I would travel a just under two-hour drive from Dundee for one-to-one tuition. If I wanted to use a DJ studio, I would travel to Edinburgh, which is an hour away. Club standard decks are only a recent thing I've been able to afford, they’re expensive! I would travel after work, at the weekends if I wasn't DJing, and the cost of that…” she trails off. “I remember having to ask my mum for petrol money to go for this tuition, or I'd get the tuition from a voucher from a Christmas present. Everything was just money, money, money. So in the back of my head, I’ve always known electronic music isn’t accessible in Dundee.”

Having hosted some DJ lessons, a chance meeting with Robbie Tolson - who runs Turn The Tables, a charity using music therapy and DJing for socially disadvantaged people - resulted in the ideation of doof Studios.

“He does a lot of charity work and he gets funding to be able to provide workshops for people that are struggling. It could be adults or children; he works with adults who have just come out of jail and the music will give them something to get up for and stay out of trouble, or kids that are not getting on well at school, for example. When he brought it to Dundee, I wanted to get involved.”

“We'd done some fundraising and then I donated for part of it. We were able to build a full studio, so now we’ve got a full studio of two sets of decks and a music production set up. It's in the heart of the community where I grew up, called Charleston, in a place called the Change Centre, who do loads of work for the community.” 

doof Studios operates via low-cost private hire and free workshops for the community, with Hannah returning whenever she can to support Robbie. “The students’ progress has been amazing. Now we’ve been able to get some of them playing doof In The Park. It’s so special to be able to offer that.” Two of which had particular poignance for Hannah: Sasha - an 18-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was forced to flee Kyiv as a teenager - and PereKos, a Ukrainian military veteran who learned to DJ as part of his PTSD rehabilitation. The pair played a very special B2B set this year having met at doof Studios, 

When you hear the word ‘doof’, your immediate inference might be one of the repetitive, relentless bass thump oftentimes found in the harder realms of electronic music. It’s in those heavier realms where Hannah Laing’s sound sits for sure, nailing her sonic identity in recent years. Distinct from what people might coin as ‘TikTok techno’, it’s rather a refreshed take on classic trance and hard house, with the mixture of older and younger heads in her fanbase reflecting her attunedness to those sounds.

“I’ve definitely found my sound in the last few years. Although some sets that I play can be quite different, you still feel that it's my sound, regardless of where I'm playing. I think it also reflects in my productions; even if I'm making a trance record or more of a techno record, they still have elements that are my main influence, that '90s sound. No matter what, my work will always scream that.”

Hear a track that captures nostalgia of a golden era, yet has a progressive tinge and is loved intergenerationally? You’ve likely stumbled upon a Hannah Laing belter. 

Hannah Laing is a club kid at heart, born and brought up on the dancefloor. Forever a student of the game, she earnestly recalls a recent trip to EDC Las Vegas which saw her taking notes at Armin van Buuren’s set for her own. She’s all about making you feel something, whether that’s by playing Delirium’s trance classic ‘Silence’ to her age-transcendent audience (a staple in her sets), or guiding someone through the early stages of their music career and beyond via her doof ecosystem.

Forever moving forward, there’s just a small next step in her sights. In addition to an abundance of shows plus doof takeovers at ADE and The Warehouse Project to come this Autumn, it’s time to break America. Having built up her reputation across the pond from zero, working from a couple-hundred cap venues upwards, doof is taking on The States. There was a planned Ibiza residency for 2026, but Hannah chose to cancel this; citing no fault of the unnamed venue, just that “things just don’t align the way you hoped they would” and she’d rather listen to herself as opposed to  “push through something that doesn’t feel right”. The decision is perhaps a symbol of a shift away from how integral Ibiza was to Hannah’s OG days, versus now, where there’s a more global status attached to her name. Add in a whole host of releases to come, including a collaboration with Bassjackers landing via doof on July 24, and it’s all systems go for the Scot. 

It’s taken a long time for everything to click for Hannah Laing, to reach a position where she’s following her authentic self and embracing what feels truly correct. But now she’s connected with that, how must it feel? We’re met with nothing but the widest, most genuine beam.

“Truly amazing.”

Hannah Laing & Bassjackers ‘New Bass New Kick’ comes out this Friday; general sale tickets for doof In The Park 2027 are available soon, sign up here for a reminder

Niamh Ingram is DJ and freelance journalist, follow her on Instagram