Extraterrestrial Texan – Baelien Drops In To Chat About Her Rise, Lights All Night, Backwoods Festival 2023, + MORE – Monsoon Season

Part Human – Part Alien, Baelien Opens Up About Her Cosmic Trajectory, Her 2022 Lights All Night Performance, Upcoming Backwoods Festival Set, Talks of a Tour, Tips & Tricks, and So Much More In This Exclusive Interview

Storm Coverage By: Garth Jones

pictured above: Baelien | Lights All Night
photo by: Holden Brown

Question 1: Welcome to our thunderous storm front, Baelien! Where did your journey begin with electronic dance music and how did it lead to where you are today as a performing artist?

Baelien: Wonderful to connect with you! My electronic music journey began after hearing dubstep in 2010 and becoming infatuated instantly with this otherworldly sound and out of body feeling I got while listening.

I explored as much as I could and naturally found my way into the club world where I got to explore the limits of this every weekend with a beautiful community of people who helped me feel accepted and loved.

Every week I would burn a CD of all the new music I had found to jam out to, and my friends and I would sit in my car for hours listening to the different and new sounds, enjoying how the frequencies interacted with our own psyche. It was a beautiful experience I feel connected to this day with.

I stepped away from the scene for a few years and into a different world entirely until reconnecting with someone from the past on social media. This person was involved in the EDM world and had a passion for music and art that burned strong. He brought me back into the community I know and loved so well and eventually became my husband, John Wayne!

This man taught me how to DJ and really ignited a passion within me to pursue this wonderful hobby. I enjoy playing music with him in our DJ duo Team Umami. When we are on stage together it is a great time to let loose, dance, and vibe with my beloved in a place free of judgement and full of emotion. We balance each other out well.

Still, we wanted to create a brand that would allow us to play shows on our own if needed. We were looking for a name for me to use, as my husband already had a solo brand. We were chatting one day and the word “Baelien” came out of his mouth, to which we both said:

“That’s it. It’s perfect!” – And project “Baelien” was born.

I have really found my groove playing weird wonky experimental bass with lots of crazy beautiful sounds and samples from around the world. I like dancing and moving to the music and making people feel overcome with the urge to do the same.

I have gotten some pretty wonderful opportunities to share the amazing beats and frequencies I’ve collected and created recently and am so stoked for what’s to come. I have so much gratitude for the promoters and booking directors that have believed in me and given me the opportunity to be direct support for kickass artists and to my family and friends for their unwavering support.

Question 2: Your alias, branding, and overall creative direction are very influenced by aliens/extraterrestrial life it seems. Where did this passion come from and how do you plan to abduct listeners with this otherworldly vision?

Baelien: The full answer to this question is much more than I could answer here at this time, so put simply, I feel deeply rooted to the belief that this world is not my home, that I am just a visitor here on Earth, getting to experience and feel things as they are.

I live a “human” life, but I am a multidimensional being and creature of light on a mission to spread that light, love, understanding, and peace across the world, and am utilizing music and various frequencies to help unlock the acceptance of this in other human beings and myself.

I am really starting to find interest in using specific frequencies in my music to achieve a desired state of being for the listener and am working to utilize these frequencies as well as sounds from sacred instruments in my productions to take the effects to the next level.

I also use a lot of vocal samples I find enlightening or profound as a way of expressing my experience here in hopes of elevating the listeners into a realm that feels just beyond reality.

Baelien | Dancefestopia 2022
photo by: Shearwater Visuals

Question 3: After a wildly successful and crowd-pleasing performance at Lights All Night Festival in Dallas, Texas – what sort of inspiration and motivation have arisen since then? Do you feel this set was pivotal to your career and what can we expect for events in the near future from you, Baelien?

Baelien: Thank you for the kind words about that performance, it was beautiful to see this dream of mine come to fruition. Lights All Night was exhilarating for me on so many levels. I envisioned myself onstage at the festival all throughout the year, how it would feel to be on stage sharing my music with the world. I wanted to play this festival, so much so I put it on my goals for the year, my “resolution to achieve” list.

I got the news I would be playing at Lights All Night and was just overcome with gratitude and a feeling of validation in the work I am doing. Expect to hear some new sounds this year as I will be implementing live instrumentation and vocal work into my live sets!

Baelien | Freaky Deaky Texas

I will still play all the heavy, wonky, weird, and beautiful vibes that my audience has come to love, and I am so excited to be able to fuse the skills I’ve learned over the years into this beautiful collaboration.

As for future shows, I was officially booked for Backwoods Music Festival in Arkansas, this April. My team and I have decided to organize a grassroots out of state tour in efforts to market my Backwoods Music Festival debut and spread the word.

We plan to hit 5-10 cities in what we are calling Baesgalaxytour2023. I am super excited about this. Plus I have a new clothing collaboration coming out with a very talented designer, Scott Atomic.

I am also set to DJ a Halloween rave scene in a movie in a week from now!

As for DJing local shows, My team has decided I need to only play a few meaningful ones here and there but, my main focus now has to be pumping out new music and quality content to grow.

Here is my ambassador link to get your tickets to Backwoods! Click HERE

Question 4: Just 4 months ago, you released “Mellow Brick Road” and the masses undeniably loved it as it was well-received. What type of musical expression and creative direction did you undertake in the process of developing such a knockout experimental bass track?

Baelien: Honestly this track was something unexpected as I came up with it in my studio while taking a break from another original Dancefestopia themed project I had been working on for a while.

Came up with the singing lyrics with my husband while hanging out, and freestyling and thought:

“Hey, this is pretty catchy actually. Maybe we could do something with this?”

I had the Wizard of Oz running through my head from the other projects I was working on dedicating to Dancefestopia, and the words came pretty naturally. I wanted to add something with grit and realness to the project, and decided to layer a rhyme I wrote during the height of the pandemic about what was going on to inject a message into the work beyond just introducing myself.

My husband believed in this track so much and pushed it to be where it is today. He set up vocal recording sessions with a phenomenal vocal engineer, Hunter Avant, and after the track was recorded and ready for release, set up distribution and handled promotions.

I must say. I am super impressed at the response from the track and look forward to the work that is forthcoming.

[Watch The Official Music Video On YouTube]

Baelien | Dancefestopia 2021

Listen to Mellow Brick Road on SoundCloud

Question 5: As a rising female dance music producer – what sort of advice can you give other aspiring DJs/producers that want to be in your shoes?

Baelien: If you have the opportunity to work towards your passion, the thing that truly brings you joy…. take it.

Don’t get caught up in the stigma of what society says you should be doing or how far along you should be in your journey. Be authentic with everyone you encounter. Enjoy what you are doing and do it for you, because you love it.

Practice and seek out new knowledge to feed your passion and never be scared to ask for advice or assistance! Don’t expect to be perfect from day one. There will ALWAYS be more you can learn.

Be humble enough to accept help, and confident enough to rock a stage no matter what circumstances arise. And of course, practice.

Practice until it doesn’t feel like a chore, and it can feel like an exhilarating opportunity to create something completely magical that excites you beyond comprehension.

Then, you will be on your way.

Baelien | Electric Arts Festival

Question 6: You have a background in utilizing and playing instruments. Do you plan to incorporate live instruments into your repertoire and discography?

Baelien: Yes! So very stoked to begin incorporating live instrumentation into my music and live sets!

Expect to see electric violin, drum set, digeridoo, keyboard, hand pan, vocals, and more this year.

Not really sure where this will take me, but I am looking forward to exploring the limits of sound with the addition of these really special instruments in combination with the electronic software I already work with and the vibe I aim to achieve with every set.

Question 7: Who has been your main source of inspiration to create music? How have these influential people had a hand in the fruition and development of your taste in the electronic music sector?

Baelien: I draw inspiration from music that reaches my soul in some way. This encompasses music from many genres, so it is difficult to name any one artist as a “main source” of inspiration.

I do pray over my music and sets and ask God, the ultimate artist, to give me discernment in selecting the music I play and create, and the motivation and opportunity to share that music with the world.

I welcome the discovery of music from different genres and cultures and love incorporating sounds of the world and the science of subliminal healing frequencies into my sound.