For Belgian DJ duo Mum & Dad, electronic music has become much more than a shared passion. After more than twenty years building careers and raising a family, Marie-Pierre and Gérald decided to start again together. At a festival, Marie-Pierre saw a DJ take the stage and thought: “I want to be a DJ.” She called Gérald immediately, but the idea took time to grow. Then he woke up one morning thinking: “Yes, that’s it. This is what we should do.” A week at Tomorrowland Academy in July 2024 set everything in motion. We spoke with them about a life together behind the DJ decks.
You share your lives both on and off the stage. How does being a couple influence the way you connect with each other behind the decks?
There is a familiarity that comes from sharing everyday life. A glance can communicate quite a lot, and we can often sense where the other person wants to go. But it is not always easy! We both have our own ideas and being a couple does not mean we automatically agree. Playing together asks us to listen differently, leave room for each other and sometimes let go of what we had planned. Some of the best moments happen when one of us plays something unexpected and the other immediately knows how to respond. Sharing that connection with the person you share your life with is very special.
Your performance fees go towards scholarships through the Mum & Dad Foundation. Why was it important for you to connect your musical journey with a bigger purpose?
This is very personal for us. Gérald received scholarships that gave him the opportunity to start, pursue his studies and build his career. We know how much that support can change the opportunities available to someone. We had reached a turning point in our professional lives where we were able to help others and we wanted to offer that same possibility. Education can open up choices in someone’s life, just as it did for Gérald. By adding our DJ fees to the foundation’s resources, we hope to fund more scholarships. It gives an extra meaning to something we already love doing.
DJ technology has evolved enormously over the years. What matters most to you when it comes to the tools you use behind the decks and how much of your performance is instinct rather than preparation?
We want equipment we can trust, with controls that feel natural and responsive. That physical connection matters: listening, making an adjustment, hearing the difference. We have also brought vinyl into our DJing and we enjoy the hands-on relationship with the music it offers. It encourages us to listen closely and be deliberate with each movement. The better we know our tools, the more attention we can give to the music and the room. Preparation means knowing our tracks well enough to have choices. Not only instinct, but also the crowd is deciding which choice makes sense in that moment and sometimes letting go of a track we really wanted to play because the room is asking for something else.
Preparation gives us the confidence to be spontaneous.
Many people believe there is a certain age by which you need to have established yourself in the music industry. Have you ever felt that pressure, or has starting later given you a different perspective?
Age is part of the conversation around our project, so of course we are aware of it. Starting later gives us perspective: we know ourselves better and have a clearer sense of why we want to do this. At the same time, experience elsewhere in life does not replace learning the craft. We take that seriously. There is also a sense of urgency. We joke about it, but we do not feel we have twenty years to get things moving! We want to put everything in place to give this a real chance. That means learning, committing and making the most of our time. We would rather put our energy into becoming better than worry about when we should have started.
Your daughter Lauren is now 18. How does she experience having parents who are actively involved in the electronic music scene?
Lauren would probably give you a more entertaining answer than we would! It really depends on her mood that day. She is eighteen, and on some days it is, “What is this idea of changing your whole life?” On others, she is delighted and really supportive. We also know she is very proud and talks about us when we are not around, even if she does not always tell us directly! As she begins to find her own way, we want to show her that nothing is impossible and that, with commitment, hard work and determination, dreams can become something you actually live. We are still working towards ours, and we hope seeing us learn, make mistakes and keep going gives her confidence to pursue her own. Life can have more than one chapter, and there is no age limit on starting something that matters to you. Whatever her opinion on a particular day, we are still Mum and Dad.
Your sound moves between groove-driven Tech-House and stripped-back Minimal Techno. What connects you most strongly to these particular styles?
We are drawn to the way a groove can hold your attention through very small changes. A bassline, a particular swing, a percussion sound arriving at the right moment: those details can completely change how a track feels. We also love space in music. When there are fewer elements, each one has more character and you can hear the relationship between them. That combination of physical energy and close attention to detail is something we both connect with. It makes us want to move, while keeping us curious about what comes next.
When preparing a set, how do you balance your individual musical tastes with the sound you want to create together?
Our tastes overlap, but each of us hears things the other might miss. Sharing music helps us discover what caught the other person’s attention: a rhythm, a texture, or a feeling that becomes clearer after a longer listen. What we love listening and dancing to is not necessarily what we play, though. We are big fans of Joris Voorn and Solomun, for example, but Minimal Techno and Tech-House feel most natural when we are behind the decks. That is where we find our shared musical language. Our ambition is not primarily to play main stages. We love a crowd who come to listen closely and dance, particularly people in their thirties, forties and beyond who might recognize something of themselves in us. That connection helps shape the sound we want to create together.
Your biography mentions artists such as Cristina Lazic, Andrew Azara and Neverdogs as influences. What have you learned from the artists and DJs who inspire you?
Listening to artists like Cristina Lazic, Andrew Azara and Neverdogs encourages us to pay attention to the details of groove and the way a set develops over time. We are interested in how a DJ gives a track space, maintains a feeling and recognizes when to shift the energy. It has taught us patience. When something is working, you do not always need to add more. We try to understand what moves us in their music and bring that awareness into our own choices.
Electronic music and DJ culture have changed significantly over the past two decades. What excites you most about the scene today and is there anything you miss from earlier days?
We love being able to discover music and connect with people well beyond our immediate surroundings. There is something exciting about finding a producer you knew nothing about and then following their work closely. That access keeps us curious. What we miss most is the feeling of nights when people came to dance without constantly checking their phones or filming every drop. Everyone seemed more absorbed in the same moment. We understand wanting to keep a memory, but there is something special about a room full of people simply responding to the music and each other. That is exactly why we would love to play at clubs with a no-phone policy, such as Tomodachi or DC10. Those nights still exist, and that is the atmosphere we love being part of.
Beyond the music itself, what has been the biggest challenge of building an artistic project together while maintaining your family life?
Making space for everything, definitely. An artistic project follows you home: there is always more music to hear, an idea to discuss or something to organize. When you are both involved, it can easily become the subject of every conversation. We have to recognize when one of us needs to switch off and make time simply to be a couple and a family.
Fortunately, we share a very clear musical instinct. When we listen to new tracks, we usually agree straight away on whether they belong in our sound and thankfully so! That common ground makes things easier. We are still learning how to give the project our best while leaving enough room for the everyday life we love together.
Looking ahead, what would you like Mum & Dad to become over the next few years, both musically and through the work of your foundation?
We want to keep developing a sound that people recognize and build relationships with the artists, labels and dance floors where that sound belongs. We have recently started producing our own music and we are really enjoying it. We hope to release two or three tracks by the end of the year, but we are demanding of ourselves. Producing takes time and we want to release music we feel proud of. We would also love to play internationally. Travelling has always been something we enjoy and discovering places through music would make it even more meaningful. Honestly, we love playing: the more we get to do it, the happier we are! Keeping a home base and a strong family connection is essential. Lauren remains our priority but with her preparing to study abroad, this feels like a natural moment for us to explore more too.
That connection with the dancefloor will take them to Amsterdam Dance Event on October 22, with an afternoon appearance at NETWORK & SHOWCASE HUB by Beskar Bookings, Decks & Stories and Loud Ladies, followed by ZUHAUSE at CREA Music Hall in the evening.
Text: Triple P
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