https://www.instagram.com/lil4sss/

Recording of my Lilás session @ SUB (Beautifull Freaks + Cartulis + Muddshow) @ Buda BXL 29.07.2024 - chillzone
https://www.instagram.com/sub_bxl/


8:30 - 10:30 AM

Diogo Lacerda - Lilás @ SUB (chillzone) -  Buda - BXL 28.07.2024

Any inquiries, email me: 
diogo.childhoodintelligence@gmail.com

Diogo Lacerda is a DJ and record collector with over fifteen years of musical journeys behind him, and a working life split between music and visual design. A long stretch of graphic and multimedia design jobs helped sponsor a deep passion for crate digging, late nights and after‑hours sessions, whether behind the decks, on the dance floor, or listening with friends in intimate spaces across Europe. 

Today, he appears selectively using a slower calendar to focus on the places and contexts that make sense for what he does. Musically, Diogo works along a wide but coherent line that runs from ambient and downtempo through to fully club‑ready material. Different tempos and energies can appear in the same set without feeling disconnected. That approach is the result of time, experimentation, and movement. 

His path started in mid‑2000s Lisbon, when the city’s scene was compact but open enough for experimentation. He first found his place in three projects — Pluie Noir, lowmoneyMusiclove, and Assemble Music — all cult collectives and vinyl‑only labels that operated outside the mainstream and grew through word of mouth. These platforms gave him exposure and space to develop an identity as a selector and, eventually, begin carrying his records beyond Portugal.

As his design work took him into different kinds of projects by day, his nights and weekends were spent digging and playing. Regular gigs and trips to record stores in Berlin, Paris, London, Zurich, Frankfurt and Barcelona slowly shaped a collection with a broad range and a clear centre of gravity. Between 2016 and 2019 he held a residency at Radiant, an independent underground party at Bar 512 in East London, which became one of the main testing grounds for this evolving sound. At the same time, he was active back home in Lisbon, playing at Ministerium, 5A Club, and later Lux Fragil, as well as open‑air events like Assembling at Ribeira das Naus and Bar do Fundo in Sintra. 

Seven years ago, Diogo moved to Ghent. The Belgian and Dutch record stores, together with the scenes in Ghent and Brussels, added another layer to his work. He became a regular at Funke, a three‑floor club in a 19th‑century building on Bij Sint‑Jacobs square, known for its L‑Acoustics system and careful bookings. He also found a consistent home at the Ojoo parties, run by Ménica and Hannes TRP, placing him in front of some of Belgium’s most focused and curious dance floors. These rooms, and the communities around them, gave his sets a clear context and a feedback loop that continues today.

In parallel, his relationship with the Berlin vinyl‑only label Childhood Intelligence deepened. What began as a shared aesthetic and friendship with founder Venus News Network grew into a more active role as performing artist and label assistant. Childhood Intelligence has become a platform for detailed, long‑form electronics with a distinct visual and narrative identity, spread across more than twenty vinyl releases and digital only releases through Bancamp like for example the Childhood Dreamz series. The label’s emphasis on long‑term listening and careful presentation aligns closely with Diogo’s own way of working, and his input now extends from the decks into the wider life of the project.

By 2025, the bookings reflected how this slow build had travelled. Lux Fragil invited him to open for Japanese and perlon legend Fumiya Tanaka. Guesthouse in Bucharest brought him together with Rhadoo and Dan Andrei as part of The Guesthouse’s 15th‑anniversary tour at Ministerium. These invitations sit within a longer line of work rather than sudden breaks; they show how his approach has found its way into key rooms where the details of selection and pacing matter. Diogo continues to keep his calendar relatively light, preferring a smaller number of well‑considered appearances. When he does play, it is usually in spaces where there is room to stretch out and let things patiently evolve.

In 2026, that includes the 13th edition of Beautiful Freaks, a Brussels‑based non‑profit party series focused on long, immersive dance‑floor sessions and on maintaining core club values. Beautiful Freaks has grown into a trusted underground fixture in the city, with line‑ups built around DJs who value depth, continuity and attention to sound. For this edition, Diogo plays alongside Uruguayan DJ Oriana and Brussels favourite GURL, bringing together international and local perspectives in a setting that suits his slow‑building, narrative style.

Diogo_lacerda

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