Chris Mears and Joris Mur step forward as duo HotLap after 15+ years writing and producing across club music. Mears brought songwriting to tracks for Meduza, Tiësto and Vintage Culture. Mur carries credits with Goodboys, Imanbek and Alok.
As HotLap their sound mixes Afrohouse swing, Berlin minimal precision and melodic house structure, leaning on smart edits and uncluttered grooves. Early DJ support from Adriatique, CamelPhat, Carlita, Cristoph and Eli & Fur underlines the trust in their melodic sensibilities. 2024 marked their first European tour, with headline and festival dates across Turkey, Morocco, Belgium and the UK.
Their latest release is a remix of “Feel The Love” by Andhim, Malou and Ameme which dropped in April. On the HotLap remix, the drums shuffle looser, the bassline rolls warmer, and the chords rise slowly, opening out the mix as it builds.
You’ve both spent years writing for other artists. What felt different when you started shaping an identity that could only exist between the two of you?
When you’re writing for other people, there’s always a frame around it – an artist, a sound, a goal. With HotLap, that frame disappeared. It became about where our tastes overlap and where we push each other. Chris naturally leans into song and emotion and is an incredibly fast worker, he’s also great with chords; whereas Joris is more technical, focusing on the fine details of production and the groove and feel, and the project takes the best parts of both skillsets. We weren’t trying to fill a lane, just making music that felt honest to both of us.
When you’re reworking a track with such a recognizable vocal and emotional centre, how do you decide what to keep and what to change?
The vocal usually tells you what it needs. If it already carries the emotion, we try not to fight it. We’ll protect the parts that feel essential like the phrasing and energy. Obviously, some parts like the tone and message will always stay; but we can be ruthless with everything else. If changing the surrounding music helps the vocal hit harder, we’re open to it. We always have a goal whether it’s a clubbier remix or a festival style remix, but once we have that goal in mind we’ll change whatever we need.
Your productions feel very stripped and intentional. How do you keep things simple without them feeling empty?
A lot of it is knowing when to stop. We’ll often build more than we need and then spend a long time muting things. If something isn’t really contributing to the vibe, it doesn’t stay. We’d rather have a few strong elements that really talk to each other than lots of ideas competing for space.
There’s a clear sense of swing and warmth in the remix. Where did that come from early on?
The swing is arguably the most important piece of our productions. Before sound design or anything else, we were focused on getting that pocket right. Small timing shifts, loose percussion, bass that breathes a bit. Those details add up. We also stayed away from anything too shiny. Slightly rough, human-sounding elements tend to carry warmth without you having to force it.
People often mention your sense of space and pacing. How do you think about tension and release?
We like letting things take their time. Tension doesn’t always mean adding more, honestly it’s usually about holding back and trusting repetition. Small changes can go a long way if the foundation is strong. When something finally opens up, it feels more natural, less like a big moment that was pushed too hard.
You’ve worked across a lot of different club worlds. How does that feed into more melodic, emotional records?
Working in more functional club music teaches you discipline. You learn how important groove and flow really are. Even when we’re doing something melodic or emotional, that club mindset is still there and it has to feel good in a room full of people, not just sound nice on its own.
Has touring changed how you approach arrangements in the studio?
Yeah, for sure. Playing records out in different places shows you how people actually react, not how you imagine they might. It’s made us more comfortable with simplicity and slower builds. You don’t always need big moments sometimes subtle shifts keep people locked in way more, like a hypnotic groove. That works especially well in intimate club settings.
Looking ahead, what feels exciting about where HotLap is heading?
We want to push the emotional side a bit further while keeping things restrained and physical. More vocal-driven ideas, richer harmonies, but still minimal at the core. Really left of center ideas from top to bottom, production to vocal. Workflow-wise, we’re also trying to stay instinctive and not overthink things. The best HotLap moments usually come from trusting the first feeling.