Lorna James: Human rights lawyer turned DJ channels tragedy into dance music
Lorna James, a Waterlooville human rights lawyer, embraced her passion for music and decided to follow her dreams after a devastating personal loss.
A Waterlooville human rights lawyer has swapped a horsehair wig for headphones after deciding to follow her dreams of being a DJ following a devastating personal tragedy.
“I have been a musician all my life. I started playing the piano at about the same time as I started talking,” said Lorna Hackett, who performs under the stage name Lorna James.
“I have always loved music, it's my first love. Throughout my life it's always been a constant companion. But I also really liked arguing, I really had a very strong sense of justice and so I decided to become a lawyer,” she said.
She studied law at university and became a prominent barrister, specialising in human and civil rights cases.
Lorna’s love of music had led her to set up a law firm with friend David Dabbs, who produced his own music, in 2017.
“We were working together and we always played house music in the office,” she said. “We used to have the odd day where we’d go and sit in a music studio and write music.”
After receiving a compliment from a friend who heard her playing piano, she decided to take the plunge and learn the process of recording and releasing music.
“I downloaded Logic software to record music and taught myself how to use it. I have always loved dance music, I was young in the 90s! It was all about the club culture and dance music and that kind of thing. So that was what I started making, very retro, very 90s dance music.”
In 2024, she released her first album ‘Stratosphere’, which she describes as “a sort of ambient music, a crossover between classical and electronic music.” The album was received to great acclaim by renowned composers, and the tracks were selected to be played on BBC Introducing Solent.
“They played all of them, which is unheard of, apparently,” she said.
She was set to release her second album when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
More tragedy was to come, however.
“On the Monday, June 16 last year I found my business partner dead,” said Lorna. “He died very suddenly.”
Then, exactly one week later, Lorna’s mother also passed away.
“If you want to reconsider your relationship with time, that is a way to do it, it was absolutely brutal,” she said. “So it got me thinking, I am sitting opposite an empty desk now - why am I doing this? Do I really want to be a lawyer for the rest of my life?
“I didn’t really envisage a long term future where I would be doing the law without David, my best friend who I had seen every day for the last ten years.”
“I think when life gives you that number of lemons you become impervious to the taste of lemons, to the bitterness, and you become quite fearless,” she said. “So I thought this is my opportunity. I am in my late forties, I am going to do this and pursue music.”
Although she is still a practising barrister and still takes on some cases, she is clear that “music is taking centre stage”.
She took a residency position at a London radio station, Freshsoundz Radio, where she performs twice a month.
“I’d always wanted to learn to DJ but never had the guts to do anything about it. When David died, his brother asked me if I wanted to have his decks,” she said. Five months after her first time using the decks, she DJed at a club in Ibiza.
She has also finally released her second album, ‘The Right To Be Forgotten’. A third album is also in the works.
She said: "It's really important in life to look at yourself and think, am I really where I want to be? And why do I have a little voice in my head telling me that I can’t do something, or it's too late to do something, or you won't succeed?
“I think if I had stepped into music so fully in my 20s it would have been a terrible mistake because me being me now, all the experience I have means I am better equipped emotionally and mentally and in terms of stamina to be able to navigate some of the challenges
“If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do, don’t wait. If you try it and hate it or don’t succeed, it is way better to have given it a go than being on your deathbed regretting.”