The man with a melody from Down Under unleashes a dancefloor classic
Interview ; Dan Prince
Luke welcome to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you today?
“I’m in Adelaide having a coffee whilst my girlfriend gets a haircut.”
Well you have done it again, absolutely smashed it with one of your productions! This time it’s all down to the magical ‘Say The Words To You’, another Exploited bomb created with James Curd. Please talk us through the history and sound of the track…
“James and I were chatting about how good the sound of house tracks coming out at the start of the 2000’s were, especially the French stuff. James already had an idea floating around that seemed perfect for being worked into this style so we set about the usual process of me running around his studio playing on his ridiculous collection of vintage synths. Originally we had a vocal sample in the track that gave it even more of a ‘loopy’ vibe. I took the track back to my studio and mixed it and we were pretty much ready to roll with it when James had a session with Johnny aka ‘nah man’ from Parachute Youth. All of a sudden the track had a new vocal and a new vibe!”
When I told the Buzz Chart office who I was interviewing today the room went silent. And then they all shouted at the same time…”it’s the Stardust of 2014!”. Well Luke, thoughts on that little comment?
“Ha, well that is kinda what I was alluding to above. We admired that sound, especially ‘Music Sounds Better With You’. What an awesome tune! What we wanted to do is recreate those feelings associated with the period and put a modern twist on it.”
Did you know on completion you had created something pretty special or has this taken you by surprise a little?
“We always enjoyed this track from the beginning, but I think it was the first time we gave it a run in the club that we really were satisfied with our vision for it.”
Okay let’s rewind for a moment. It sounds like you have hailed from a real musical family that in your own words has “a lot of classical influences”. So, take us back to the early years when you were growing up and your first musical memories…
“My mother was a piano teacher, so naturally I was sat in front of the piano at an early age. I don’t particularly remember this, but my dad who was not as musical used to go to organ lessons and spend hours practicing. Apparently I used to jump I’m the organ and pretty much play the piece he was learning for weeks straight away which did not do much for his confidence at all haha.”
At school you played in various bands enjoying discovering different types of music, when were you first drawn to the sounds of dance music?
“Dance music really kicked off for me with Daft Punk’s Discovery. It was such an amazing sound. I was into other electronic music such as the Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx at the time. But Discovery changed everything for me and shaped the way I would produce music.”
How big an influence was HMC at your local Cargo Club?
“Wednesday’s at the Cargo Club with HMC behind the decks was a staple for my friends and I. He had the dancefloor at his finger tips. The music was rad and there was this atmosphere that just felt so good. He made us want to dance and also to make music like what he was playing.”
When did the idea of a career in music start to form in your mind?
“Music has always been a part of me, but the idea of a sustainable career in it probably only kicked in about 5-7 years ago. This was when I first started releasing music and touring as well as composing music for Film and TV.”
Your first big break into the industry?
“First break would have been with my band The Swiss. We had been jamming away playing at clubs across Adelaide, pretty much just having a good time. Then all of a sudden we were picked up by Modular Recordings, put on a tour supporting Ladyhawke across the country and released our “Bubble Bath EP”. The title track received great radio support and set about touring Australia, Europe and America all within the same year.”
What did your family think of your career choice?
“There has always been support from them although it took them a long time to accept my choice. Im sure they would have rather had me go with the safe option of having a 9-5 job and just being comfortable. But eventually with hearing my music on radio and seeing TV ads that i had written music for, this music dream became more real.”
Have you ever had a job outside of music?
“I actually studied Accounting at Adelaide University. So in the past I have actually done a bit of part time work around music.”
What is the latest news on the Swiss?
“Well we have pumped out 3 EP’s in the last 12 months on Kitsune and now we are taking a break from touring to write some more new music. It is a bit hard at the moment because we are separated geographically with Tony living in New York. So we only get a few weeks every 6 months or so when we are together to write.”
Gig of the winter – wow, that feels weird saying that sitting here in Ibiza!!!
“It is a bit of a weird one being complete opposites in seasons to Europe and America. I do have a dream to chase the summer and plan touring so I will be in Australia Nov – May and then get myself overseas.”
The big 5 tunes in your box right now…
“I’m actually a little behind in going through all my promos, Beatport etc. But here are 5 tracks that have pricked up my ears…
1. The Magician – Sunlight
2. Flight Facilities – Two Bodies
3. Young Franco – Close 2 U
4. The Presets – No Fun
5. Say Lou Lou – Games For Girls (Alex Metric Remix)
Paris Hilton earning $200K a night at Amnesia in Ibiza. Thoughts?
“I’d like to get paid that much for a show!”
The last studio toy you treated yourself to?
“I’ve been very good lately with purchases, but I did just buy a wireless Midi interface which allows me to jump onto the Dancefloor and play a keytar with no cables connected to my synths on stage.”
The best and worst thing about living in Adelaide?
“Best thing is the wine and food. Worst is that we are so far away from the rest of the world here. Flying 25 hours to get to Europe is no fun.”
If you could have made any big ITALO House tune from the early 90s, what would it be?
“Red Fox – Waste Your Time.”
An up and coming Aussie producer we should be looking out for in 2015…
“Young Franco.”
What is the record that…
…reminds you of your childhood?
“The Ghostbusters Soundtrack.”
…always get you dancing?
“Daft Punk – ‘Discovery’.”
…reminds you of being broken hearted?
“Thomasa Albinoni – ‘Adagio in G Minor’.”
…you wish you would have made?
“Jean Michelle Jarre – ‘Oxygene’.”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“My new Luke Million EP “Light & Sound” will be released on Sept 26 via Etc Etc. And there is a whole bunch of remixes that I have just completed for some cool artists that should be dropping shortly.
Further information on Luke Million : http://www.lukemillion.com
