One of the biggest producers in the world exclusively at DMCWORLD
Welcome back to DMCWORLD Luke. And what a way to bring in another year for DMCWORLD’s favourite DJ with your new tune ‘Pogo’ – talk us through the history of the tune…
“Why that’s very kind of you Dan! Thanks for having me back, it’s always a pleasure to get some airtime from you! The Dutch sound is evolving at the moment and it’s touching back on it’s Gabber and Hardstyle roots more. People like Showtek crossing over for instance is helping this speed up. With that comes a big Dutch history in bouncing to the beat. This is always combined with a big distorted kickdrum. I was looking for a bouncey sound and came across a sample of a Jewish Mouth Harp. It basically sounds like a spring and the track was ready to go! I ‘bounced’ it over to Majestic, who I got to know personally after his incredible performance with me there, out of the blue, at BCM Mallorca last summer. I was so stunned by his talent, I needed to do something with him. He nailed it instantly with weaving the Pogo concept in there and the track was done!”
‘Pogo’ features some cracking remixes courtesy of some of our favourite producers – Chuckie, Congorock, Deorro & H.P. Vince in the house. Why did you opt for these artists and what have they brought to the track individually?
“Most definately! I have a great working relationship with fellow Dutchman Chuckie at the moment. We just do stuff for eachother. After we came together on 1234 and I made a remix for his Make Some Noise, it was time for him to return the favor. I’m a massive fan of Congorock as you might be able to tell from every track I play by him. I’m very glad he’s on board for this and he made a hard track even harder. I love the grittyness of Congorock. Deorro is the new kid on the block from LA who is set to have a huge release on Mixmash pretty soon. He is one of the new bigger talents that is coming from my forum, keep an eye on him! H.P. Vince is someone I used to make tracks with in the late nineties. Back then we were know as ‘Dubbing Double’ and we would get the support from Deep Dish amongst others. Vince has been away doing strictly trance, but his Pogo remix nailed it for me so we added him to the package.”
Love something you said in an interview late last year. In a dance world where leading producers are all clamouring to do collabs with pop stars and other artists – you have made a bit of a stance on this issue. Here’s what you said…” In the past it has proven that trying to work with mainstream artists and their management can often be a pain in the ass. Also, working with mainstream artists doesn’t necessarily mean it will benefit me as a DJ. “ Can you expand on that…
“Although I move on the more commercial side of dance music, I do feel the chart R&B rapper kind of dance music is very different to the scene I operate in. And I’m not talking about wonderful guys like Example who’s a gem. But mainly the artists and A&R’s from the States are doing their own thing. Which is fine, but I feel it lacks connection with what’s really happening in the clubs and on the floors. They try to make tracks that work on radio, we play tracks that work on the floor. That’s the main difference. And with that in mind, and after trying ceveral years, I’ve decided to split the two up. For my singles, I just try to work with people that are easy to work with and that know and live my scene. The less drama the better and it creates a great working environment. I do like the outcome better as well, it will push more towards a futuristic sound instead of trying to do what’s already done, which is not interesting to me as a DJ and as a producer particularily.”
We have a lovely thing in common dude, 2012 was the year we both got married. You tied the knot with Gina last year – I interviewed Eats Everything last week and he also got married in 2012 and said it was the best thing he has ever done! Do you agree?
“Absolutely! The only thing for me is, I’ve done it before ha ha. But with Gina I feel everything is just right and makes absolute sense. Especially with the profession I have. Since Gina is a professional DJ too she understands everything I do and need to do for it. And the other way around, as she’ll be touring too and needs to do studio work. It opened my eyes for me as previously I thought you needed to put major effort and strain in to make a relationship or marriage work. Now I understand that it can come way more naturally, if you have a partner that has a similar mindset to yours.”
You have certainly established your Super You & Me night at Cream in Ibiza. That room rocks. What is it that you love about the whole Amnesia vibe?
“I think the terrace is one of the most amazing areas to perform to! It has always been like that for me. Especially when they moved the setup from the original DJ booth, which was great already, to the festival type setup we use on our nights. The collaboration with Cream has always been a win win situation. I feel I brought the new sound and new crowd to Cream a few years back, and they connected me to loads and loads of amazing UK crowds who are very dedicated to me. Most of them have seen me perform multiple times and I can’t thank them enough for the support as I came from the bottom up in the UK.”
Away from Amnesia, where else do you love on the island?
“Every year I take my whole family with me on holiday to Ibiza. It’s an anual tradition. We rent a villa and stay there in the peace and quiet for a week. No going out, just enjoying the quiet side of the island. Anywhere outside of the partyscene is brilliant too in Ibiza in the summer.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
1. Dyro & Bassjackers – Grid
2. TJR – Ode To Oi (Original Mix)
3. Carnage & Borgore – Incredible
4. Plastic Funk & Tujamo – Who
5. Gregor Salto & Funkin’ Matt – Foxy
6. John Roman & Gina Turner – Dance For Me
7. Loopers & Billy The Kit – Ready
8. Laidback Luke feat. Majestic – Pogo (Congorock Edit)
9. Christian Luke – Alpha
10. Lucky Charmes – This Is It (Andy Callister remix)
Your label Mixmash is going through the roof. What are the new release plans for 2013…
“We have a couple of big ones lined up! We used to do the Ones To Watch EP’s where we would combine tracks of four individual newcomer names in one release. Due to the amount of talents I’m discovering and signing, and with the Mixmash release schedule being packed up until after the summer, we have decided it’s time for Mixmash to have a sub label. Which will be named OTW or Ones To Watch. Instead of combining tracks, we will have space and more time to focus on individual releases as much as possible. Mixmash will be the label above that, giving more room to the household names and people that have had OTW releases with us before. So that’s an exciting development! Coming up on Mixmash are releases by Marc Benjamin, La Fuente, Henrix, Chocolate Puma, Deorro and Moska & Jordan Ferrer to name a few. My collabs with Hardwell and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike are amongst them too.”
Where have been some of the best gigs over the winter for you?
“Well we just had one actually! The Super You&Me Weekender at Electric Brixton in London! This was a prestigious thing for me to do and it turned out to be amazing. We got loads of brilliant response off people who have seen me play a million times, traveled down and said it was one of the best nights they ever had! Which is amazing to hear! We definately brought the Ibiza vibe back to London and it was a nice taster for the epicness and superheroes that’s about to take over Creamfields!”
Everyone talks about your stage name – Laidback Luke. Ok, so what is your idea of a perfect laidback Sunday in the house of Lucas?
“It’s always funny to me. I guess the only part of me that’s really laid back is my temper. Plus I’m very easy going. Having said that, everything else is full steam! Like my music and the way I DJ, it’s basically all or nothing for me. I never really take the time to chill as I prefer keeping busy. If it’s not music, then I’m training my Kung Fu or Tai Chi forms. Or thinking about what food I’m going to cook up for the family. Most Sundays we try to spend with family. I even take ridiculous early flights out from wherever I played to be around family on two hours of sleep ha ha. But doing this, and traveling the world so much, though it seems common to you who are reading this, you do realise family is so precious.”
I interviewed Mr Dragan Roganović aka Dirty South this week and we talked about him returning to Belgrade DJing. Have you ever returned to your homeland Philippines and Manila?
“Yes I did! And I played there too! It was mega I must say. My Philippino family lives below what we in Europe would call the avarage. But the club I played was very prestigious and famous people, presenters and actors from Manila go out there to party. I took my mom and four of my aunts there, including a couple of my cousins. They sat in the VIP area. They saw me blow the roof off there and were amazed that all these famous and rich people were looking up to me like that. It was a blessing to come back there and make my family proud. I do get a lot of Philippino support around the world too as I’m one of the few Philippino DJs that operate on this level.”
Cooking is a big passion of yours. So we come round to yours for a nice dinner. What are the three courses you serve up? You seem very proud of your fusilli pasta with mushrooms, pea and mint…
“Oh yeah that’s one I made up myself! I would cook a nice three course meal indeed, similar as what I would take in Room Service, as this whole need of eating good food comes from me traveling and eating at the nice hotels we stay. So it would be a soup, a main and a dessert. I love making risottos but I like cooking anything else too, from Indian food to Stroganoff stuff. And I have a few nice desserts up my sleeve too. One of my favorites is a sweet rice topped with mango dessert, but I do make a mean chocolate lava cake too.”
Who are your big DJ mates you like having a laugh with on the worldwide tour schedule…?
“I’m very careful with having people close and around me nowadays. Sometimes fellow DJs can be quite superficial or they will stab you in the back from nowhere. It may sound harsh, but I’ve learned from experience. I care for people a lot, you might see this by the way I try to stay connected with my fans. And being like that makes you very vulnerable sometimes. DJs can be ruthless and it sucks. Some of my favorite people and amazing people at heart to hang out with are Tiesto, Hardwell, Martin Solveig, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Chuckie and Congorock. If I left you out, I don’t think you’re an ass by the way! I could name at least ten other people but the list would be too long, forgive me.”
A great quote from you…”I sometimes wish I had a teleportation machine, or could clone myself to be able to handle everything. I’ve worked really hard to get to this point, and I feel blessed to have pulled it off.” – so you step into a time machine and transport you back to the DJ booth where everything was just perfect – what has been your best gig EVER?
“Oh man, this is such a hard question always! As I do so many shows and have done so professionally for 15 years now. It’s time for me to switch it up, as my usual answer is Sensation White 2005. There are more! I remember my breakthrough DJ gig in the Netherlands back in 1999 for instance. It was at the techno festival called Awakenings. I remember playing after Umek or DJ Misha from 8am to 10am in the morning. I’ve never done any drugs or anything so I just went to bed early and got up at 6am, had breakfast and brushed my teeth. Mind you, I was a punter back then too and went to Awakenings a lot. So I really knew what the crowd wanted. And I gave it to them. It went that mad that people started climbing the fences up to the DJ booth to ask me who I was and how the hell I was playing such a great set. After this, I could DJ all over my country on a weekly bases.”
Another lovely thing you once said when talking about people who have helped you along the way. You said that Steve Angello really helped you home your production. How did he help…?
“Yes he did, and I will always respect him for that. When we started working together in 2005, mind you, I was the older producer. I already had a very long track record from 1995 on and was actually very much stuck in my own ways. Seeing how he worked and manipulated sounds inspired me very much to do everything ten times quicker and make it sound twice as powerful. I saw what settings he used and what plugins he had going on. I’m a thoroughly experienced engineer so seeing all this unravel was a revolution to me. My second producer youth started from that point and still very much influences the way I make music today.”
http://www.laidbackluke.com
http://www.superyouandme.com
http://laidbackluke.hyves.nl
http://www.mixmashrecords.com
http://www.soundcloud.com/laidbackluke
