The king of the dirty hook line is back with another monster for the dancefloor, this time around teaming up with Peking Duk for the incredible ‘Mufasa’. Dan Prince checks in with dance music’s favourite super hero as he looks back at a year of winning 5 medals at the World Kung Fu Championships, getting dragged to “the cooler clubs in Ibiza” by his wife Gina, dealing with the catastrophic typhoons in his home country and over 150 crazy DJ shows around the globe…
Luke welcome back to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Hi guys, thanks for having me back! I’m in Manila right now. I played at Sonic Carnival here, about 15 minutes from where I was born! It’s amazing for me to be here and play here as my suppressed Filipino side comes out. Most of the year I just feed my half white side, and being in Asia feels so good to my Asian side! I went to visit all of my relatives here yesterday and it was great catching up with them.”
Coming from Manila, it must have been very hard seeing the catastrophic typhoon news in the Philippines?
“Well luckily most of my family lives in Manila, which wasn’t hit by the typhoon! I was very relieved to get a text off my mom who lives in Manila, of them all being safe. My brother is married to a Filipino girl and her family come from a small island that has been hit. No casualties, but pretty much all of them lost their homes. It’s heartbreaking and so scary to see your people being hit like that. Can you imagine seeing images from the UK taken to the ground like that? Having said that, it’s heartwarming to see the world care about it and gathering so much money for it.”
Well you are certainly causing mayhem on the dancefloors yet again, this time thanks to your incredible ‘Mufasa’ which is sitting pretty in the Buzz Chart Top 3 this week. Talk us through the history of the tune…
“This one came in through Jon Hanlon, who has been a friend of mine since I pretty much started to make a name for myself internationally. Jon came from being a fan to working professionally in this industry now and doing stuff for Peking Duk. He introduced me to the guys and they sent over the snippet for Mufasa. As I do play that big triplet sound as well, it sounded really great to me. I asked them for the stems of the snippet and fully finished the song. The guys then got all of my stems and added more things to it, including the vocal. It’s such a fun song to me! It’s the Super You&Me vibe caught in a song. Nothing too serious, but still quality and very fun!”
We loved you playing the various action movie stars in your ‘Blow’ video. Looking back to your childhood…was the dream to be a super hero or super DJ?
“Ha ha, since I was a kid I always wanted to be a super hero! I would fantasize how to make Batman type of kits to sling me through the city. This, after realizing that if I wasn’t going to be bitten by any radioactive spider, I wouldn’t be able to gain actual super powers. Luckily, through DJing and through the crowd, I’m able to feel like a super hero a little bit. That’s where the Super You&Me parties are based on!”
You are known for your dirty hook-lines with a little distortion thrown into the mix – how do you get in the zone to produce this style…is it straight from the club to the studio whilst you are still euphoric, or the opposite and start from a chilled, fresh moment?
“In real life, I’m actually really a laid-back type of person! To get me going, I need a little bit of energy going. So this is the reason why I play the high energy sets I play and make the high energy type music I produce. There’s no real actual trigger that makes me do it though. I usually have music going around in my head 24/7 anyway! I mainly go from having concepts of the track in my brain, which consists of me basically knowing how the track will sound inside my head, to the studio process. Which, thanks to conceptualizing, can be a really quick process. I’m pretty much down to making full tracks in 3.5 hours nowadays. And not just EDM tracks, mind you, I also make deeper stuff on the side for fun and those tracks take me the same amount of time, if not quicker even.”
The Mixmash label artwork is very unique and sometimes down right trippy. What inspired the style and who is the artist?
“We’ve used the Parisian artist KOA for years for this. We’re currently changing it up though, it’s time to change up the style and move forward again.”
Okay let’s take a look back at 2013 for a moment…your favourite…
Track of the year
“Such amazing tracks out this year, and although I’ve been seeing tonnes and tonnes of hate – it’s actually been really good! I think my favorite is ‘Flute’ by New World Sound and Thomas Newson. It just slapped me in the face and I consider the track to be a game changer to the EDM sound. Which, actually, only got to manifest after March 2013! The big kick drum sound everyone is doing, is only that new! And what most people don’t realize, it’s not retro, not done in the 80s, 90s or in the 2000s. It’s actual contemporary, super new music that has never been done before! So think about that for a moment, it’s actually very exciting!”
DJ show
“I always name one for the year and this year it was EDC in Las Vegas. I do about 150 shows internationally per year and to end up the number one show, everything needs to be perfect. The way I feel in the booth, my energy level, my connection with the crowd, the crowd response, the technicalities of the DJ setup, if I’m happy with my set in the end. And EDC nailed it for me this year!”
Remix
“I think the remix that marked me this year was my remix for Calvin Harris – ‘Thinking About You’. It was a fresh new sound to me, the Melbourne sound, which I’ll still be promoting in 2014. Actually, the tracks I have planned to come out in the first half of 2014 will be next level Melbourne style!”
Festival
“The Tomorrowland/world festivals have been incredible to me. I feel combining the Super You&Me theme with them makes so much sense. They love us for it too! We’ll definitely be doing more with them for the coming year.”
Ibiza moment
“Going to see Loco Dice play in Ushuaia. My wife Gina Turner is a tech and deep lover so on my time off she drags me to the cooler parties. Loco Dice is one of the nicest guys in the industry! It was awesome to see the deeper side of the sound up close. Of course, the Cream nights at Amnesia were incredible again and I can’t thank the UK support enough for always coming to my nights!”
Producer of 2013
“Maarten Vorwerk changed the sound this year if you ask me. If you don’t know his name, Google him and you’ll see he’s behind a lot of the tracks with that large sound!”
Proudest achievement
“In 2013 I won 5 medals at the World Championships of Kung Fu in Hong Kong. 4 gold medals and one silver medal to be exact. This event is known to be the Olympic games of Kung Fu and holds about 10,000 contenders! I’ve been doing Kung Fu for ages now and this year it definitely stepped up. One of my lifetime achievements this year.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“Here is my chart from a couple of weeks back…
1. New World Sound & Thomas Newson – Flute
2. Calvin Harris & Alesso ft. Hurts – Under Control (Oliver Heldens Bootleg)
3. Dada Life – Born To Rage (USA Edit)
4. DJ Sammy – Heaven (Moska Bootleg)
5. Promise Land feat. Alicia Madison – Sun Shine Down (Laidback Luke Edit)
6. Laidback Luke & Martin Solveig – Blow
7. Sandro Silva – Payback (Original Mix)
8. Deorro – Dechorro
9. Dilligas – Slow Things Down
10. Shelco Garcia & Teenwolf – Houseparty (Laidback Luke Rework)
An interesting interview you gave to The Independent newspaper earlier this year, some cracking quotes from you including this one…“I find a lot of my fellow DJs very egotistical, the scene shouldn’t be about one DJ in particular, it’s a shame when people think like that and only worry about their own things.” The music and DJ industry has always been full of guys with over inflated egos, it’s part of being a showman playing other people’s music. Or does this problem go deeper than that for you?
“I think it’s the amount of appreciation we get for what we do that inflates a lot of egos. Humans are very prone to that sadly enough. Rather than being thankful of realizing the luck to get to be in that position, people will take the compliments and support, income and status, for granted. Which does sadden me. Somehow, some fellow DJs don’t feel the urge to give back and love that little bubble they surround themselves in.”
What are the plans for ‘Super You&Me’ in 2014?
“We are already making big plans for coming season and festivals! Due to the plans taking shape, I cannot tell you anything more but you will be seeing Super You&Me returning!”
Who are some of new up and coming producers you are excited to be working with right now?
“One of the main guys I’m very excited about at the moment is UK’s own DJ DOD. He really impressed me during the bus tour and is overall, so as a human being as well, the perfect candidate to grow as a huge name in this industry. Guys that have been impressing me this year as well are Juyen Sebulba and Teenwolf & Shelco Garcia. Deorro did it big this year as well and it’s just a matter of time when he’ll hit it big in a huge way.”
It has been a very interesting year for the US, looking back, how do you think the American scene is doing with their new found electronic dance music baby?
“America has been doing well! The sound is really integrated now and they are moving on to the deeper sound as well. They love it a lot and love it having it in an overkill ha ha. So that’s been going on a little in the scene, DJs and festivals on an overkill. I’ve seen the exact same thing happen in the Netherlands, but funny enough, it didn’t kill the scene!”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise…?
“Next up will be my new single called ‘Collide’! It’s a collab I did with Project 46 and I’m super proud of it. It’s more of a progressive big room and melodic type of track. Been playing it for a little bit and people have been asking me for the ID. Well now you know!”
