New tune ‘BAE’ causing dancefloor bedlam as his beloved Mixmash chalks up their 10th Anniversary
Interview : Dan Prince
Our old friend Luke, welcome back to DMCWORLD – where on planet dance are you today?
“Always a pleasure guys! I’m currently on vacation in Ibiza filling out this interview. I always bring the whole family here and we just enjoy the quiet side of the island which is amazing as well. Not doing any shows here at all! My wife is playing out here twice though, but I decided to join and support her with the family only once ha ha.”
Another week…another big tune from you! This time around ‘BAE’ feat. Gina Turner. Please talk us through the sound and history of the track….
“In the Netherlands, this sound is currently labeled as ‘Future House’. Very much championed by the likesof Tchami, Oliver Heldens, Chocolate Puma and Praia Del Sol to name a few. This track was very much based on that sound. I always thought it was Gina’s voice on Breach’s ‘Jack’ track, so I wanted a vocal on there that sounded similar.”
Tomorrowland – let’s get into it and your B2B2B2B set with Chuckie, Dyro, Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano in your Super You&Me Arena. How much planning went into that?
“None actually! It’s just us having fun behind the decks! And mind you, it’s not a prestigious thing. I mean it’s 5 DJ’s on one set up so that’s kind of ridiculous. 5 DJ’s on 4 decks ha ha! So although we all like to do some trickery in our solo sets, this one is more about the fun and interaction amongst ourselves, and the crowd. Before we went on, I told everyone to mix fast though, to avoid another silly ‘What DJs do nowadays’ hate campaign, so we tried and played as many tracks as we possibly could.”
What were some of the back stage antics you’ll remember from Tomorrowland 2014?
“Ha ha apart from Sunnery James squeezing my butt when I was in that bear costume, I remember me and my office crew going wild at the back of our Super You&Me stage. Mainly trying to do pull ups on the various pipes of the stage! Some of us couldn’t even do one, but some of us were quite good at it. The one that topped it all was the tour rmanager of Blasterjaxx, who could pull himself up and then push himself over! I can’t do it so I’m obsessed with that at the moment ha ha.”
Who is always the funniest DJ at these events when you all get together?
“It’s always great fun and the mood is always very good. Properly got to hang out with the DVBBS guys who are really nice people! Chuckie is never a bore and me and my tour manager always have fun with Sandro Silva and his tour manager. Mine likes to beat up his, so that always sprawls into some fun backstage antics.”
Tomorrowland has been at the top of the festival tree for a few years now, and rightly so. But where is the competition coming from…what events are giving them a real battle?
“I definitely see Ultra getting more ground internationally and a festival like EDC is creeping up as well. You see that all festivals are upping their decors, sound and lighting now. Compared to a couple of years ago the quality festivals bring has improved so much!”
Another reason for celebrations this month is the 10th Anniversary of Mixmash Records. It must be crazy/an honour/very proud to have seen your label grow from an acorn into a big oak tree?
“Absolutely! I’m super proud of it and I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years can bring for us. I’ve noticed that every year is different. For instance, the first releases of Mixmash we were still pressed on vinyl. Then we went onto CD singles. My mom just came back from the Philippines to visit me and asked me if I had any CDs for my aunts over there. I just realized nothing is on actual solid media nowadays! I couldn’t give her anything!”
What can you tell us about the new brand identity – why was it so important for you?
“When we first designed the logo, well basically I designed the original Mixmash logo, we could’ve never forseen how much the digital world and sales would take over. We found out that with a lot of our artwork, it wasn’t coming across on the digital stores. So we needed to improve it and streamline it. Our new social media guy came up with the new design and I’m so happy with it!”
How important is your sister label OTW and what can we expect musically from the label next?
“OTW is super important! It’s funny, because a lot of times artists don’t want to sign their tracks on OTW as they think it’s inferior. Well it’s not! We use the exact same distribution, network and promotion as Mixmash! OTW was not only designed to give our new talents a spotlight, but to be able to properly release the huge amount of amazing demos we were getting for Mixmash. Musically, I hope we can introduce another new Avicii or Afrojack for the coming ten years, like we did in the previous ten years.”
Who are some of the up and coming producers you have seen lately that we should be looking out for over the next 12 months…?
“Guys like Shelco Garcia & Teenwolf, Herve Pagez, Revero, Loopers, Marc Benjamin and Juyen Sebulba. We’ve been pushing a guy like D.O.D for a little bit now and he’s been smashing it!”
What are the big 5 records in your box right now?
Tiga – Bugatti
Chuckie Ft Kronik & Krunk – Let’s Go Harder
ID – Shiver
ID – Snap That Neck
DuckSauce NRG (Skrillex, Kill the Noise, Milo & Otis Remix)
A recent quote from a certain superstar DJ…“I believe true DJing is actually an art, but it’s a dying art, as everyone is pushing the sync button…it’s a real shame when you see a ‘DJ’ plug his laptop in and call this DJing. Music will always evolve but sometimes not in the best way.” What are your thoughts on that?
“Oh it happens when you see DJs play on CDJs as well. And they’ll play the same set every night. 1001tracklists.com is a site where you can easily spot that. In a lot of occasions, it’s because producers have become that famous as DJs, they will tackle DJing as if it’s producing. Though I do that too, I really invested my time in learning the art of DJing. With a proper pedigree that inspired me and a proper way of coming up as a DJ, playing smaller venues and clubs to being an opener DJ for years, I’m proud to say I’ve gone the long way. And it was worth the ride! The only thing I can do is try and keep the art alive and try to get the message across of how much fun and inspiration real DJing brings. I’d be bored to death by now DJing stale like that. Having DJ’d professionally for way over a decade now, in doing it the way I do, it’s still so much fun!”
The Ibiza season is in full swing again and your residency at Cream is firin’. A really, really good summer for the Liverpool giants again – you enjoying the season?
“Absolutely! The support I get from Liverpool and the UK crowd is immense anyway. But I do see I pull a variation of nationalities as well. Thank you for that! Every season is a different one and yes, I’m very much enjoying it! It’s an honor to still be there at Cream and Amnesia.”
So you have a night off in Ibiza – what club and what DJ do you go and check out?
“Preferably none! As I’m in clubs most of the time! My wife still very much enjoys the nights out so occasionally she’ll drag me to one. Last time she took me to Ushuaia, to Loco Dice’s night. He’s one of the nicest guys in the business! It was very interesting to see how that world operates on a stage I know well.”
Favourite beach and restaurant on the white isle?
“There are many different small beaches we enjoy going to on our time off here. Beaches like Cala Vedalla or Cala d’Hort which are just very much out of the way. One of our favorite restaurants is Tapas in San Antonio. Best Tapas around!”
Some people are saying there are too many nights in Ibiza this year with Space and Ushuaia bother cancelling each other out a little. Thoughts on that…?
“I’m feeling that too. There’s so much to do at the moment! And you notice the concentration of the amounts of people scatter for that matter, it’s stirring up the island a bit. Space programming big room nights is very interesting, but feels a bit weird to me too. That’s why I said every season is different, because it is! I’m sure things will straighten out, but it definitely keeps things interesting!”
Loved your video for the ‘We’re Forever’ track feat. Marc Benjamin. We were all hoping the cleaner got the girl at the end dude!!!!!!!!!
“Ha ha thank you! Yeah, as you know I like dressing up and I’m not taking myself too seriously. As in my Super You&Me parties, the fun should always have the overtone when you come see me and when you hear my sets.”
What is the record that…
…reminds you of your childhood?
“The track that marks me starting making music was Technotronic – ‘Pump Up The Jam’.”
…always get you dancing?
“Anything with a Dutch type of tribal beat in it.”
…always reminds you of Ibiza?
“Sidekick – ‘Deep Fear’ (Phobia Club Mix).”
…reminds you of being broken hearted?
“Alicia Keys – ‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart, that one runs deep with me.”
…you wish you would have made?
“Still tracks like ‘Put Your Hands Up For Detroit’ or ‘Riverside’…that’s so my style!
A quote from Faithless’s Sister Bliss this week…”I think people will become bored with the stock crude generic sounds of EDM and the artists themselves may be somewhat musically bankrupt (David Guetta even admitted as such in a recent interview) as there is only so much touring you can do before it impacts on studio time and having space to think creatively.” Thoughts on that?
“Well there’s many sides to this story, for one, I was listening to a lot of rave tracks from the early nineties the other day thinking ‘Wait a minute, everything sounds the same!’. I swear the majorities of tracks from that era all sound like the Theme from S-Express ha ha. This is what we call a genre. You can say the same about deephouse and techhouse. So dear people, that just say what everyone else is saying: don’t be fooled. EDM is still evolving and I’m very happy with that. Although there’s still a bunch of rough sounds coming out, people like Guetta are toning it down too with more of an Avicii type of vibe. What I love about electronic music is that there’s so much possible, it’s in a constant flow of evolution. Now about the touring, this is a very serious matter which is often underestimated. You see it a lot, a young producer coming up making slamming tracks, and then the touring starts (and never stops) and you’ll see they’ll have a hard time keeping productions up. Touring in my scene and on top level is no joke. It digs deep into the boundaries of your health. In all areas, stress, ego, endurance, it digs into your passion. To be honest, I don’t know why we are touring like maniacs really. To me it’s a thing where there’s so many awesome parties I’d like to play, and not miss out! I love DJing! I love testing new tracks! I could easily take two or three months off but I wouldn’t want to miss the action!”
The last time you had a major melt down from too much work?
“I’m 37 now and the last time was in my 30s. I’ve came across it twice and it’s horrendous. I was always the last one to acknowledge that burnouts exist, but sadly I had to face the truth. I’m a super hard worker and a non complainer by heart, but that made me an easy target for a burnout as well. I do think it’s time to keep an eye on heavily touring artists and inform them on health issues and planning better touring schedules. When it digs deep into your health like that, it’s very un-humain. And yes, we make a shit ton of money and yes we are constantly in the spotlight and etcetera. We shouldn’t be complaining! I know. And I’m not, I’m still in here by free choice. But the majority of artists are being pushed to the maximum that much, they end up in the hospital. If you ask me, no money can live up to what your health is worth.”
Give us an exclusive on future Super You&Me events…
“With the festivals and summer unraveling, in the background, we are making plans to stepping up the experience. More news on that soon! We have a ton of events coming, with a few festivals on the horizon during the winter and shows just announced at Echostage in Washington DC and a Super You&Me UK tour doing Brixton Academy in London and Victoria Warehouse in Manchester! I’m bringing my favorite DJ friends so don’t miss out!”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“I think the next one lined up is my collaboration with Chocolate Puma! I’m sticking to a future house type of vibe right now as I’m really enjoying making that in the studio at the moment. I pretty much owe the Chocolates my music career as they were the ones that discovered me back in the day. My producer roots are with them and to have done a successful collab with them is a young Luke’s dream come true.”
Thank you sir, appreciate your time…
“Cheers Dan, thank you for having me, awesome questions as always!”
http://www.laidbackluke.com
http://www.superyouandme.com
http://www.mixmashrecords.com
http://www.soundcloud.com/laidbackluke
