More magic from the Dangerous Dutch maestro
Put Lucky Charmes behind any turntable at any given time and he will display just how a DJ should rock the crowd and what music is all about. Lucky’s sound is a strong mix of funky house, grooves, sexy latin, uplifting tech house sounds, massive beats, eclectic vibes and tough African drums. His music and his DJ sets show a strong resemblance: filled with diversity, highly dynamic and always up tempo. With the current single ‘Get Outta That Corner’ featuring a fusion of urban and house, Lucky Charmes proves with his new offering Dangerous that he’s so much more than big fat chart singles. DMC checks in…
Words : Dan Prince
Mr Charmes, welcome to DMCWORLD towers! You grew up in an environment having diversity written all over it with both Indonesian and Surinam blood running through your veins. Tell us about your childhood, what sort of music was drifting through the rooms, was it a happy upbringing?
“Thank you Dan! I grew up in an environment in which I got influenced by a variety of genres. From old school hip hop, soul, blues, R&B and dance. I took in a regular doses of Technotronic, Dr. Dre, Salt n Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, Heavy D, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, Run DMC, Ice T and Ice Cube during my childhood. On a soul and funk tip, classic artists like Otis Redding, Jackson 5, Chuck Berry, Barry White and Marvin Gaye were digested. It was not always happy times at my parent’s house because on more than one occasion, my parents switched off the electricity when I played my music too loud, LOL!”
We love a great story regarding how a DJ first started playing, your career began with a trip up into your parents attic when you stumbled onto some equipment that was going to change your life…
“That’s right! Actually, my uncle and dad gave me their records because they needed space in their attics. At that time I was 12 or 13 years old. I was struck by the album/12” cover artwork and sucked up the smell of vinyl and I guess this is where the addiction started. Also, they both gave me a turntable; a belt drive one, without pitch control but only equipped with a 33/45 rpm switch. Another uncle gave me a line mixer to hook up with mics and instruments, with six faders covered in rust and dust, and no crossfader. At that point I was busy figuring out how to hook everything up, which resulted into a life changing experience and a definite infection with the art of DJ-ing.”
Your DJing began entering Battles – and winning. What was the concept behind these Battles?
“I had a friend at that time who had these DJ battle tapes, he got it from his nephew in New York. I watched those on repeat! In that period I was a huge fan of a movie called “Juice” which featured Tupac Shakur, and that movie also contained a DJ battle scene. After a year of saving money and continuously watching and rewinding the battle tapes, I finally bought my two Gemini belt drive turntables and a Gemini mixer and started practising I think every well-known DJ in the scene growing up in that era knows these battle concepts. And if they don’t: YouTube! The annual DMC World Championships with guys like Q-Bert, Craze, Cash Money, A-Trak and DJ Noise definitely played a big role in my upbringing. The minute I thought my turntablism skills were up to par, I entered championships like the Dutch DMC battles, Turntablized and ITF and you know what? Sometimes I won!
What were the records/artists you were buying vinyl of back then?
“NAS – The World Is Yours. A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (I still play this in my car on repeat, timeless!). A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory. Mobb Deep – Survival Of The Fittest. Big L – Put It On. Anything from Notorious BIG and Dr. Dre.”
You joined the hip hop orientated radio show ‘The Soundcheck’ – that must have been a big springboard to spread your name…
“That sure was. One of my closest friends and myself actually threw a couple of parties which where sold out several times. As we recorded our sets during these events, we turned these live DJ recordings into radio shows in my small bedroom studio by adding presentation. With these tapes we seriously harassed a bunch of radio shows to broadcast it and one of these was The Soundcheck. That show jump started us in the hip hop scene.”
What is the greatest hip hop tune ever?
“That’s an insanely hard question to answer as hip hop history delivered so many amazing tracks, and each and every track has a certain personal story or specific memory for me. But if I’d really have to choose: Pete Rock & C. L. Smooth – They Reminisce Over You.”
So how did the transformation from a Hip Hop to house DJ happen?
“At a certain point I was getting fed up playing the same R&B and hip hop tunes over and over again, and the constant practising for DJ battles worn me out. I got to enjoy creating music and playing out my own tunes a whole lot more at that time. I slowly disappeared from the R&B and hip hop scene over time and I started to buy house records. During my hip hop days I already started buying house records and waited until the right moment to make the switch.”
Your early residency Zu Hause at The Jimmy Woo club in Amsterdam brought together art and music together – what was the story there?
“I was very fortunate to host a night every last Thursday of the month between 2007 and 2010 at the legendary Jimmy Woo. In those years, Jimmy Woo was most definitely the place to be in Amsterdam where clubbers, house aficionados, models, actors, singers and creative artists were present. On these Thursdays, DJ’s were combined with live artists and all sorts of creative minds, merging art and music while clubbing. For example: you could see me play the decks while a pianist or guitarist was playing over DJ beats and live percussion, while stunning models were being body painted on the dance floor. A wicked time!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
1.Lucky Charmes & Tony Verdult – Dangerous (out on Selekted Music 7th of March)
2.Bingo Players – L’amour
3.Nicky Romero – Generation 303
4.Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso – Calling
5.Lucky Charmes & Tony Verdult – Apollo (out soon)
6.Lucky Charmes & Tony Verdult – Aurora (out soon)
7.Firebeatz – Where’s your head at
8.Lucky Charmes – Feel me (out soon)
9.Delivio Reavon & Aaron Gill – Ping pong
10.Lucky Charmes – Plain dots (a golden Lucky Charmes oldie, but still playing it!)
Who are your fellow country producers who you think are ahead of the pack at the moment?
“It’s insane to see how many talented artists the tiny country of The Netherlands produces. The best current example in Dutch EDM is of course Afrojack; three years ago he was still producing in his moms attic, sometimes begging to get gigs, and he’s now collecting Grammy’s! Actually, Afrojack and I were once label mates. Looking at the current talents, I have a great deal of respect for fellow Dutchmen like Nicky Romero or Bingo Players, who just keep on delivering high quality tunes.”
What is the best club you have ever played at?
“Compared to that very hard ‘best hip hop tune ever’ question, this is an easy one, LOL! That’s a venue or club which I still have to explore. I played in numerous clubs, venues and festivals both in The Netherlands as well as abroad but I absolutely think the best club I’ll ever played at is yet to come. Why don’t we do an interview in two years from now and ask me again? Haha!”
How did you first hook up with studio cohort Tony Verdult?
“I met Tony in college actually, we both were studying Media & Entertainment Management. We sat in the same classes, got to talking and discovered a mutual interest in gear, hardware and producing, and we found out we had a similar taste in music. We didn’t finish the study though, as we skipped classes all the time to make beats!”
Did you know straight away how big a tune ‘Get Outta That Corner’ was going to be on completion? Where did you first play it?
“That’s the beautiful thing about making music: you never know how big of a tune or how big of a flop a track will become upon completion in the studio, in spite of the fact you yourself are convinced it will be big at some point. The most important question I always ask myself when rounding up a track is: do I like it, and will I play it during peak time gigs? If both questions are answered with a yes, then and only then the track will see the light of day. After that, it’s up to the audience, the timing of release, a certain amount of marketing and a bit of luck if the track will stick. I first played it when I did a live DJ set and interview on Dutch radio station FunX, a very important station for introducing fresh dance tunes. FunX has a forum on their website and the reactions to Get Outta That Corner were overwhelming! FunX added the single to their regular rotation and ended up on the # 2 position in the FunX Dance charts.”
So we come back to your place after the club, you have an obvious wide taste of music – what is the Lucky Charmes Back To Mine 10 you spin us to carry on the groove…
“After a solid night of clubbing, I might still be in the mood to play some house tunes but fused with other music genres I grew up with. Naming just ten tracks is very hard as I easily can compile a Back To Mine 100 if you let me. But during a small and intimate after party in the crib, I play:
1.Otis Redding – Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay
2.Jackson 5 – Can You Feel It
3.Jay Z – Hard Knock Life
4.Axwell – Nothing But Love For You
5.Drake – Best I Ever Had
6.A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation
7.Fish Go Deep – The Cure And The Cause
8.Lucky Charmes & Tony Verdult – Body Sweat
9.The Prodigy – Fire Starter
10.Katy B – Broken Record
‘Get Outta That Corner’ absolutely smashed everywhere, you are now following this up with ‘Dangerous’ – bang into the Buzz Chart and the likes of Tiesto already over it. Talk us through the tune – you’ve said that this tune has to be played on high volume?
“Yes, on an extreme loud volume in humongous areas, haha! Actually, I don’t consider Dangerous to be the official follow up of Get Outta That Corner though. It’s a bit of a Jeckyll & Hyde situation. I have a soft spot for singles which combines urban with house, even containing a pinch of Dutch house, with fierce raps and R&B-ish vocals. But on the other hand there’s a peak time club banging beast inside of me who wants to drop big melodic tracks with enormous riffs and drops. As I can’t combine the two into one production, I chose to do both separately. The official follow up of Get Outta That Corner , which again blends urban influences with house music, is already done and is waiting to be unleashed.”
What is coming next from the studio in 2012…?
“A series of big room club tracks with my boy Tony Verdult, which will get released through our resident label Selekted Music in The Netherlands. I recently finished two new tracks with Tony, big room progressive tracks like Dangerous. But in the meantime I’m also recording more commercial music for which I collaborate with various singer/songwriters and rap artists. I even went to London for a few days to record with UK artists, which was an amazing experience. I’m fortunate to work with fantastic vocalists at the moment for my singles and for my debut album; I can’t reveal who yet at this stage unfortunately but it’s truly amazing.”
Not many people know this, but Lucky Charmes is really good at…
“Spoiling his two gorgeous little daughters! They’re amazing!”
What is the greatest record you have ever played to a dancefloor?
“With the risk of being accused of being cocky or doing too much shameless self-promotion, one of my older productions: Getcha Damn Hands Up. It was released in 2008 on Sneakerz Muzik / Spinnin Records. Every time this gem gets played, the crowd goes bonkers! One of my all-time Dutch DJ heroes, DJ Erick E, embraced this track from the very first moment and when he dropped it on Sensation White in 2008, 40.000 people went crazy! I was there to witness it myself and I can honestly say I never ever experienced more goose bumps since that particular moment.”
What are the big shows in 2012 you are looking forward to the most?
“Mostly I’m looking forward to sunny weather, because this means beach events and open air festivals. I love that time of year, playing outdoors! Besides playing events and festivals in The Netherlands, I’m really looking forward to the international gigs during the summer which are being finalized as we speak. And I’ll be having my USA DJ debut pretty soon.”
Have you any Ibiza / Miami plans…?
“Definitely Ibiza! I’ll be doing a tour in Spain this year and might hop over to the party island for a few days. I have to skip Miami this year unfortunately as I’ll be recording new tracks for the album the whole of March.”
And finally, what has been the proudest moment of your career to date?
“In my personal career: the birth of my two daughters. In my professional career: the minute I signed the single and album deal with All Around The World / Universal Music!”
