Laidback Luke Interview
We catch up with the Dutch master
Laidback Luke is one of the biggest names in dance music bringing his super hero themed nights to the world’s biggest clubs, denting the charts with his tracks and rocking some of the best parties in the world, including this summer SW4 in the heart of London and Cream in Ibiza where he has his first residency there this season. So with all those in the mix and a new compilation about to hit the stores we caught up to find out what is going on!
Hello Luke. With Ibiza beginning to kick off, how did you feel opening for Cream at Amnesia ?
"It was amazing! It was the first opening I did actually and I feel Cream at Amnesia Terrace is the best place for me on the island. It felt like coming home and properly kickstarting the summer season with a bang!"
Super You & Me have a stage at Creamfields and a five night residency over the season that must be pretty special?
"It sure feels that way. This will be my first area hosted at a festival ever and I'm very honored to do it at Creamfields. Their line-up looks absolutely massive this year! Cream has a very strong name on the island as well. I feel I add a whole new sound and generation to the Cream legacy and I'm very excited to working with them together so closely."
On your website you have a forum where you are an active member and help with answering people’s questions do you feel it’s important to keep in touch with your fans and guide other budding producers.
"Yes, to me it's very important! A lot of the interaction has moved to Twitter nowadays though, as it's really convenient to be closely in touch with the people that support you over there. Hit me up there: www.twitter.com/LaidbackLuke. I see my forum on www.laidbackluke.com mainly as a breeding ground for new talent nowadays. Quite a few people that made it in the industry come from there. People like Afrojack, Avicii, Bingo Players, Max Vangeli, Angger Dimas to name a few.
"It's me giving back to house music and training a whole new generation that will keep on pushing this music we love so much."
How do you feel about social networking sites and how they are becoming the main source for PR?
"I think it's amazing nowdays. I do need to get my Facebook on more, but to be honest, it does take up a lot of time and I often am lost in chatting with people while I just want to make new tracks, ha! But yeah, fact of the matter is that social networking is even more important then TV nowadays and an integral part of people's communication."
You finished 17th in our 2010 top 100 and have moved up through the poll over the last few years. How do you feel about that and can you reach higher in 2011?
"To be honest, I think it's amazing so many people voted for me. We never ever summoned people to vote and I'm really not into the whole DJ president elections kind of thing. To me it's about rocking every single party the hardest I can. Giving people their money's worth and creating great memories and experiences with them.
"To be able to say I was in the top 20 of the DJs of the world was mainly something I could finally show to my parents and family and be like, this is how I'm doing now. If I go up this year it will be fantastic, but not something that has been my main priority. It should be about giving the world new music and have people forget their stress for a moment."
'Turbulence' was your last release. How did working with Lil John come about?
"We had been in touch for a while, contemplating how to work together. We couldn't find the right track though. Jon is a friend of Steve Aoki too and when Steve took the instrumental of Turbulence back to LA Jon wanted to be on it straight away.
"He loves the edgier, less typical, stuff and he knew this would blow a lot of people away."
What is it about the Dutch and dance music?
"That's a very good question! It's so big in my country and always has been. For such a small country we have so many people loving it. We have over 20 Dance Music festivals in the summer for instance! It's even bigger than pop and hip-hop over in the Netherlands and it has been so for about ten years now.
"I feel a lot of it has to do with the Dutch mentality too. Us Dutch DJs work really hard to get the crowd going as the Dutch crowd doesn't believe in hype. They want to experience it for themselves. And even if it's something outstanding, they'll say it's moderate. When Dutch DJs cross the border, we tend to blow up places because we're used to working so hard to get the crowd going."
With MixMash having some strongly established artists on the label who should we be looking out for next?
"I have a lot of new talent signed up and ready for Mixmash. At this moment I'm the most excited about the boys of GTA and La Fuente. Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano are names I'm proud of having on the label too. Amazing production work, I have high hopes for the future!"
With technology advancing all the time and the DJ world rapidly getting more involved with computers and software where do you feel we will be in another 20 years time, will we be mixing holographic mp3s off a levitating DJ desk?
"Yes why not? We're living in 2011 now, this should be the future! It will evolve more and more and the only thing that is stopping us is our imagination. I'm keeping my eyes on the next step. Yes, why couldn't we be mixing on huge see through, touch screen desks. Streaming our music from a server at home. I'm excited for what the future holds for us."
What else can we expect from you next this year?
"I'll have a new DJ mix compilation out soon called 'Cream Ibiza Super You&Me' to celebrate the summer. It's been a while since I've done a compilation and this one will top off my colaboration with Cream. I have two singles lined up with Ministry of Sound straight after that. They are called Natural Disaster and Speak Up. Very excited to to see how they will go and to have them out!"
UPCOMING SHOWS:
Cream Ibiza 2011
Thursday 16th June – Thursday 22nd September
South West Four
Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th August 2011
Creamfields 2011
Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th August 2011
www.creamfields.com
Listen to Laidback Luke's latest smasher 'Turbulence' below:
Words: James Kenyon