DJ Laidback Luke
Windmills
and dance music, that's what
Holland is known for, not forgetting the cheese and the wooden shoes of
course. You can understand why Laidback Luke has named his first live
mix-cd "Windmill Skill", rather than making a connection to
the other stereotypically Dutch foodstuffs and footwear.
Both
as producer and DJ, Laidback Luke has all that it takes to become an
International star! Not only did he produce "We Can Not Get Enough",
the highly successful Anthem to this year's Dance Valley, but he is also
fully capable of filling venues the length and breadth of the country
every time he plays.
After
the release of his debut album "Electronic Satisfaction" in
2002, Laidback Luke worked more as a DJ than as a producer. He performed
from America to Japan and Ibiza, and was the highlight at a number of
this summer’s festivals such as Sensation, Lovefields, Awakenings and
Innercity. Realistically, producing his own live mix album was only a
matter of time.
The
criteria for this album were extreme: “I had complete freedom from
United, my record company, to produce what I wanted. This is a rare treat for an artist. Usually when a mix album
is released, it contains two cd's, each with around 12 tracks or so, but
that was not how I wanted to do it. My album is only 1 cd with 35 songs
compiled, cut and scratched into 70 minutes of dance. It's an experience!”
Luke explains. “The idea was to just keep the tracks coming, and the
album contains all my favorites, some known, some completely new”.
Luke
discovered while mixing the album that making a live mix album is a
completely different kettle of fish compared to performing in a club or
at a festival.
“A
live mix-album needs to be finely balanced;
an accurate representation of how you play your tunes in a club,
while remaining something that appeals to a wider audience, something
that works as well on the car stereo as it does on a huge PA. What I
have tried to accomplish with "Windmill Skill" is the energy
of the dance floor, combined with elements from pop”.
Laidback
Luke kept in touch with the dance floor while mixing the album by
keeping an image of a rocking crowd in the back of his mind throughout
the studio work. “Of course you miss the interaction with a real dance
floor, so I fantasized about it while mixing. That is something that
only comes with experience.” You can feel the vibe even without an
actual dance floor in front of you according to Luke. “Besides that,
it's really important to me that the compositions on the album are well
put together. Windmill Skill should have a clear musical direction to
it. Lined up beside some of my own tracks I've also chosen a few tunes
that I would have loved to have made myself.
September
2003 will be the start of the Windmill Skill tour. This tour runs mainly
across pop venues instead of the traditional nightclubs. “I still love
to play at clubs but a tour like this one makes it possible for me to
reach a broader audience”. All this is a new adventure for Luke, who
likes to cross boundaries that some producers cling to desperately.
Furthermore,
from September on Luke will hold his own residency at club Nighttown in
Rotterdam, where he plans to help new talent hone “Windmill Skills”
of their own. "I would
like to create a platform for young talented DJ's. When I started there
were no national DJ contests, but I received a lot of support from
various DJ's who helped me to grow. On a regular basis I receive cd's by
upcoming talents, and I would love to get even more. I know there are a
lot of promising DJ's in Holland. If
someone is truly talented I just think it is the right thing to do to
help them to get the recognition they deserve, either by playing their
records or using my connections to open the right doors…"
During
the upcoming Windmill Skill tour the emphasis lays mainly on the
promotion of his live mix album. This obviously does not mean that he
will play the same records that feature on the album. During the tour
Luke is planning to road test some new tracks that he has been working
on for the next production album, so expect some surprises…Luke,
according to rumors, has more storage space than a magician up those
sleeves of his!!
Luke
is also responsible for the production of the Dance Valley 2003 anthem.
The track, We Can Not Get Enough, includes a vocal contribution by MC
Marxman and the characteristic brass section is already legendary.
Besides the video they shot weeks before release, a second video has
been shot at Dance Valley 2003, containing plenty of mouthwatering
footage of the man himself in action.
“When
I decided to take piano lessons at the age of 20, I surely had the
intention to work on my musicality as a producer” according to Luke,
who is looking forward to the tour and his residency but is also looking
at the opportunities to extend his international career. To accomplish
this he's planning to DJ more abroad, with more releases all around the
globe and a follow up on his successful collaboration with Junior
Sanchez under the name Riot Society.
“Some
of my colleagues who produce harder techno then I do sometimes accuse me
of making "la-di-da" tunes, but for me that musicality is very
important. The biggest kick for me is making something out of nothing.
During my DJ sets it's mostly records made by others I mix together and
although I love doing that, as a producer I create the music myself and
they really feel like my babies. That's the most beautiful thing in the
world! I started my career as a producer and I will always be one.”
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