Laidback Luke

MixMash, Stealth

2008.10.21 ::: Words by Andrew Reid

Holland’s beloved house music-loving homeboy, Laidback Luke, is on an international mission to rock clubs, win hearts and top charts. A producer and DJ with immense talent, tonnes of spirit and a steely determination to succeed, he has been on a worldwide search for the ultimate in dance floor energy since the mid-1990s. “Music is an amazing tool that can evoke powerful memories and emotions,” says Luke with a smile. “And I will not rest until I’ve given my best: I want to share as much music as possible with as many people as possible.” And with an incredibly impressive discography of 100+ recordings and a DJ diary that takes him from his studio near Amsterdam to clubs all over the world, it would seem that Luke is well on the way to achieve his goals.

Born Luke van Scheppingen in Manila, Philippines, he moved to the Netherlands with his family at the age of four. A wonder kid who grew up in a musical household, writing songs and learning the guitar, Luke was swift to start championing his own sounds. Passionate about hip-hop, he started out as a graffiti artist but became mesmerized by the addictive energy of house music at a high school party where Dutch DJ/producer Dobre (The Good Men, Chocolate Puma) was performing. Dobre was among the first to recognize the extraordinary potential of Luke, who was still in his teens when he started producing, adopting the ‘Laidback’ tag after hearing rapper Snoop Dogg’s bad boy drawl on the radio. Now most artists have ‘a sound’ but Luke has proven to have many. Deeply inspired by DJs such as Todd Terry, DJ Pierre and Carl Craig, and basically by artists everywhere who pushed the boundaries of electronic music, he was initially stirred into action by a cocktail of house, acid house and techno from New York, Chicago and Detroit. With his Loud Flava series in full swing on Groove Alert, Luke turned many more heads with his Act the Fool single, released on Touché in 1995. This was followed by a massive remix of Green Velvet’s Stalker, which garnered major support from techno overlord Carl Cox and plaudits from the UK press when it was released on Music Man Records in 1996.

The ‘Thriller from Manila’ started DJing professionally the same year (‘96) and was instantly hooked. In the years that followed, as he tore up venues across the globe, it was clear that Luke’s skills were way ahead of the pack. Whether rocking 150,000 people at the Park Pop festival in Holland or 150 at an intimate afterhours club, he wowed dance floors by giving 200 % and re-mixing the music live in such a way that always made sense to the crowd. In addition, his killer turntabilist skills allowed him to cruise through a phase of breakneck transitions as he mixed up to 40 tracks per hour, from tech-house to electro-synth-pop and beyond. Luke is more relaxed with his programming these days, ever since he returned to his house roots, but even though he still found himself competing in a Dutch DJ battle called H2 in 2005 – even beating a Dutch DMC champ at his own game!

Luke has produced a prolific amount of music during his decade of dance on a variety of labels such as Plastic City, Twisted, Virgin, Stealth, Data and Ultra Records. He has released two studio albums: Psyched Up (in 1998/99) and Electronic Satisfaction (2002), as well as a mega-successful mix album, Windmill Skill, (2003). He has also created a chart-topping Dance Valley anthem, We Can Not Get Enough; a treasure trove of gems that have been picked up by industry heavyweights such as Carl Cox, Roger Sanchez and Pete Tong;

In 2006, the Swedish House Mafia came on Luke’s path with great success. Discovering that he shared many influences with Steve Angello, the two hit-makers first met on the laidbackluke.com forum in 2003, trading MP3s online before finally meeting face to face at the Miami WMC in 2004. They have remained buddies ever since and both Luke’s remix of Sexy F**k for Steve’s label Size and his cool collaboration with Steve titled Otherwize Then (unleashed on Sebastian Ingrosso’s label Refune) have been hammered by top jocks around the world.

2007 has brought nothing less than more of Luke’s special take on house music. Besides touring the globe, he still found time in his busy schedule to remix great songs for several artists like Juice String, Dragonette, Tom Stephan. International chart topper David Guetta asked Luke to do a remix of his smash ‘Baby when the lights’ and again for his follow up single. His remix for ‘Do you love me’, a track by The Dominatorz, topped the UK’s Cool Cuts Chart. And with the release of Afterdark 3, Luke delivered a stunning mix compilation yet again. Luke was chosen this time around by no other than the S- Man himself, Roger Sanchez, not only because of the hype surrounding Luke right now, but also because Luke’s sound complements both the and the sound of the S-Man. Included in the mix was the 2007 incarnation of ‘Rocking With The Best’, a sure floor filler that will stay in your ears for a long, long time.

So what lies ahead for Laidback Luke in 2008. We could say more killer remixes, high profile collaborations and state of the releases laced with continuous blazin’ DJ sets. But we already know that will happen. This is Laidback Luke…we would not expect anything else! This year will also see the launch of Luke’s own residency at legendary Amsterdam club Paradiso Laidback Luke presents NIghttime Superheroes. We could mention all this new stuff right now, but that wouldn’t be fun. We gave you a tip of the iceberg, make sure you keep your eyes open – you will not be able to miss Laidback Luke!

Nocturnal: How did you get your start in house music?
Luke: I basically got picked up by the guy who tought me my first steps in production, Dobre, also known for his productions as The Goodmen, Chocolate Puma and Rene et Gaston. He was running the legendary Dutch house label Fresh Fruit at that time. We went to the same high school and I just one day passed him a demo. He heard the talent in me and offered me my first record deal at the tender age of 18.

Nocturnal: We have to ask... where'd the name come from?
Luke: I actually wanted something that sounded like Carl Cox or Todd Terry. My real name is Luke and Dobre advised me to do something with that. Cheeky as it may sound, I heard Snoop Dogg rapping 'Laaaaidback' on the radio one day and that was the exact L-word I was looking for : )

Nocturnal: How do you vision your dance floor and sound? Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Luke: My floor should just be a great party, and I want to be part of it! Let's have fun and enjoy the music we love. It's good for me to have a crowd that knows my stuff, most of the time those are the real music loving freaks. They make the best floors for me! I draw my inspiration from when I was partying myself before becoming a DJ. I was an absolute house music freak, recording tapes from radio and wanting to see my favourite DJs live. It was all about the music and the party. Nothing more and nothing less, I do want to keep it simple like that!

Nocturnal: What's your process in creating new music? Are you strictly software or does hardware still play an integral role in your compositions?
Luke: Most of the time I will have concepts running in my head. There I figure out melodies, sounds, and beat patterns. For some strange reason I also easily remember that kind of stuff by memory. So when I get to the studio, it's really a fast process and just work out tracks I had in my mind already. I was one of the first guys to switch over to strictly software. To me, electronic music has always been about using upfront technology. I still keep that frame of mind. I traded the whole of my hardware studio in for a laptop with the right software more than 5 years ago!

Nocturnal: What's your most indispensable piece of studio kit?
Luke: My laptop with FLStudio running on it. It's the heart of my studio!

Nocturnal: What tracks are forthcoming?
Luke: The track I made with A-Trak called Shake It Down. It will be released on both my label MixMash and his label Fool's Gold. Remixes I did for Roger Sanchez and Bob Sinclar amongst others. I'm currently on a full remix hold to focus on new solo tracks and even working on an album.

Nocturnal: Your latest mix CD, "Stealth- LIVE!", is part of the newly launched series from Roger Sanchez's venerable imprint. What vibe did you want to capture with the mix?
Luke: It definitely had to be the vibe you would get when you would go and see me play live. But I had to keep a lot of aspects in mind. The CD should also sound good in your home system, but at the same time, I had to keep the crowd on the night satisfied. It was important to keep the Stealth sound in there as well and blend it with my signature sound.

Nocturnal: The disc was recorded live... how was the process of recording a commercially released CD at a club event?
Luke: First we had to license a lot of tracks to make sure I could still make a selection on the moment itself. This means we licensed about 50 tracks and I could choose from them while mixing. 16 tracks ended up on the CD. We hung microphones in the club to capture the crowd and the vibe in the club.

Nocturnal: What exclusives or hidden gems should we be on the watch for in the mix?
Luke: I do have a lot of my own stuff in the mix, but when it comes to gems I have quite some hidden new names in there as well. Dutch kids making quality music like Rockid - Girls and the Alex Salvador & Sebastian Lintz remix of Johnson Junior - In The Air. Full support on my man Diplo also, he makes crazy stuff and I love it! : ) Can't forget some of the biggest remixes I have done this year for Steve Angello - Gypsy and Martin Solveig - I Want You and my remix for Roger Sanchez' new single Bang That Box.

Nocturnal: How has the embrace of Roger and the Stealth crew propelled your career?
Luke: It certainly helped me a lot! I'm really thankful to be a part of the Stealth crew and having Roger's support. I did have to work hard though, it didn't come easy. I have known them for years, but I really had to prove myself worthy of the position I'm in right now.

Nocturnal: In your opinion what other producers out there are really pushing boundaries or making a big impact on our scene for 2008 and beyond?
Luke: For me personally it was getting in touch with A-Trak and Diplo that triggered me again to get back to my Daft Punk and Hip Hop roots. I really get some good inspiration from that and try to blend it with my Dutch meets Swedish house sound now. My boy Bart B. More did really well this year. And, having been a guidance to him for years on my forum, it makes me really proud to see he's doing that well! But there are a lot of kids that are doing well and pushing hard at the moment. I see a whole new generation standing up and the future for our scene looks very good!.

Nocturnal: When you look for records do you still go through sites like Beatport or Traxsource or do you just make decisions from recommendations and from the charts?
Luke: I do browse through the charts of those sites. And I do get titles recommended from fellow DJs. Most of the time I don't even get the chance to go to sites like that though. I get sent some 30 promo links every day. Every week that gives me a 6 gigabyte of music I have to listen to from promos and demos.

Nocturnal: As the digital revolution continues to dominate, how do you see it impacting our industry going forward?
Luke: I think we are moving into the good part of the whole switch over to the digital revolution. There are still going to be a couple of changes, but compared to just a couple of years ago I think the biggest turning point is behind us.

Nocturnal: Are you hip on the whole laptop DJ thing... or do you still prefer those who do it physically?
Luke: Electronic music has always been about embracing technology and I'm still in that frame of mind. I don't care if you spin with laptop or vinyl for that matter. It should be a good show with cool music and it should work for the crowd. I did try the laptop thing for a moment, but it still has too many cons than pros for now, if I compare it with mixing with CDs for instance.

Nocturnal: You also run your on imprint called MixMash... what can we expect to see forthcoming from the label side of things?
Luke: I'm still trying to get my label MixMash to connect more with me. We had a couple of big releases like "Be" and "Break Down The House" this year, but I still need to brand it and put it out there more with my name. I do want to make it a platform also for the talents that I give guidance to on my forum on laidbackluke.com.

Nocturnal: What advice would you give to kids who want to be DJ/Producers and want to set up their own labels?
Luke: Go to my forum on laidbackluke.com as we have kids there that already did those kinds of things. There we help out each other. I'm there everyday as well answering questions and giving advice.

Nocturnal: Lastly here are some quick shots:
Nocturnal: What's more likely... vinyl making a comeback or a non-trance DJ being rated #1 in the DJ Mag poll?
Luke: Obviously the comeback of vinyl ;)
Nocturnal: Favourite travel destination for vacation?
Luke: Ibiza at the moment, but really just for chilling out!
Nocturnal: Favourite travel destination for performing?
Luke: Ibiza again, but this time on the party side of things.
Nocturnal: Most indispensable items you travel with?
Luke: My little travel laptop.
Nocturnal: Favourite thing to do when returning from a long tour?
Luke: Trying to be a proper dad for my wife and kids.
Nocturnal: Dish you cook the best?
Luke: Deep Dish.
Nocturnal: Best friend in the whole world?
Luke: My wifey.
Nocturnal: Most emotional songs for you of all time?
Luke: Air - All I Need or anything by Aaliyah as I was a huge huge fan!
Nocturnal: Favourite all time vocalist?
Luke: Aaliyah - R.I.P.
Nocturnal: Single greatest moment from your DJ career?
Luke: Sensation White 2005.

::: Related Links

::: www.laidbackluke.com

::: www.myspace.com/laidbackluke

::: www.stealth-records.com

::: 2008.06.30 » Viva Toronto w/ Laidback Luke @ The Guvernment [Toronto] Photos

::: 2008.03.29 » WMC 2008 | Stealth Records @ Mynt [Miami] Photos