Laidback Luke
Krunk Releases Bootleg of Alice Deejay’s ‘Better Off Alone’
One way for DJs to set themselves apart is by making custom edits and bootlegs for their sets. Occasionally, DJs end up releasing their versions to the public though, especially if enough people ask for them. Such is the case with Australia’s Krunk, who recently made a bootleg that blends Laidback Luke’s remix of Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone” with Galantis’ “Runaway (U & I)” and SCNDL’s “Otis.” Stream and download Krunk’s bootleg below.
[djc url=http://www.djcity.com/digital/alice-deejay-better-off-alone-krunk-vs-galantis-scndl-bootleg—45022.htm]
Download: Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone – Krunk vs Galantis & SCNDL Bootleg
Related: Listen to Krunk’s DJcity Podcast
Watch Laidback Luke’s Workshop on ‘Real DJing’
Laidback Luke performing at WinterWonderland in Helsinki, Finland on February 21, 2015.
Although the phrase “real DJing” isn’t new, A-Trak and Craze transformed it into a worldwide movement last summer in response to the rise of “button pushing DJs.”
One of the “real DJs” that Craze cited in his definition of the term was house veteran Laidback Luke. The Dutchman isn’t a turntablist, but he’s proficient in other aspects of mixing and a leading proponent of “real DJing” within the dance community.
Luke does more than represent the movement at clubs and festivals, though. He’s also passionate about educating, and gave a workshop on “real DJing” at the Netherlands’ Dancefair conference back in February.
While most of the concepts and techniques covered in the workshop are basic, they’re essential for beginners and can be useful reminders for established DJs. Watch the entire video below.
We recommend watching the workshop from start to finish, but here’s a breakdown of the topics if you don’t have enough time:
– DJs who influenced Luke’s mixing style (3:00)
– Luke’s early days as a DJ (12:25)
– Preparing for sets (14:30)
– Organizing your library and mixing different genres (16:40)
– Knowing your equipment (19:55)
– Practicing at home (22:30)
– Looking for similarities between songs (23:40)
– Being a tastemaker and differentiating yourself (30:30)
– Reading crowds (34:35)
– Creating live mashups with acapellas (37:50)
– Dealing with stage fright (49:55)
– Audience questions (53:50)
Related: DJ Craze’s Definition of a ‘Real DJ’
Laidback Luke Weighs in on ‘Blurred Lines’ Ruling
Last week’s ruling against Robin Thicke and Pharrell has proven to be one of the most controversial stories of the year in the music world. On one side, there are folks who support the court’s decision that “Blurred Lines” copies Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” There are also people, many of which are artists and industry professionals, who believe the ruling sets a dangerous precedent and could stifle creativity.
One of the most high-profile artists to speak out is Laidback Luke. The Dutch heavyweight, who himself has been involved in copyright lawsuits, penned an op-ed for Billboard earlier this week about the ruling. Below are some of the main points he made in the candid piece.
He believes “Blurred Lines” is similar to “Got to Give It Up,” but he doesn’t think they’re the same.
“In the ‘Blurred Lines’ case, I can hear is a same type of groove and a similar sounding Rhodes organ that doesn’t even play the same notes. I’d even go so far to say that ‘Blurred Lines’ is just a similar style of track as ‘Got To Give It Up.’ Style as in genre.”
In terms of note progressions, he thinks creativity is limited.
“In dance music alone, there are at least 3,000 new tracks released every week. Surely almost anything you can think of has already been done? For instance, people think I jacked Tujamo’s ‘Boneless’ with my track ‘Bae,’ whereas I didn’t have it in mind at all while producing. Unless we somehow invent new notes, the progressions that we can make are not infinite. The notes themselves have never been copyrighted, so how many notes does it take to claim it as a copyrighted sample? Everyone will recognize the first 3 to 4 notes in ‘Get Ready For This’ before any vocal even drops in.”
He believes being influenced is inevitable.
“Being creative draws upon the collection of music in your head. It sits there and anything around you can influence you. Anything you heard in your past that made an impression on you will affect your style. I often find myself just being a collection of anything Daft Punk meets Timbaland meets the The Neptunes meets J Dilla, and that molded into a format that I can play out as a DJ. Being influenced seems inevitable, and there’s almost always something out there that sounds similar to what you’re making.”
He thinks the ruling poses a threat to new artists.
“The fact is, this very second some kid somewhere is taking my music, chopping it up, looking at it sideways, replaying it and then calling it his own. They are the future. If that stops, the music stops. However, a new standard has been set. Those ‘Blurred Lines’ suddenly became dangerously Thicke.”
Related: Jury Rules Against Robin Thicke & Pharrell in ‘Blurred Lines’ Trial
Laidback Luke Releases Ableton Session for ‘Stepping to the Beat’
Laidback Luke has released the full Ableton Live session for his latest song, “Stepping to the Beat.” The file has been made available through Splice, a cloud-based platform for music creation and collaboration.
Splice launched its public beta in September and has since released project files for artists such as Henry Fong, David Heartbreak, Figure, Alesia, Ken Loi and Jordy Dazz.
The company’s investors include Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber’s manager), Tiësto, Steve Angello (ex-Swedish House Mafia), AM Only, WME and others.
Luke attached the following message along with the session:
“Very much into starting this up with Splice and starting to share my projects with you! I’ve been known to help aspiring producers out and give advice and tips about producing. This feels like it comes as an extension of it. Now mind you, one major thing I’ve learned over the 22 years I’ve been producing, is to keep it simple. And I do! Simple, yet effective and fat. The floor, or any of the majority producers out there, won’t care how many crash or hi-hat stems you use. Or that you tweaked 8 hours to get this certain synth designed, which still can’t compete to the multitude of amazing synth presets out there. I make music for DJs to play out, and music to dance hard to! And my time, with all the touring, and overall hectic schedule, is super limited. No wasting it ha ha. Hope you can get some easy shortcuts looking into my session, and hope it can help you to be better and effective producer! Splice this to learn how I made Stepping To The Beat!”
Related: Henry Fong and J-Trick Release ‘Scream’ Ableton Session
Laidback Luke’s Thump Interiew: 5 Things We Learned
Legendary house DJ/producer Laidback Luke recently gave a revealing interview with Vice’s EDM news site, Thump. The Dutchman opened up about a host of topics, including his rocky transition from DJing locally to touring worldwide, overcoming alcoholism, dealing with stress, accusations of pre-recorded sets, the current state of EDM, and more.
Luke’s interview offers a rare look into both the professional and personal lives of one of dance music’s most respected DJs. The entire conversation is worth reading but here’s five comments that really resonated with us:
1. He didn’t enjoy touring at first.
“Things really took off in 2008. I remember that I found it very stressful in the beginning, because I’m not much of a traveller. I’d rather just sit in my studio all day and make music, but I got sucked into it. The first few years were overwhelming. It’s scary: suddenly you don’t have a home anymore, you’re living out of a suitcase, and you hardly see your friends and family anymore. That takes a little getting used to.”
2. He quit drinking to become a better father and increase productivity.
“I did hit the wall a few times — and hard, too. That’s one of the reasons I quit drinking, Because I couldn’t be a good father anymore. At some point I just got incredibly frustrated at home. If you’re drinking and you’re on a schedule like mine, you don’t have time for hangovers. Three hours after your gig you’re already back at the airport with your vodka breath for another two flights and a three-hour car ride. At some point that starts to affect your motivation. Plus you have to keep producing, answer e-mails and listen to new music. I quit drinking in 2010. Before that I’d drink at least two vodka Red Bulls during every set, but now I live like an athlete. I only drink water during shows, no after parties. It sounds boring, but there’s so much pressure and professionalism in my scene that I just can’t afford to do that anymore.”
3. He practices kung fu to cope with stress.
“A few years ago I decided to bring my kung fu master on tour once a month as my personal trainer. That really helped me to get better at it. I’ve had two burnouts in my career. Once you get out of that, the burnout is still always there, in the background. You’re always aware that if you don’t sleep for a few nights or work too hard, it’s like: ‘Oh no, it’s coming back again’. My teacher has helped me to mentally deal with that. A lot of the people I talk to will say: ‘I don’t understand how you do it; how you’re still producing new music, still tweeting at people.’ Kung fu helps me to calmly step into the chaos.”
4. He thinks experimental sounds are becoming more popular in America.
“People have been listening to that commercial EDM sound for a while now and they are ready to hear more underground stuff; more experimental and longer mixes. Before they didn’t really get those here. But now there’s a large group of kids that grew up with EDM. A lot of 18-year-olds have been listening to it for five years now, and appreciate it if you go a little deeper. We don’t need to hear Akon on a David Guetta beat anymore; we want to hear Avicii with Coldplay. I think that there is a very positive development going on in the States right now. But I see EDM as a sort of glam rock or glam metal. We went from the real rock ‘n’ roll to glitter bands like Queen and Europe.”
5. He believes it’s his responsibility to educate fans.
“I’m a mentor to a lot of young artists; there are about five kids that I mentor personally. The last year and a half for example, I’ve been on an anti-Pryda-snare crusade. If someone sends me a demo with a Pryda snare, I don’t listen to it, or I tell them they have to take it out and replace it with something a little more original. And I try to instill in my students that it’s not about the private jets, but about passion for music. I also try to get that across through my Twitter feed.”
Related: Laidback Luke Responds to Accusations of Pre-recorded Sets
Laidback Luke Responds to Accusations of Pre-recorded Sets
Last Thursday, a video surfaced of Steve Aoki, Laidback Luke and Sander Van Doorn performing together at a party during Miami Music Week. The video included fictitious captions which were intended to poke fun at “button pushing” DJs who play pre-recorded sets.
While many fans consider this video as just a joke, others have used it as a way to hate on EDM DJs including Laidback Luke. Apparently the Dutch DJ didn’t find it funny though, and responded with a video of him juggling live at a recent show in Philadelphia.
“Shutting haters up, pre-recorded sets my ass.”
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