Minutes before witnessing him DJ at what turned out to be one of my favorite sets from Electric Zoo 2014, I walked through a door marked “Interviews” to sit down with the legendary DJ/producer Laidback Luke. Donning a black shirt with printed letters BAE on it in support of his latest hit, Luke leaned back on his chair with a friendly smile across his face. Although he seemed calm and collected, the energy and excitement of his impending festival set emanated throughout the small conference room. Throughout our chat, three things shone through: his love for his wife, his care for his family, and his passion for his art.
What’s it like to be at Electric Zoo compared to other festivals?
Playing in New York is always very special because all my wife’s family is from here, so it kind of feels like coming home to play. I love the New York energy and the New York vibe. It’s always a pleasure to be here.
How has becoming a father affected or changed your DJ career?
Nothing, really. Because what most people don’t know is I’ve been a father for 13 years. I have two sons from a previous marriage; they’re aged 13 and 11, and you know, I’ve been doing my thing ever since and so nothing’s changed. Actually because my wife Gina Turner is a Dj as well it really combines well. Our careers match in that sense so she really knows that I need to do what I need to do.
So ‘Bae’ recently came out –what was your inspiration for that?
It’s very interesting; I’ve heard some haters say it sounds like Boneless. And the funny thing is, I never had Boneless in mind when I was making it, so my true inspiration is Breach – Jack. So the voice of Jack always reminded me of Gina’s voice.
*Sings* I want your body every body wants your body…
Apparently Gina and Breach are friends and we think that he tried to mimic Gina’s voice and it’s actually him doing her voice on that track. It got me thinking, but I have Gina’s voice on a daily basis, so why not use her voice? So I made this Tchami-style instrumental and I was like, “I want a Jack type of vocal on this- can you do that for me?” And there it was.
What are your plans for Super You & Me?
We’re doing a lot of events very soon; we’re up in Washington.
You just had one at Governor’s Island in New York recently.
Yeah, Governor’s Island. We just did Creamfields in the UK- so it’s global. Tomorrowland. We’re doing Tomorrowworld again, as well. So a lot of stuff – it’s always fun to bring the Djs I like and have them dress up as silly super heroes. It’s so fun!
What got you into the business in the first place?
You might have seen this picture going around of me as a young raver. I was actually a raver first. A friend of mine showed me how to make this type of music on a computer, and before this, I come from a musical family and everyone was actually really good at playing an instrument…except for me… so when I found out I could make music with a computer, I was sold. I always had this music in my head trapped inside of there and thanks to the computer I could finally start making it. When I first saw it, I knew I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.
The only one that I get deeper with is my bae…
Laidback Luke
Facebook: facebook.com/OfficialLaidbackluke
Twitter: twitter.com/LaidbackLuke
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/laidbackluke
