Profile - Laidback Luke

Name Laidback Luke

Occupation DJ/producer

Location Aalsmeer, Holland

A Dutch guy playing house music – you must be having a giraffe . . . Understandably when you think of Dutch dance music you instantly think ‘trance’. Ferry Corsten, Tïetso, Armin Van Burren and co have been exporting their spine-tingling cargo of trance-tastic monsters all over the world for several years now. Thankfully, the Netherlands’ now have a bonafide house hero to call their own.

Without wanting to stuff a pigeon in a hole, what kind of house music is it? While his early production efforts drew influence from the original house masters from Chicago and Detroit, modern-day Luke tends to travel in commercial class, flying high with a more accessible form of house music.

Are we talking cheese here? Not at all. The new breed of house DJs, including Martijn Ten Velden and the so-called ‘Swedish House Mafia’ of Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell have been credited with bringing house music to the masses without compromising the quality. Luke specialises in big riffs and poppy hooks, lifting bits and bobs from R&B, electro, pop and rock, often adding some interesting vocals then slamming them with a 4/4 beat that brings a jump to your step and a smile to your face. Keep an ear out for his forthcoming release ‘Be’, a collaboration with Angello which has been whipping the hype machine into a frenzy over the past few months.

Does he cut the mustard on the wheels of steel though? Apparently so. Luke is well regarded in the live arena as a man who knows his way around a set of decks. His studio mixing style, which fuses separate loops, vocals and samples to create live edits prove that this is one producer who can DJ with the best of them.

Laidback Luke plays Musika, the Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Sun 4 May; Colours, the Arches, Glasgow, Sun 4 May.

More: Colours, DJ, Dutch, House, Laidback Luke, Musika, Clubs

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