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Canadian Luke Fair is a man on the move. Recently hand picked by Sasha as the support DJ on his US Involved tour, Luke also released one of 2005?s best progressive house compilations, Bedrock Os_03. Many readers will also be familiar with his two Kiss 100 mixes on John Digweed?s Transitions show from last year, showcasing Luke?s big and funky style, often chucking in twisted vocals. I had the pleasure of interviewing the man in the lead up to his forthcoming second Australian tour, and found out all the details on his new label and more.
SD. Hi Luke, thanks for taking time out to chat tointhemix.
Thanks, glad to answer some questions!
SD. Let?s start with your new website, looks cool! Where did the idea come from?
Basically I wanted to have a website more on the fun side. I find too many sites are way too serious. Like ones that have press shots of a DJ sitting on a record case with headphones around his neck at an airport. I also wanted something I could update myself from anywhere, as I always have a lot of time to kill when traveling. I found a designer that I thought would do a good job, and they went above and beyond what I was expecting? I'm really happy with how it turned out.
SD. I?ve read that you have a new EP coming out shortly on Bedrock. Tell us more about it.
That's probably my old bio that still seems to make its way around. It's referring to the last double 12", with Lokitas and Ultraviolet. I haven't made a track in almost two years. I had a failed 2 year Mac experiment that really set me back. Now I'm back to the PC and the wheels are finally turning again.
SD. Will your productions lead to a full artist LP in the future? If so, who would you love to collaborate with?
I'm quite a ways off from coming up with an artist album. I think I'm at least 3-4 years away from being able to sit down and write one, if that. I'm just getting back into production after not doing anything for ages, so I'll see how it all goes.
SD. Will you be releasing a compilation CD in ?06?
Not in '06, but in early '07.
SD. What can Australian crowds expect on your upcoming tour? Got any new gems you are bringing with you, remixes and re-edits? Do you find you get a lot of stuff sent to you?
Always have lots of new gems, as I spend all week scouring the online sites. I get plenty of stuff sent but to be honest I find most of the good stuff on vinyl at the online stores. As for what to expect, I would watch out for my DJ booth acrobatics, coupled with some urban euphoric jungle, mixed in with a healthy dosage of disco trance.
SD. We gotta know about this new label,
Electraluxe. How, what, why, where, when?
I've wanted to set one up for a while now, and was waiting for the right timing. One of my favorite producers, Manuel Tur, sent me an email a few months ago saying that I can release this collaboration he made with Roman Salzger, called 'You Won't Change'. I was so excited as I had been playing the track in almost every set for nearly a year... it was supposed to come out on another label and that fell through, so he asked me if I wanted it. I jumped on it and signed it right away... it should be out in mid July ideally. I'll be serving both vinyl and mp3 formats. It's a monster tune that really crosses all genres. I can't wait.
SD. Where do you draw inspiration? People, places you travel to, the music you grew up with?
Musically I usually get inspiration from hearing other DJs. Especially those that play tracks different to mine... you hear a lot of other things in the music you don't normally listen to. As well, there are countless producers every week who blow my mind with their releases. A few times a month I find a bomb that doesn't sound like anything else I've really heard before, and that really keeps me going.
SD. If you were a rock star what instrument would you play and what clothes would you wear?
I'd probably be the guy who no one in the group likes, or trusts with a musical instrument. I guess that would make me the tambourinist [Ed - is that even a word?!] My uniform of choice would be acid wash jeans, velcro shoes and a cardigan. It's so far away from mainstream that it would be cool.
SD. Any more radio mixes lined up? Another Kiss mix or maybe your first Essential Mix?
An Essential Mix is in the hands of the Radio 1 gods. They have not smiled on me yet... and John hasn't asked me about another Kiss mix. It's probably because I did two last year, and during WMC I was making fun of his new haircut. Not a good way to get a Kiss mix.
SD. What?s the club scene like back in Canada? Is it something you?re really close to?
The clubbing scene in Canada is amazing. There's a really diverse scene in Toronto with big nights every weekend for just about every genre. There's not a lot of pretentiousness either. The crowds are really open minded and remind me a lot of some of the Australian crowds I got to play for on my last trip here.
Luke Fair returns to Australia this June for his second national tour, don't miss out!
Fri 2nd Jun - Sweetchilli, Sydney
Sat 3rd Jun - The Loft, Melbourne
Fri 9th Jun - Sugar, Adelaide
Sat 10th Jun - Platinum, Gold Coast
Sun 11th Jun - We Love Sounds, Sydney
Then Zabiela tomorrow night (at Sunny in Melbourne) ...and then catching both of them again next week at the We Love... Sounds festival in Sydney. Should be HUGE!
Thanks!
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