Interview: Laidback Luke

Hannah Davies catches up with Laidback Luke on his return to the White Isle for another residency with Cream at Amnesia this summer.

Spotlight: What motivates you when you are creating and producing new tracks?

Luke:  A lot of it is creating something that will really work, or stand out, in my sets. I love calling my tracks battle weapons, and if they work well for me, I know they will work for a lot of DJs around the globe.

Have you signed any up and coming stars on your label Mixmash which you can tell us about?

Oh yeah, a lot of them! That's the whole purpose of my label Mixmash, to sign up and coming people. I train a lot of them on my forum on www.laidbackluke.com and Mixmash serves as a platform for that breeding ground of talent. A few of them in the past are people like Avici and Angger Dimas, new names would be GTA, I Am Revero and Gianni Marino.

You have dabbled in many different genres when producing, so are you an electro man through and through or do you have some surprises up your sleeve?

I always have surprises up my sleeve! I just love a lot of music and can mix and make a lot of music. Whenever I think it's needed in my sets, I'll just switch up from genre. A lot of it is for the love of 'electro' or house music as I still call it. Variation is what makes it interesting to me.

You´re returning to Ibiza to host your Super You&Me party for Cream this year on the Amnesia Terrace, What guest DJ´s are you most excited to work with?

All of them to be honest! I always hand pick the DJs I would like to have on my Super You&Me parties and other than being a fellow DJ to them, I'm a big fan of the DJs I choose too!

What keeps drawing you back to Ibiza year after year?

Ibiza to me is still the party island of the world. Party people from around the globe share their love to electronic dance music there, it's such a special thing and special place still. The energy of the island can be very addicting.

This year we´ve seen your work with Steve Aoki and Lil John on your track Turbulence, do you have any new tracks for us to watch out for this summer?

Yes absolutely! It's about time to unleash my next pair of big singles soon. The first will be called Natural Disaster and the second will be called Speak Up. I have more ready after those too!

Who is your one to watch in 2011?

At this moment it's the production work of La Fuente, who is signed to my Mixmash label too. For me his production work is next level and works so well for my sets!

Finally, Who´s your favourite super hero?

It would be a combination of Spiderman and Wolverine. I still can't decide! I relate to both of them.