Laidback Luke Says He Has A Dozen Releases Set For 2010

The superstar house-music DJ/producer has already made tracks like 'Turbulence' club staples.By Lara Kelly





Laidback Luke

Photo: MTV News




Laidback Luke is having a large summer. Last week, the Dutch DJ/producer's track "Till Tonite" featuring Jonathan Mendelsohn (Chris Kaeser remix) climbed onto the Beatport Top 10 chart, while he held down two superparties at Cream Amnesia in Ibiza. And his collaboration with Los Angeles-based DJ/producer Steve Aoki and crunk king Lil Jon, "Turbulence," has become a staple in house-music sets at some of the biggest music festivals around the world, even before its official release.

In addition to all of that, Luke is in the running to become America's Best DJ, and he counts Tiësto and Diplo as fans.
"It's a dream come true," Luke told Beatportal.com recently. "[My career] has definitely taken off recently. I sometimes wish I had a teleportation machine or could clone myself to be able to handle everything. I've worked really hard to get to this point, and I feel blessed to have pulled it off."
MTV News sat down with Laidback Luke recently in Los Angeles to find out how he does it all. Luke has become a notable in the dance-music scene, throwing one of the wildest roaming club parties around the globe, Super You & Me, where performers and attendees dress as their favorite superheroes. But he's also made a practice of mentoring up-and-coming DJs and producers and helping artists to gain a foothold in the industry.
"I'm all about the next generation. It's not all about me, it's all about keeping up house music and keeping it healthy and passing it on to the next generation. So what I do is I guide people on my forum, LaidbackLuke.com. And basically there are kids on there and I give them tips, and they grow and they stay in touch with me for a couple of years and I just school them; then they become the Afrojacks and the Aviciis of the next generation."
Now he has a platform to help develop that new talent: his own label, Mixmash, where he's working with unsigned artists as well as powerhouse producers like Steve Angello, A-Trak, Diplo and MSTRKRFT.
"We have tons of releases this year. It's a platform for new talent," Luke said. "I always test out the new releases in my sets, so whenever they go good, I sign them. We have at least 12 releases planned already. My collaboration with Steve Aoki and Lil Jon, a track called 'Turbulence,' we are testing it out on dance floors at the moment, and it's set to be big."
Fans can catch Laidback Luke on the main stage at New York's upcoming Electric Zoo. The two-day electronic music festival kicks off on September 5 with a lineup that includes Armin Van Buuren, Axwell, the Chemical Brothers, Benny Benassi, Major Lazer and many others.
Who else do you think Laidback Luke should collaborate with? Tell us in the comments!


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