Laidback Luke: ‘A lot of Top 100 DJ Ranking voters have never seen a DJ play in real life’

Laidback Luke

Electro-house/dance DJ Lucas Cornelis van Scheppingen aka Laidback Luke began working with EDM biggies such as Steve Angello in 2006, on the now-famous track “Otherwize Then.” The same year, the Filipino-born Dutch DJ got Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell together before they were called Swedish House Mafia on the track “Get Dumb.” After breaking into that league, it was no surprise to find Laidback Luke break into the top 100 DJs list in 2008, and has remained a fixture ever since. His own views on ranking DJs are different: “Part of the top 100 is related to the most current hype, but a lot of the votes don’t make sense either,” he says in an interview with ROLLING STONE INDIA ahead of his three-city tour of the country, with stops in Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

 You’ve collaborated with Steve Aoki and worked with David Guetta, and the guys from Swedish House Mafia. They’ve played in India too, so did you speak to them about the scene in India?

No not really, it’s not that we talk every day or something. I heard David talk about it once and I saw Steve Aoki tweet about it. I’ll just let India surprise me.

DJs are often promoted by their DJ ranking. What do you make of these rankings, considering you’ve steadily moved up on the list lately? 

I don’t really care about them to be honest. It’s a very variable list. For instance, there are a lot of 15 year old girls voting who have never seen a DJ play in real life. Are those the people that come to a club to sell the club out? They are not. So for me, it’s still about filling clubs, selling out shows and doing a lot of touring. If that stops, then I’ll need to consider what needs to be improved.

What is your setlist going to be like for this tour?

I have no clue! I never have a clue. All my sets are purely based on improvisation. I do that on purpose, because I feel a real DJ is able to sense the crowd and anticipate appropriately on the second. I always try to do that as well. Sometimes my tour manager asks me, just before I go on, what my first track will be. And I never know! Only when I get up there and just a minute before I actually go on, it will hit me what to play and that’s the same for all my set. This way, my sets are never ever the same and I try to stay away from playing the same combinations. It keeps me very passionate about my DJing.

The press release mentioned that you planned to do a bit of sightseeing and soul searching. What kind of places do you have in mind? Does the sightseeing happen before or after the gig?

Did I? No that’s not like me I’m afraid. I probably won’t do that [laughs]. This, because my schedule is always super, super packed and there’s just no time for me to do anything like this! And it’s not a problem to me either. I’m sure the crowd will appreciate me finishing a new track instead of going sight seeing. I’m the hard working kind.

What kind of stuff are you currently listening to? Any Indian EDM artists you’ve checked out?

I listen to a lot of stuff, coincidence has it I was listening to Madlib’s Indian influenced hip hop reworks this week. I was totally unaware there were Indian EDM artists! I better look into that.

You also said on Twitter recently that there’s a lot of generic electronic music out there currently. What is your advice to DJs to keep it fresh? Do you think EDM can actually stay ”˜fresh’ all the time? 

Yes, I think EDM can very much stay fresh. What people need to realize is that EDM, or house music, came from an open format, as very much a counter reaction to pop music of the late Eighties. They wiped the rules of pop music away and started jamming on machines. EDM needs to be open format again. Anything is possible and anything is cool. With that state of mind, we’ll be able to think and play more out of the box. This is how it has always been and how it has always evolved.

What kind of singles and collaborations do you have planned next? Any big names featuring on your tracks?

My current track “Pogo” feat. Majestic has been out for a minute. We’ll release the remixes and the full vocal version next week, followed by the official video. After that I have my collaboration with Hardwell called “Dynamo” planned. And my single after that one will be a collaboration with Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, the Tomorrowland guys. Right now I’m making my new tracks for the second half of 2013 already. I might test a few on my India tour.

Laidback Luke India Tour by White Fox India:

February 22nd – LAP, Delhi

February 23rd – Chancery Pavilion, Bengaluru [Tickets Rs 1,400 and Rs 2,000. Available here] 

February 24th – Royalty, Mumbai [Entry Rs 1,200 and 2,000. Available here]