Laidback Luke at Sensation India

Laidback Luke may not be a name that mainstream EDM folks will be too familiar with, since he is firmly rooted in the underground scene as opposed to crowd-pulling concerts. Headlining Sensation India’s first concert in the country (in Hyderabad), he says, “I have no trouble with finishing off at a festival or a club, so in that sense it’s always great. Usually DJs don’t want to play after me, so this is the perfect slot for me,” he says referring to his last set

Life wasn’t always this glamourous for the 39-year-old, who reveals that he was once arrested as a graffiti-painting teenager before choosing a more legal career. “It was tricky. As a teenager I was arrested for doing graffiti. And then when I came in touch with the police, I thought may be I should be doing something more positive with my life. I was already making a little bit of music at the time, so I decided to focus solely on it.”

Luke is also working on a project titled Nouveau Yorican with his wife DJ Gina Turner, who he says keeps him in touch with the underground EDM scene. He gushes, “My wife is this really cool underground DJ. She let’s me know about the happenings in the underground scene while I learn about the mainstream. I really love all kinds of music, so to be able to do a sort of back-to-back sync with my wife is the best thing in the world!”

Currently touring the US, Luke says that he prefers working on releasing singles at a time rather than albums because of the risk it poses to his career. “I was always afraid to put two or three years into finishing an album, and right now if you don’t release music for a couple of years, your DJ career can be over,” he says. For his first album, Luke gave himself a challenge — “If I can make 30 tracks in 30 days, it will only take me about one month to finish an album and I’m very happy I succeeded in doing that!” He will be releasing his third album in 2017.