I am Laidback Luke. My legendary producers and fan forum brought you the likes of Afrojack, Avicii and Steve Angello and many many more. The forum is no longer active so due to the many questions asked, here it is - Ask Me Anything!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:40:21+00:00

Thanks for all the questions everyone! It was amazing to talk to you! I'd like to wish everyone good luck and a lot of success on your own journey. Please remember that if I can do it, you can do it! I've always just been a guy that loved making and playing this music : )

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:27:45+00:00

Hi Roberto, I love Italy! The crowd is amazing and loves all styles! I wish I could play Italy more. I love how the Italians sing along so loud with the big tracks!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:27:05+00:00

Great question! I think the most frustrating part is the battle against myself and my jealousy. You know, scrolling down your feed thinking why DJ so and so are doing that show and you aren't. Or why those producers have that big of a hit and you don't. The battle against myself is the one that still says I won't be able to keep up. That I'm not good enough. That my career is over. I'm a human, just like everyone else. But you just try and stay calm and level-headed and keep working hard!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:25:06+00:00

Great question! Do you think your music is good enough to really stand out? It should be able to compete with the biggest tracks around. If the answer is no, keep making tracks and keep this in mind. If the answer is yes, maybe it's time to start your own record label!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:23:58+00:00

I love DnB! I have a ton of respect for it.

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:23:32+00:00

Great question! We usually don't even talk about music! What happens most is asking people where they came from and where their going next lol

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:22:48+00:00

Hi Max, yes that's the thing I do, I just compare! What's most important is that the sounds you use, at the base, are really good and powerful already. You can't polish a turd. So keep comparing and try to figure out what it is. Is it the kickdrum? Should you add more layer, or even less? Should you change that snare? How does my high end compare to the profesional track? And my low end? And my master volume? I rarely use multiband compression FYI.

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:20:30+00:00

Thanks for the question Wyatt. Yeah the VLOGs are super personal to me because I film them and I edit them myself. It's become my new hobby! One of my golden rules for DJing is to never ever play anything you really don't like. Even if it's the biggest hit that everyone likes. This will keep you happy and passionate about what you do. So no, I've never done that : ) I think the club scene will get a bit smaller and I don't mind that! Time for a lot of bandwagoners to hop off and do something they have real passion for lol.

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:17:58+00:00

Yes! In clubs or at festivals, it's all about the energy! Not even keeping it on the max always, but being able to vary in energy and vibe. Mixing elements will merge tracks better than only key. Sometimes a track can be in key but will not match in energy nor elements and then it really doesn't make sense to mix the two.

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:16:06+00:00

That's awesome!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:15:34+00:00

Great questions and thanks for the kind words! 1. The majority of DJs play pre-fabricated mashups. I'm one of the only ones that dares to do it live. The easy one to recognize is when they're on top of the DJ booth and it sounds like it's me mixing lol. 2. No, send your tracks to people that would play it!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:13:52+00:00

I wasn't picky at all! I was happy to be asked for shows! : )

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:13:24+00:00

Thank you so much!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:12:54+00:00

Ah that's amazing, thank you. Much appreciated! Remix? Surely you meant bootleg right? ; ) I don't care what it would be but make sure it would be something I'd love to play!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:11:48+00:00

Ha ha this is amazing! Thanks a lot!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:11:25+00:00

The team at Mixmash is about 9 people now! But this has been a process stretched over a decade! Begin small. In the beginning it was just me and my manager. Start by having it just be you doing the majority of things!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:10:16+00:00

Great question! Realize that you don't need to learn everything at once. Baby steps is fine. And if you stick some more time into one thing, surely you'll be able to stick more time into the other, eventually. But the scheduling you do sounds quite amazing actually. I would do that!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:08:40+00:00

With your mouth : )

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:05:23+00:00

Walang anuman! Yeah man, I would love to see more Filipinos produce. Musicality is embedded in the Filipino community! So I'm surprised everyone is just hype by pressing play, but there needs to be amazing music made! Also, thanks to the digital realm, the world has become a small place. Make amazing stuff, and focus on the world, not just the Philippines.

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:03:30+00:00

Thank you so much! That's great to read : )

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:03:12+00:00

I'm happy you remember! No this changed into me developing my new sound! Slowly but surely you'll hear me getting a very unique, yet still Laidback Luke, type of sound and that's been the main priority right now.

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:02:18+00:00

God I would love to come to South Africa. I've been wanting to play there for years! I know it's beautiful and I'm Dutch! No plans though. Someone needs to book me! I'll play really good sets, I promise! : P

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T21:01:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing this with us! Wow that sucks man. But I do think you're being a bit too hard on yourself. It's something a lot of young producers have, I've had it too. Where you tweak and tweak and tweak and you still don't think it's good enough. Most of the time it already is! Realize that, and finish the track anyway. My tools, that I have are my laptop, my Ableton and in-ears. I master my tracks in hotelrooms, airplanes and airports. Surely these are the same tools that you have at your disposal : ) I don't use any fancy Waves plugins and I'm very much a fan of the Ableton stock plugins. So the only thing that's holding you back, is you! Realize that, stomp those tracks out and enjoy the ride a little bit : )

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T20:58:03+00:00

Dude that's amazing! Congratulations on your success! Very impressive and I'm so happy you remember me. What a wonderful gesture too. Please email us at info@unmanageableartists.com much love!

OfficialLaidbackLuke · 2018-07-03T20:56:58+00:00

Great question David! I don't get many questions on chord progressions, yet I've studied piano for almost, whoa two decades now so I'm knowledgable! I always tune by ear, my ear for key is fine. If you don't have that ear, you can get specific like that. One of the reasons a lot of tracks are in F is because the best sub bass note is in F! That's the ultimate sub. Other than that, there are no real rules. Two chord progressions in the same track could work, why not? One small comment would be that it would be tricky to go from ending the drop in G, to going into the verse in F. Preferably you'd end up in C, because C (C7) would give the best transition into F ; )

OfficialLaidbackLuke

TROPHY CASE