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Luke Fairly Amazing
Following a U.S tour with John Digweed and the release of his Ultraviolet EP on Bedrock Records in the early part of the year, the latter half of 2005 also looks like being equally huge for Luke Fair, the young Canadian artist at the forefront of the electronic music scene who is set to further concrete his presence on the worldwide dance music stage with the release of OS_0.3 on Bedrock.
On June 21st Luke Fair's s first ever-devoted mix album - the third in the Bedrock Original Series which has previously featured Jonathan Lisle and Desyn Masiello - will be released. Expect to hear all of Luke's production talent in re-editing tracks and remixes to evoke his familiar jackin’, raw and ‘live’ sound that has rocked dance floors around the world shine through on the compilation.
The mix starts strong with Sebastian Leger tech-house ‘Mooguno’ and a juicy build-up to a summer favorite Arcade Mode ‘Ain’t No’ and the massive ATFC remix of Overstreet’s ‘Loose yourself’ which picks up and trips back and forth in the mix as he builds into the more punchy section of real party ass kickers with Moonbootica ‘Bulldog Beats’ [How apt!] and the little deeper T and F vs. Moltosugo ‘La serenissima’. Sebastian Leger then re-enters with a driving ‘Electric’ that leads into a slip n sliding profusion of sounds with ‘Supernova’ by Mashtronic. The mix is strong right through to the end with a fantastic Rowan Blades and Chris Lake production ‘Malteser Geeser’ (Big Mince mix) that appropriately gets you in the mood for the real highlight of the album; the Fair and Masiello mix of Torley Wong’s ‘Xristophan. Luke finally lets you exhale with the instrumental “Waves” by Lifelike.
Fair certainly picked up the baton for the third installment in the Bedrock Original Series and it offers a sample of the vibrancy and heat that are the center of his outstanding performances. He constantly re-edits tracks to customize his sets and the result is that every set stands out. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues and events around the world and his fans consists of club goers and some of the best in the business such as Deep Dish, Sasha, Digweed, and Danny Howells.
From dropping dance floor fillers in Digweed’s mailbox, to producing and DJ’ing this guy can seemingly do nothing wrong. Fair's masterful OS_0.3 is guaranteed to catapult him to the heavyweight DJ status he deserves. Luke Fair has embarked on a North American tour in anticipation of his new Bedrock Original Series and Resident Advisor managed to get a few words with him about producing on the go, his new releases, and the future of CDs.
"Guys like myself and Desyn came up around the same time, so we’re all benefiting from playing together and staying in touch... swapping music and stuff like that."
RA: You have been producing as long as you have been DJ’ing (U2’s ‘Silver Gold was wicked!) and John Digweed plays your tunes in his sets (Kiss 100, etc) and often refers to you as one of his favorite producers. When you start making a track, do you start with a certain type of sound (i.e. beats) or some other ‘hook’ that inspires? Is there a special tune out there that you would like to work on?
LF: I don’t really set out to make a certain sound, as most of the ideas I come up with I get while working on the fly. Everything is trial and error, which is why the tracks vary so much in style. I usually always start off with percussion, and then the rest will follow.
RA: You have shown immense versatility as a producer – from progressive house vocals (remix of Max Graham’s “Tell You”) to dark driving beats (the amazing remix of Laurient’s “Salvation”) and the Fair and Masiello mix of ‘Xristophan’ by Torley Wong on the soon to be released Original Series 0.3 mixed by you. Do you have a preference? Is there a certain sound you are partial too?
LF: I am definitely partial to the housier sound…some of my favorite tracks I’ve made have been ‘The Wish’ on Yoshitoshi, my Kings of Tomorrow remix and ‘Lokitas’, that was just released on Bedrock. I just basically make what comes out of me at that particular time, though! The tracks always end up completely different from what I originally set out to do.
RA: Do you get a lot of producing done on the go? Given your heavy touring schedule how do you find time to be so productive? You’re Ultraviolet EP on Bedrock came out earlier this year and had time for a few remixes (Agent 001’s “Faakson”, and Momu’s the “The Dive”) as well. That is pretty impressive!
LF: I haven’t really done an original or proper remix in about a year. I’ve done some bootlegs and heavy re-edits since but that’s it. I am just getting into the rhythm of working on tracks on the road. I have a laptop but it takes some getting used to after being comfortable in my home studio for so long. When the OS3 tour calms down a bit in the fall, I plan to go into the studio extensively, as I’m more inspired than I’ve ever been to create tracks.
RA: I have heard you play with John Digweed and Desyn Masiello, as well as your Kiss 100 mix. There seem to be a nice group of compatible guys (I only named a few) out there right now, and I find that when guys who complement each other play together it just make the whole experience so much better. How important do you think it is to your success to have a nice group to work with? Must be a great positive and inspirational environment?
LF: It’s very important to have a group like that where we all help each other out. Guys like myself and Desyn came up around the same time, so we’re all benefiting from playing together and staying in touch…swapping music and stuff like that. Working with bigger guys like Digweed helps a lot too, as he’s so experienced and is a great source of invaluable advice. You learn so much by playing with him, too. He’s given me countless great opportunities over the past few years that I’m very grateful for.
RA: There have been a few articles in Entertainment Weekly about albums becoming less desirable given many people are switching to mp3 players and preferring to download individual songs rather than buying the whole album (since a lot of albums often have a bunch of ‘fillers’). Are compilations like Original Series and other mixed dance music releases the last frontier in the CD industry? If that were so, what impact do you think it will have on the electronic music industry?
LF: I wouldn’t necessarily say we are in the final frontier, but maybe the end of the old one and start of a new one. I think guys like Sasha and James Zabiela are paving the way for a whole new generation of retail CDs. ‘Involver’, ‘Fundacion’ and Zabiela’s ‘Utilities’ are a perfect combination between artist album and mix album. It takes away a lot of pressure for making a 60 minute artist album, but still applying production techniques in making the album as a whole your own.
RA: Lastly, I just have to ask. Your recent Kiss 100 mix was so awesome was it from a gig or did you make it especially for the show? What can you tell me about it?
LF:Thanks! I made it especially for the show, and wanted to a make a fun house mix at the time because Miami’s WMC was on the horizon. I had loads of wicked house tracks at that time and figured that would be the perfect chance to share them.
Luke Fair Tour Schedule
June 24th - San Diego: USA
June 25th - Atlanta: USA
June 26th - Jacksonville: USA
June 30th - Ottawa: Canada
July 1st - Winnipeg: Canada
July 2nd - Vancouver: Canada
July 8th - New York: USA
July 9th - Los Angeles: USA
July 13th - San Francisco: USA
July 14th - Denver: USA
July 15th - Toronto: Canada
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Published / Monday, 20 June 2005
 10 Comments
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