We kick back with the rising producer in the LWA office…
Gold Coast-based producer Luude’s ascent to the top over the past two years has been meteoric to say the least. The Tassie-born sensation’s immersion into the genre of drum & bass leading to some of his most important records to date. 6am, ‘Land Down Under’, ‘Big City Life’ and more, it’s safe to say Luude and DNB are a match made in heaven, and judging by his recent winning of ‘Best International Artist’ at the 2023 Drum & Bass Awards, we’d say the world agrees.
The latest single from the homegrown producer/DJ sees him double down on the high energy brand of drum & bass that’s catapulted him into the stratosphere in recent years, turning it toward 2003 classic ‘Turn Me On’ by Kevin Lyttle with the help of MC extraordinaire, Bru-C. The result is one of Luude’s most magnetic DNB tracks to date, and trust me, it absolutely goes off live.
To celebrate the new single, we caught up with Luude in the LWA office to get the drop on his new single, his explosive Mixmag set and more. Check it below.
How has your 2023 been so far?
Pretty intense. I just finished a New Zealand tour with Netsky. I didn’t realize how big he is over there. He was selling out literal stadiums, so I got to support him on that run. Overall it’s been pretty much nonstop for the last year-and-a-half. Finally, I get a two month break now.
During our last chat you were talking about how much Kiwi’s love their DNB. What’s it like playing DNB for Kiwi crowds compared to Aussie crowds?
DNB is on pop radio in New Zealand. It’s all through the charts over there, which doesn’t really happen in Australia. And then you’ve got the guys like Netsky, and Sub Focus who are selling out 5,000 plus venues every night of the tour. So it’s weird. It’s very tricky because drum and bass is just so big over there and not as commercial in Australia.
You also mentioned were gearing up to drop your first DNB project in ‘6am’. Now, two years later, you’ve got a stack of DNB tracks under your belt along with the viral ‘Land Down Under’ edit. How has life changed since?
With ‘Land Down Under’, I originally made it as a joke because I thought would be funny to play at the end of sets in Australia, just as the original song is the unofficial national anthem. So I put that out, and it definitely changed my life. After it blew up, we did 40 shows in Europe and 32 festivals. It was fun because you got to go over there and just hang out with all the other D&B artists from the UK. So it was good to hang out with all the lads, all the legends.
Is there any pressure to try and top ‘Land Down Under’, or are you making music without any expectations at the moment?
Well, we just did a remix of ‘Big City Life’, and that blew up, which was super lucky. I think that’ll hit a hundred million streams in the next couple months. But to be honest, I just want to put out bangers and club music now. I want to focus more on the actual show instead of putting out songs for radio.
Are there any other Aussie songs that you reckon could use a good D&B rework?
Jimmy Barnes? [laughs] I think a few other people have jumped on the older Aussie remixes trend now, so I don’t know. Everything’s probably been done already.
Given that club music’s always changing and everyone is constantly trying to keep up with the latest trends, how do you stay true to what you want to write, while keeping up with those trends?
Well, before I did ‘Land Down Under’, I was making solely club music, more trap-focused stuff, but that was all. I was pretty much just making club music. Then once ‘Land Down Under’ blew up, everyone suddenly wants you to start making music for radio as opposed to the club. But at the end of the day, I love making club music.
So it’s just trying to not veer away from that, but it’s obviously so easy to jump on a music trend that’s happening right now. So, it’s very hard to try to differentiate yourself from what’s popular, while not going so far left field that no one cares anymore.
You played ‘Turn Me On’ for the first time at your Mixmag set. What sort of reaction were you expecting and how did it compare to the real thing?
Haha yeah it was insane, everyone was chanting the words and having fun – which is what the record is about.
That track has been reimagined so many times throughout the years. When it was first pitched to you to do a DNB edit of it, were you surprised? Or could you already see the vision?
It’s just such a fun feel good tune – as soon as the label sent it over saying we could use the parts I was pretty keen to mess with it and in the DNB format it has that bit of extra energy for dance floors.
You’ve linked up with BRU-C on this record who is something of DNB royalty at this point, having appeared on some of the biggest songs in the genre. Was it a bit of a pinch me moment when you got his vocals on the track?
Me and Bru have actually hung out a fair bit on tour and we’ve been trying to find the right tune to work on together. Kevin and Bru are both from St Vincent so when the idea came up it was just a perfect fit getting him on the tune.
How do you think Bru-C and Kevin Lyttle’s vocals compliment each other on the track?
I love it. Bro just brings a modern take to the record and it works so well. Plus, Kevin’s chorus is so iconic and sounds as fresh today as ever.
That Mixmag set was a pretty off the wall tonight. What was it like to be in the thick of all those people, skanking out to DNB on a Wednesday night?
It was so sick to see how many people wanted to get down there, especially on a school night. Jagermeister helped us put that together and it’s definitely something I want to do more of in the future. There’s just such a good buzz around doing random pop up shows like that.
(Check out our full gallery from Luude’s Mixmag set here).
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Were you nervous? Or was the energy of that crowd enough to carry you through it all?
Yeah I was fucken nervous – because it’s getting recorded you only get one shot at it. I definitely had a few nerve calmers beforehand haha.
Do you have any similar sets planned in the future?
Yeah we’re working on them already, the next one will probably be in the UK but we are definitely going to came back and do more secret shows in Australia.
During that set you could really feel the love from the crowd for you, which made me think of how your fans have grown up with you through the years. Have you felt that from your end?
For sure. Australia’s always been such a wicked market for me. I was so lucky when I made the switch to DNB. Obviously, some people were pissed off because when you make one solid genre and you switch to another, some people feel left behind. But no one really seemed to care, especially in Australia.
Then in terms of overseas, we did a ticketed show in Estonia and sold 2,500 tickets, where the population is 1 million. Stuff like that really trips me out. I’m just like, “How does anyone even know about my music?” I guess the mullet probably gives me away [laughs]. Just knowing people in Europe and the UK actually know you and your music is such a humbling feeling.
Lastly, you were recognised as the Best International Artist at the 2023 Drum & Bass Awards, at this point, what else do you want to achieve in the DNB world?
After this next US/EU/UK tour – The next phase is definitely to build out the show and do something different. Definitely keen to work on music with more people too.
