Music & Coffee w/ Daniela La Luz + Exclusive Friends of Selector Series Vol.5 • Daniela La Luz LIVE Recording @ Rawax Label Night Chalet Berlin •
Daniela first came on to our radar back in 2011 with a bomb track called People Happy. Ever since she has put out a solid string of releases on labels such as Moody Heights, Riot Riot Tecnique and her home base record label Rawax.
Daniela delivers a special energy into her productions by blending house and techno with her own layered vocals creating an atmoshpere of what we like to call: music made from the heart. Her most recent track Did You Ever has been played by none other than Moodyman in his recent sets through out Europe.
Selector Series proudly presents an Exclusive LIVE mix recorded by Daniela La Luz during a Rawax night at Chalet in Berlin with the legendary Boo Williams. Let Daniela shine some light into your souls and ears. Be on the look out for this amazing and beautiful artist.
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Music & Coffee w/ Daniela La Luz
Selector Series: So, how were your gigs this weekend?
Daniela La Luz: It was cool, one gig unfortunately got cancelled because of bad weather but the Rawax gig with Boo Williams was amazing. He played a killer set. It was crazy, all good stuff, one great track after the other with 3 decks.
SS: Whatʼs your relationship with Rawax?
DLL: We never planned anything, my booker asked them once if I could send some demos, i used to be lazy in sending demos because I always thought it wasnʼt good enough. So, I gave them a CD once when they were in Berlin and they signed all 12 tracks last year: the album pre-release "Epistol Star", and the ""Based on Electricity" album. The pre-release for my second coming album "Counting Days" is just out now.
SS: How do you fit in your studio time with your gigs? This year you have put out a lot of music and all of it is quality stuff...
DLL: I am just addicted to production. I have lots of material from past years and I listen to it and say: Ok, that sounds cool but i can add something to it and make it better. Plus, Live acts donʼt get booked as much as regular Djʼs so I have more time for the studio.
SS: Can you talk to us about the difference between your productions and the way you play live?
DLL: I guess you have another flow when you play in a club then in the studio. In the club you have people and they are there for dancing and raving so thatʼs what I want to give them. At home producing itʼs more tricky. The studio experience is one on one and you have all kinds of influences and at the club you have a sound system; I like making people feel the bass. People dance to the kick drum and sometimes while Iʼam looking for the next sound to plug into my set, I leave the kick drum running by its self and people are like: wohooooo! dancing only to the kick drum.
SS: Going through your soundcloud profile we found your Vinyl Only Mixes are very special. You put together a wide range of musical influences and we saw that you were inspired by polish folklore music from the communist era, how did this influence you?
DLL: I felt a special kind of warmth from folkore music and I think that many people from our generation are not so into folkore music in general maybe because in some countries they may find it embarrassing or un- cool to listen to this type of music. Iʼam not a fan of church music. I like the cultural aspect of folkore music and the way they sing is super interesting and I think itʼs really important to listen to the native stuff of each country. That was my first love actually: classical instruments, sad singing, and happy singing (laughs)...
SS: Yes! Just like your track People Happy, which is one of our favorite tracks.
DLL: Super happy to hear that! You know, I produced that track on a normal day of production, it wasnʼt like I worked on it for months tweaking the details, you know, it had a good flow from that start and there you go... (laughs)...
SS: So, you started playing in punk and rock bands, how was the transition from bands to producing electronic music?
DLL: Actually, before I made music myself I was djing for a while. I think I started buying records when I was 16, I was very shy in the record shops back in the day her in Munchen, I didnʼt know what was cool but after a while the guys at the record shop would know what to give me. I did not but only house and techno records, but also ambient drum & bass, and trip hop stuff. So, I made a small collection of many genres but I started as a drum & bass DJ. After DJing for a while I didn’t feel a strong connection to ti so I turned to bands.
SS: That sounds very interesting that you were captivated at first with DJing but then you transitioned into bands, what do you think made you leave djing and then come back?
DLL: I think I had a small trauma, of course people in the world have serious traumas, but my trauma was that I really wanted to learn to play the piano; it was my biggest dream. My parents broke up when I was really young, and I became really sick. I started to write songs, it was more like a type of self therapy. For many people music has saved their souls and it helps them through some type of difficult situation. When you start writing songs you get rid of a lot stuff and I think it’s why I went this direction. I also learned to play the guitar in a few days and it sounded nice and then I thought: how would it sound if it had a bass and a drum. It was interesting putting together a band and playing for a few years and I would have probably continued with the band but I just didn't find the right amount of matching people; you know, when you have a band you have to manage 4 or 5 people and all of them want to go a different direction. It ripped my heart out and I got really frustrated.
SS: Where you the leader of the band?
DLL: Yeah, I was writing most of the songs, and I was always like: Come on, let’s make an album, let’s get more gigs. Most of the band was studying and they never believed that it could become something more professional for them. Since they were all good friends I thought to myself: yeah, its going to work; but a some point I had to realize unfortunately that it wouldn’t. I was putting in 100% and they were giving 50%, and so I got frustrated and I had to quit because it wasn’t leading anywhere.
SS: Ok, so was it a punk-rock band or what type of music did you play?
DLL: The band that I was with almost 6 years was a mix stuff: some ska and cross over stuff. Then I found another band with some girls and we played 60ʼs psychedelic rock but it didnʼt go professional either so I switched to electronic music when I meet up with Tini from Desolat. We went to school together; we were in the same class for years. We were the two bad girls from school (laughs).
SS: So, Tini has been inviting you to play at her gigs, right?
DLL: Yes, so first of all, I bought some shitty software and started to produce some tracks. I had written a lot of songs after quitting the band and started to work in the studio. I started playing with synthesizers and slowly my music transitioned into electronic music. Shortly after, tINI and me met each other back after all these years. I did not know that she had become a DJ in the meantime, so she invited me to one of her gigs and I started joining her to some of her gigs, just as a friend, for fun.
SS: Production wise, how is the set up in your studio? What analogue gear do you use?
DLL: I have to say that I donʼt use much, I have a sound card, a computer and the most important toy I use is a micro-korg. I think itʼs really all about modulation and a microphone of course for the vocals, and just simple hi-fi boxes. I have lots of drum samples from many sources. I also have a Roland Vocal Transformer to integrate live vocals with real time modulation. I also use samples from field recordings.
SS: Cool, so you do field recording with your phone?
DLL: Yeah, for sure (laughs)...
SS: So you take those samples and you re-arrange them in your studio?
DLL: Yes, I know itʼs not always the best possible sound quality but it was all I had right then in that moment, you can make it sound better in the studio. There is inspiration in sound everywhere.
SS: Your musical perspective is very broad and you donʼt tie yourself down to genres. Your Parallel Radio Show is a great example of this, can you talk to us about the show?
DLL: Iʼve noticed that radio now a days for younger generations is not that important anymore, but for the 80ʼs kids it was the medium of choice. We didn't have smartphones or internet, we had radio. By turning the FM dial you could catch radio stations you never knew about and it was like: wow, what is that crazy tune? That was the way to discover new music. Radio was very formative and very important for me. The Parallel Radio Show is fun to put together because you hear lotʼs of 2 hours of mixes and sets of club music, and I find it a bit boring because club music should be in the club you know... I like to get more information from the radio, some background. Itʼs nice when you have guests and they talk a little more deeper about their music.
DLL: When I released People Happy I wanted the medium to be vinyl. Itʼs not about keeping it exclusive, itʼs about making the medium tangible; something you can feel. Vinyl is a DJ tool. I see vinyl as a business card too. I used to do my first releases in the digital format only and we were taking care of a digital label as well for 2 years, but it was really a lot of work. We would have to hire a PR agency to help us promote the music and that meant investing money. It really doesnʼt matter if you release good music or not, you get lost in this river of digital labels.
SS: We like that way of thinking and we understand it’s not about being exclusive. If you really want that one track or EP, go spend some extra money and buy the record.
DLL: You can see smaller labels are moving away from Beatport because they charge too much, it’s all about business. You can see how 10,000 tracks come out daily. Many artists and producers have moved to Bandcamp which is more fair. You can find more of my work on Bandcamp.
SS: What is your live set up like when you play?
DLL: I used to play with a lot of gear but I simplified it because I don’t need some much. I mostly use a computer running with Ableton, some VST synths, 2 controllers for fading the separate layers, I use about 18 layers and an Akai controller. But sometimes I will take my Korg to my gigs. It depends, if I have time and space I’ll bring more stuff.
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