Interview: Lukid

Everyone belongs somewhere, be it a certain label, a certain party or a certain genre (no matter how nascent). Trying to align 27 year-old Luke Blair, aka Lukid, with any of those, is a difficult task at best. The London based producer emerged in 2007 with his debut album Onandon, featuring his own sample-heavy, scuffed and sultry hip hop sound. Since then, there have been two equally coherent full-lengths on the same experimental outpost, Werk Discs.

Dotted in between the albums have been dancier EPs that channel the bilious wrath of the producer into something lovably lo-fi: an amalgam of Actress’s most frayed sounds and your favourite sample-loving deep house producer, maybe, but ultimately something that is hard to describe with conventional genre terms. These works have mostly come on his own imprint, Glum, along with efforts from friends like Samoyed, who mines a similarly abstract vein.

As for the man himself, well, his Facebook and Twitter are notoriously un-specific and lovably jejune. You won't find him posting charts or linking to his tracks on Juno, but instead you'll see transcripts of conversations with random contacts on Omegle, something he admits to spending “countless man hours” doing each week. Acerbically sarcastic and seemingly unwilling to ‘play the game’, it was with trepidation that I called him up to discuss the next album – again due on Werk Discs – the evolution of his label and to ask why it is he even makes electronic music at all…

Are you based in London still? Do you like that?

I like cities, yeah. Handy, good food, full of foreign people and any type of fizzy pop you could want.

And are you still working at the cinema or you ‘doing music’ full time?

I still do a few hours a week at the cinema, mainly to try and maintain some kind of grip on my sanity; mingle with the general public and keep my free ticket privileges. The problem with social networking is that it’s almost easier to interact with the world by not leaving the house. But it’s not quite the same, is it?

Do you especially like film then? Aren’t you sound tracking something? Was the aim simply to match sound to visuals?

I love film yeah, and yeah just finished. That was fun. It’s a documentary that my brother has made. There is dialogue in it but not that much, so there’s a lot of music. He sent me a cut with some guide tracks he’d done, to give me a feel for what he wanted, then I was sending him ideas as he was cutting and he was slowly building up the film like that. He had a few weeks with a sound designer to put all the sound and music together, and I was going over there a lot and making music on the fly to the images, collaborating with the sound designer on tracks and with my brother giving ideas. It was good to have a project like that, with a deadline and working with other people. Almost made me feel like I had a real job.

How often do you worry about not having a ‘real job’?

Well, things like this film and a few other projects have eased my worries. I think it’s important to try and make a career out of it in the long term, not to end up churning out 12"s and playing in strange clubs every weekend for the rest of your life. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I don’t think I’m cut out for it.

Why so? You just hate people or you tee-total or…?

Sounds pretty cynical saying ‘career’ there but you know what I mean. Projects, it’s all about projects. But no, I’m not tee-total, that’s the problem. I hardly even play many gigs. Well I don’t get offered them. I like it if it’s a good place and crowd. I dunno, I do like it; I’m just saying that I don’t particularly want to still be doing the same thing in 20 years. I just want a simple life.

But you and Andrew [Cook, aka Samoyed] joke about a ticket to the big time on Twitter... are you actually wanting one? Would you take one if it came along?

Absolutely, I can’t wait for my ticket. I wonder what I will do in the big time. It looks nice there. We are half joking I guess?

I hope so, because “Spitting Bile” ain’t gonna get Radio One play any time soon.

Softly softly catchy monkey. It depends how big your definition of big time is. A ticket to the medium time would do.

True, so what or who is the monkey you are trying to catch? Success? A label like your Glum could already be called success.

Thanks. Yeah I am happy with Glum. I am happy with my life mostly. I would like to think people take my online complaining and gloating with a pinch of salt. I am a happy young man! Life and fucking soul over here.

I imagine you have the internet presence you do because the flip is linking your own shit all the time, charts, buddying up with other DJs, which is all very vacuous.

Exactly, it’s a shame that’s how it is. I don’t mind a bit of that, and the flip side is just as bad really – a constant outpouring of bitterness is not attractive to anyone. But yeah, I just try and make silly jokes and not talk about airports. Don’t get me wrong, I love a bit of bile, I even named a record after it, but it’s nice to see people’s human side.

Is making music like therapy then? Getting out the badness?

I think so. I’m certainly in a lot better mood when I’m working on a tune I think is going well.

Even when the tune might be dark?

Yeah, that makes no difference really when you feel like you’re having ideas.

What triggers those ideas?

Other music, films, people and books for sure. Witnessing someone’s creative output then wondering why I’ve been playing Draw Something for the past seven hours instead of being creative myself. Going outside is a big help, too.

In what way?

I reckon I’m at my creative peak on the bus home. I think being at home or wherever your studio or workplace is, you have the key to unlock all these ideas you’ve been having, but also all these distractions. So it’s easy to feel like you’re doing something, when you’re actually not, if you get what I mean.

Is it ever a burden that if you don’t do, you don’t earn?

Goddamn money, always ends up making you feel blue as hell.

Would you ever make something you weren’t 100% happy with just for a nice paycheck? Or is integrity more important than doing this full time?

Integrity is definitely important to me, without that what have you got? But I do think you can make compromises whilst maintaining your integrity. When working with other people you have to in a way, it’s all part of the process. It’s a relief sometimes, relinquishing control. I know I’ll always have the Lukid thing to do what I want with.

I wanted to ask about the knackered, lo-fi vibe of some of your profile pictures on Facebook, it matches your music, is that intentional or just a result of the kit you use or your process or?

It’s intentional I’d say; it’s an aesthetic I like, but then I do have knackered old kit that I use. It’s a chicken and egg situation. But I like clean too. I like anything if it’s good. I guess it’s just what I’ve felt like doing of late.

Is it something that characterises the forthcoming album?

All the stuff on the album is quite rough and raw. It’s quite varied but I think there’s a mood tying it all together. It’s not quite as glummy as the Glum stuff. I’m trying to keep everything a little separate.

Why so? Ever consider a different moniker for it?

Hmm, I did, but I kind of see that as a bit of a cop out sometimes. I did think about it ‘cos i feel quite disconnected to some of the music that I have put out. It is nice to be able to start again and I guess producers are lucky in the way that they kind of can, but I think it’s nice to see someone’s progression.

Why do you feel disconnected? Just shifting tastes?

Shifting tastes, yeah.

Do you listen to contemporary electronica then? Is a sense of history at all required to make good shit do you think? I’m thinking about your tweet re BPMs and the hardcore continuum that guys bang on about.

Ha, I don’t know. I get depressed if I think about it all too much – the theory side. It’s depressing. Music is music. I sound like Noel Gallagher now, but it’s true. It’s easy to be cynical about these things, I’m sure people were talking about BPMs in like 1993. It’s necessary I guess. In terms of listening to current electronic music, I keep up. There is stuff I like but I usually find myself going back to music with vocals (not for lyrical content, but for the human-ness of a voice, for the melody), which is a strange thing for me to say because I am contributing to contemporary electronic music. But I think the challenge with electronic music, especially with albums, is to make something that has its own mood and is unique and makes you want to go back and listen to it again and again – that’s what I’m trying to achieve. The thing that people have said to me about the Spitting Bile EP that has pleased me most is that it’s catchy and song like.

Is the album made up of songs then? Like chapters in a book to make up the whole story?

Well I tried to put it together carefully, collected all the songs I had made in the last while and put them into some kind of order and whittled tracks away and then made tracks that I thought were needed. In the end it was one big track that I then had to chop into tracks. But not in some fucking ELO type way – don’t worry I’m not rockin’ any widdly, hand-in-the-air synth solos.

Is there a date for it yet? It’s on Actress’s Werk Discs again, right? Did they have any input at all?

Summer hopefully. Yeah, they’ve been pretty hands off. Asked me if I’m happy with it, and if I am then let’s go ahead with it. I’ve got a few people I send stuff to. That second opinion is vital. I think it’s good with Werk, it’s flattering really that they trust me enough I guess.

Would you ever do any LPs on your own label, Glum?

Not sure yet, we’re going to take each game as it comes. No idea what the next release will be. I really don’t have any big plans for Glum, initially it was just gonna be a couple of records by me, a nice way to put out that kind of stuff I’d been making, but then Andrew was sending me stuff and I thought ‘why not do that through Glum?’ Like I said before, I just want a simple life, so I don’t think I’d go out of my way to try and release something by someone who I didn’t like. My goal was to create a record label without leaving the house or speaking to anyone on the phone. Apart from a couple of minor blips, it was a success.

I wonder what you listen to when you’re in a happy mood, away from the darker stuff you make yourself. What would you put on for sexy time?

Hmm, a touch of the old Ludwig van [Beethoven]. Without sounding like a dick, I listen to everything. Not literally. I don’t know what my happy music is. I listened to “Cockiness” by Rihanna a lot recently and I put that up on Twitter and I think I lost some followers.

Philistines. So how come you ended up making electronic stuff than rather than indie or guitar based stuff? I mean you seem quite wordy and poetic so could as well have been a singer songwriter.

Hmm, it’s a good question. I don’t think I see it as electronic music really. Obviously it is, and I’m just being a pretentious wanker, but it’s not for the dancefloor. It’s more just like I have the ability to make music, here, in my room, so I do, ‘cos I love it. I always try and make stuff for the dancefloor, but then no one plays it on one.

Do you go dancing yourself?

Well I go out, but you can ask my friends whether I go dancing or not. I haven’t been out much recently to be honest. I used to go to Plastic People a fair bit before it changed, and that provided quite a lot of inspiration. The first stuff I heard would’ve been through my brother – jungle and drum & bass.

What inspired you to first make a track?

My first tracks were general MIDI nightmares, so probably inspired by Paul Simon or something. I’ve no idea. It was a gradual process. I got really into Aphex Twin, Boards Of Canada and Autechre at some point, and they were big early influences. I can play the guitar, had lessons at school, but I don’t have it in me to write songs and sing them. I’ve been working with a singer though, so we’ll see what happens with that.

Who’s written the words or is it just coos and ‘mmms’ and that?

The singer – actual words and choruses and ting. Don’t worry it ain’t some white soul thing either. I don’t care about lyrics much unless they are bad enough to ruin a song, or good enough to make it a bit better.

So do you set yourself goals? Daily, weekly, for life?

Yeah, but then I don’t follow them. I don’t really set concrete goals like ‘you must make 2 songs by the end of the day’ although I think I should. Sometimes you need to force yourself instead of wallowing in self-pity. If you force yourself to do something then usually you’ll find that there’s one element of it that you can keep, or it will give you an idea for something else.

Regarding self-pity, do you ever think ‘fuck, what’s the point?’

[Laughs] Not really. Maybe sometimes if I listen to ‘real music’ with pianos and instruments and shit. Sometimes it’s a feeling of ‘I could do that, gi' us a job.’