Laidback Luke reveals his reasons for quitting techno

In a 7 minute video posted on his Facebook account, Laidback Luke has opened up about his history with techno, and the reasons that lead to him moving towards the style he is known for today. The video begins with the legendary DJ discussing his house roots and naming one of his biggest influences, American DJ and producer MK. Laidback Luke then discusses his shift towards techno, and performing his first ever show in the United States, a techno event held in a New York warehouse in 1997.

Laidback Luke opens up about the progress he made as a techno producer, performing at the world renowned event Awakenings in the Netherlands. He explains that due to his Filipino roots, he leaned heavily towards music which was more ‘cheesy and ballad oriented’, and due to his Dutch background, growing up playing the piano and guitar, he felt that he could not continue producing solely techno tracks.

Mentioning the struggle he faced around the turn of the century, Laidback Luke reveals his inability to produce music, finding that techno was killing his creativity. Despite taking a couple of years to truly take off, he did eventually reach the position he desired, having the creative freedom to produce tracks which he enjoyed, while also making money as a successful DJ and producer.

At the end of the video, Laidback Luke discusses creative freedom, giving the advice not to stick to one genre when producing music. Artists are often criticized when experimenting with new genres, but Laidback Luke emphasizes the danger of being stuck producing the same music, which will eventually lead to a lack of inspiration. The video was posted following his recent performance in New York in which Laidback Luke played a techno only set.

Watch the video here: