Interview: Drop The Lime

by Soraya Brouwer

Drop The Lime/Luca Venezia’s pomade had been taken away on the airport the day he played Amsterdam, which was quite the issue as Luca won’t ever rest without a perfectly styled pompadour. The lack of slick luckily didn’t come with a lack of rapture and we had a moment with Luca to ask him about his upcoming Drop The Lime album, the progress of his label Trouble & Bass, surrealistic moments during his DJ-sets and his favorite rock ‘n roll artists. Limes were squeezed and dropped, its footage to be surfaced on this blog soon. It seems like this year is going to be a really good one for Luca which means it’s going to be good for all of us, as Luca is one of the most exciting producers around at the moment. Keep dancing. Be happy, keep going. Never sleep! Let’s go!

Luca on good music… Music should last forever. You need to be able to listen to it when driving to work, falling asleep, when you’re making love, or eating a meal. That’s real music. A songs sole purpose doesnt need to necessarily get a dancefloor going crazy in a club, but it might. Some of the music thats coming from the UK currently is exciting. really pushing boundaries. Artists like Skream & Benga, Zinc, Night Slugs, Brackles.. Theyre all pulling influences from the old 2-step/Garage and hardcore breakbeat sound, but bringing in the new elements of dubstep, house and electro. The other acts that are really pushing boundaries at the moment and more tech- house-y like Harvard Bass, Zombie Disco Squad, Douster, French Fries.. are doing big things as well.Good music needs melody, a hook. Something to grab onto and remember. That’s always what matters, no matter what style or genre, you’re gonna remember the melody. It could be Beyonce, Holy Ghost!, Wu-Tang Clan, or Boys Noize. You’re gonna remember a melody, that’s always what’s gonna stick with you.

Luca on electro-pop… Cancel the flight. I’m staying home with the bass and the rave!
Luca on his album… This record has been in the making for several years and it has transformed in so many ways. The sound is very influenced by Ennio Morricone, rockabilly of the 50’s, old Chicago House, some ambient experiments, and dubstep. The genres are all extremely different, but they all share the same attitude, and what ties things together are the vocals. This is an album, its not a compilation of DJ tunes. the DJ versions will be left for the remixers. Like I said before, I want this album to be something you could fall sleep to, make love to it, really enjoy as an entire piece. We’ve lost the concept of an album with all these remixes and single download releases.
Luca on the development of genres… We’re moving so fast right now. Almost too fast. I remember DJ Scud giving me recordings of Deja Vu FM that would be grime instrumentals in 2005. It was crazy, like ‘What the fuck is this?!’ It’s like crunk, hip-hop, rave and garage all in one. Now those sounds really evolved into dubstep, songs like DJ Wonder’s What. The evolution took about 5 years, it was the beginning of new genres blending. Today, I feel like people get anxious and make up a new genre and go out of their way to “invent” a new genre rather than sticking to focusing on the music. I feel like were in another transitional phase, and soon something new is going to be labeled as the next big genre. Hip-hop and house have definitely crossed over and blurred the line. Techno is coming back in a big way, and so is the Dutch style house – something new is about to pop. I love the fact that right now everything is kind of tech-y. Even though I grew up mainly listening to Jungle/Drum & Bass, Techno was the first genre of electronic music that I was drawn to. I’d go to raves in Brooklyn and Queens and see the New York hard techno legends like Frankie Bones or Adam X, Sonic Groove Records, that kind of stuff. The sound now is definitely more Berlin style, old Tresor sound, but the progression is fantastic. I am tired of massive breakdowns and the huge distorted fist pumpers. Lately, I want people to get lost in the music and really experience it, rather than break their nose in a moshpit.
Luca on Trouble & Bass… Lots of massive projects happening for us this year. We are doing a new series called Heavy Bass Champions of the World, which is a series of club singles from different artists worldwide. The first one was by me, then we have The Boogaloo Crew from the United Kingdom. We’re also doing Zombies For Money from Lisbon, Anton Triplet from Russia, Rico Tubbs and Calvertron, there’s a lot going down. Yes, we’re releasing Deathface. He’s done a crazy thing here, mixing metal with hardcore rave and dubstep. It’s definitely something different for us, and thats what excites me. It makes people think. We’re doing a full length AC Slater and my full length is coming out in October, AC Slater and me are also doing a lot of production together. We’ve produced an EP for 77 Klash, which wil be dropping this Spring. Lastly but not least, we’ve got Little Jinder working on her full length, which I’m very excited for. As far as events go, were doing massive ones twice a month now. One on a Wednesday at Webster Hall’s Studio, and then one Saturday a month at Santo’s. We’ve got a whole lot of clothing and merchandise coming out. Crazy things! Belt buckles, t-shirts, gang jackets, get ready for the next level this year.

Luca on fortune… What message would I put in a fortune cookie? Shh, haha. Keep dancing. Be happy, keep going. Never sleep.

Luca on his childhood… A song that takes me back to my childhood is Oh Donna by Ritchie Valens. Or Ooby Dooby by Roy Orbison. These tunes are what got me into music. My parents would always play music in the house, from Bob Dylan to Erik Satie. When I was seven I got my first guitar. I couldn’t even properly tune it, but I’d record love songs on tapes and give them to various girlfriends in school. I would love to hear them now. Joanna Courier, if you’re reading this and still have those tapes, send them! My favorite fairy tale? Maybe Hansel & Gretel. It terrifies me, but it’s a crazy story. The beauty of candy, the image of something delicious and then you get lost and stuck in the woods. I had a book when I was a kid, The Dictionary Of Imaginary Places. Every page was a topographical map of imaginary lands in fictitious stories. They’d have maps and stories behind of every location, it was great.

Luca on his sets… My last Australian tour was a little crazy. Sometimes when Djng and singing, I get in the zone and start ad libbing the songs. A way a rapper would freestyle but then I’d sing rather than rap and get the energy from the crowd. In Sydney I played a club show at the Laundry Bar in Sydney and people were basically in the booth, crawling all over it. And as I was singing, this girl was singing with me from the crowd, harmonizing. It was crazy because I was making up the lyrics. It was something that stuck with me for a while, I don’t really understand how she knew what I was gonna sing. It was insane, haha. When you make an impression on someone and they want to join you and sing with you.. It’s always inspiring to have people singing along to a song that you’ve written, because when I write songs I don’t write them with the idea of people singing along. I write them because they are a personal thing, but then when you have 2 or hundreds of people singing along. It really gives you an amazing high. it’s the reason why I do what I do!

Soraya Brouwer

LONDON VIA AMSTERDAM - Soundcloud & Instagram

2 thoughts on “Interview: Drop The Lime”

  2. I was at that gig at Chinese Laundry in Sydney. Amazing night. Luca is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best DJs I've ever seen.

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