UK’s LAXX releases his Step Two EP today following his Step One EP just a couple months back. The EP includes three original tracks from LAXX as well as a remix from MUST DIE!. Here’s what LAXX had to say about the EP series,

Its a progression of sounds I wanted people to hear, with some similarities to whats going on in different scenes, but I think they’ve all got some of my flavour injected in. It’s all basically in the order I wrote them, and so its a progression of my sound over time, and where it’s going I guess. I want to keep a mix of simple and complex in all the music I write and each EP has different elements of each throughout, just to give a bit of a flavour and vibe of whats to come. I love each EP and it’s been months of hard work, so its wicked to see the final products come out, and Never Say Die is the perfect place for them, I couldn’t imagine a better promo team working on it.

In an exclusive interview with RTT, find out what Twitch music is, how the Playstation got him into music, where you catch him play a set this year and much more. Stream the EP and minimix below and you can purchase the EP via Beatport here. It will be released on iTunes and other stores on April 21.

LAXX

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Step Two EP Stream

Step One and Step Two Minimix

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Exclusive Interview w/ LAXX

RTT: Who is LAXX? Tell us a bit about yourself. 

Yaow! I’m LAXX, formerly known as Jamie. I’m an electronic music producer based near London in the UK, and I’m here to tear things up this year. I’m a music head through and through, thats why I’m doing what I do. I like every type of music, I go through stages where I’ll listen to jazz or soul non stop, or techno and drum and bass and try and take something new away from things I hear.

RTT: You’re known for your distinctive style of music, which you refer to as Twitch. What exactly is Twitch?

Twitch is just what I started calling my music when I didn’t want to bracket it as anything I was hearing. It started when I was writing 4×4 and It was just the glitchy breaks and shuffled drums in a sort of glitchy way, but now it makes a lot more sense with tunes like The Unknown and Brainbug, where the pattern goes in and out of on beat and off beat rhythms. It’s like trap.. But on crack.

RTT: Has the explosion of trap music effected where your sound is at now? Where do you see your sound evolving?

I loved all the sounds I was hearing when ‘trap’ started coming about, but I always felt like it was a step back from what I wanted to hear. I had this idea in my head, and tried for ages to get it together, and then came out with Step One and The Unknown and that was it. If I’m honest I just locked myself away in the studio for a couple of weeks and came out with this sound that I couldn’t really compare to anything else.

Where its going to next is still a bit of a secret. I’ve got a few things up my sleeve. I want to keep people guessing. So just hold tight for the second.

RTT: How did you get into producing and electronic music? Any influences?

I started just playing around with things on Music 2000 on the Playstation 1, and I think subconsciously I’d keep going back to tunes and fine tuning, and thats kind of how I am today. I remember having Muse – Plug in Baby on CD and listening to it on repeat, but the more I heard it, the more I wanted to change things, and I guess thats how It started. I loved bits and pieces from songs, but always felt like they could have been different, so I took it into my own hands.

I went through a big stage of IDM, artists like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares. It’s all pretty manic, but I couldn’t get over how complex it was and how much time It would’ve taken to write, but I always felt like, if it was a little bit simpler it would’ve made a bigger impression to me, and the good bits always went too fast. The same thing went for a lot of the house and electronic music I was hearing, it was ideas being repetitive that weren’t that great, so I wanted to find a middle ground, something techy and interesting but had repetition so it would work in a club. I’ve got so many influences, it’s hard to name them now, but I want to absorb as much music as I can and take bits and pieces from each.

RTT: What goes into creating a set for you? Do you have a good idea of what you’re going to play going in or does it depend on what the crowd is like once you’re there?

I plan a lot about where I want to go, but I always bring a lot of material I just want to play. So its a bit of both. I pretty much mix fast throughout, but it goes in stages. I’m all about making a bit of a journey throughout, and I don’t stay at any one tempo for too long. I’ve been playing everything i’m feeling live and even some older stuff dating back to 1995, but thats how It should be. When i’m out I want to hear things I know, and things I don’t, so I just play to the me that would be on the dance floor and gauge what people are going for.

RTT: Any collaborations in the works?

Potentially a few. I can’t really go into too much detail, but their will be some wicked colabs on the cards, and a few vocalists involved. Thats all I can really say at the moment.

RTT: Is there an artist you want to work with that you have not yet had the opportunity to work with?

There are too many. I just want to take a second to biggup Farkas, we worked together a few times, and he’s such a vibe heavy guy. He’ll be jumping around when it drops when you know you’ve got it right. So yeah, biggup Joel. I’d like to work with a lot of people, I really rate Milo and Otis at the second, but I think Zomboy would be jokes to vibe with in the studio too. I can tell all those guys have a lot of energy bouncing around the studio.

RTT: Where can fans see you play this year? Any festivals on your schedule?

I’m playing all over this year, a lot in Europe and the UK, but I’ll be out in the states no doubt, so just look out for me. Catch me on the 30th of May in London with the Never Say Die guys, will be a guaranteed mashup!

RTT: What are you listening to lately?

Everything. Thats not an exaggeration. But I’ve been listening to a lot of 128 electro and house, as well as some more trappy vibes, but also some Drum and Bass, and some non electronic stuff too. I’ve been vibing to Snails, Konec, D!rty Aud!o, Milo and Otis, NYMZ, Zomboy, Dillon Francis and the new Skrillex EP. There’s a lot of wicked new music coming out within the electronic scene.

I try to stay grounded in music generally now, I used to cain different genres all day long, but its important to look outside of that and go old school and take something from a genre you might not have touched on in a while. I rate Fleetwood Mac, James Blake and Burial for taking me away from the militant side of dance music and give me something to kick back to.

Biggup Run The Trap for getting me involved in this. Make sure you keep an eye and an ear out for my new sounds. Peace!

 

Sam Waggoner

LAXX – Exclusive Interview, Minimix, + Step Two EP Out Now