Adri Blok AKA Luca Debonaire, is the mind behind one of my favorite house releases this year, Klubb Killer. He was kind enough to sit down with WOTN NYC to talk vinyl and the future of his Luca Debonaire project.
For our readers who don’t know you, tell us a little about your background.
I am Adri Blok, known as Luca Debonaire, Block & Crown, Hardcopy, Saint Tropez Caps, Sonny Atienza, Sound De-Zign. I live in Holland and I have produced music for about 29 years.
When were you first introduced to dance music and what impact did it have on you at the time?
I was introduced to dance music around 1980 when black music from the USA captured me and I felt like I had to produce music like that too.
Clubs like Paradise Garage, Zanzibar, and Studio 54 introduced a sound that was new and exciting and around ’85 the music became more bigroom, and I discovered, in my opinion, the very first House tracks, releases that were very hard to find as distribution companies only had a very limited stock with the thinking that this “new music” would disappear soon.
You’ve been said to be quite the vinyl junkie, what motivates you to collect vinyl?
I have collected vinyl for many, many years; I own around 30,000 12 inches, mainly 80s stuff and super rare, hard to find music. The sound of vinyl is still the best there is, and when I have time, I try to visit record fairs to try to find the collectors’ items. Old funk gives me a lot of inspiration and most of the vinyl I collect, you can’t find on any other medium.
Which DJ/Producer has had the biggest impact on you or your music?
Larry Levan for sure, he was the pioneer when it came to early house and was not only a very good producer but maybe the best DJ ever.
Your music catalogue encompasses a wide number of genres and sub-genres of dance music. In particular, your latest release, “Klubb Killer”, seems to be the perfect example of blending the old with the new. Can you give our readers some insight into the production process of that track and your goals with it?
I produced Klubb Killer because I feel that this club sound will have a huge comeback. Around the mid 90s this style ruled in all of the clubs and over here in Holland we had the “It” club in Amsterdam where DJs like Jean and the Klubbheads used to play these peaktime club tracks. Now that Beatport made a move back towards House and started to give less attention to EDM, I felt it was time to create a new Klubb Killer 🙂
I tried to blend together Chicago vibes with the typical Luca Debonaire style, some old school samples and a massive driving bass that will (hopefully) set the dancefloors on fire.
In a more broad sense, are there any central ideas or motivations that you hope people take away from your music?
The only thing I try to achieve is happiness. DJs and clubbers need to feel good and happy when they hear my stuff and if they do, I’ve done my job as a producer.
What’s a dance track, either modern or old school, that you feel like everybody should listen to at least once?
Well, check Bootsy’s Rubber Band’s track “Bodyslam”, this track means a lot to me.
What’s next for you as move into 2017? Any big events, releases, or personal things you’re excited about?
For Luca Debonaire a new step follows – it started as a studio project, and now I’ll put a “face” to it as a DJ that will travel the world to bring the Luca sound. In terms of releases there’s a lot coming on Toolroom, Pornostar, In Stereo, Black Lizzard, Zulu, Armada, Flamingo Tracks and my own, Rawtone Black.
Luca Debonaire
https://www.facebook.com/lucadebonaire/
https://twitter.com/Luca_Debonaire
https://soundcloud.com/lucadebonaire
Featured Photo by: Gavin Whitner
