Valentine’s Day at The Stage inside Santa Ana Star Casino with Laidback Luke
, and I had the privilege of sitting down with him, while his wife Gina Turner opened the show. Laidback Luke has a residency at Light this year in Vegas, moving on from his residency at Hakkasan. Working in Vegas is amazing and drastically different then playing in the festival shows. The festival shows allow you to tap in to the local vibe of an area. “My favorite for the year was EDC Vegas 2103” says Luke. “In Vegas, you are always playing for tourists. The advantage to Vegas is that they can build or make happen what ever you can dream up.” Currently Laidback Luke is in talks with Cirque du Soleil to create a new event. .
Working on the road with his wife, Gina Turner, is proving to be a great partnership in many ways. She is a great crowd starter, who digs new innovated underground music, so they never clash on the musical sets. Off-stage Gina is a certified yoga teacher and Luke is a Kung Fu practitioner at a world level. “What people don’t know about Kung Fu is that it originated from people at the Shaolin temple, meeting a yogi who taught them about breathing and fighting.” shared Luke. “Before that, the Shaolin Monks were just monks”. Luke and Gina are very much a power couple, in the aspects that they live clean, eat healthy, and are always planning their workouts.
Laidback Luke was always into drawing as a child. In his teenage years, his art moved to drawing on walls. It didn’t last long because he did get in trouble with the police. He now channels all his creativity into music. There are some DJs out there that can do both and make beautiful art and music, but Luke says his heart is only in his music. To keep the creative juices flowing he says, “The best way to beat ‘Producers’ Block’ is to set goals, and give yourself time limits.” Currently he set himself a goal of producing twenty new tracks in twenty days. Staying focused takes work in itself.
To aspiring DJs out there he offers some advice. “Word of mouth is the best way to get your name out there, if the quality is there in your work. Grass roots movements are the best way to widen your circle and get people listening to your music. Talk, talk, talk and be talked about.”
Opening with a strong underground set, Gina turned up the crowd for Laidback Luke to take over. The crowd was jumping. Wherever Electronic Music takes Laidback Luke and his wife, we certainly hope it brings them back through Albuquerque, sooner rather then later.
checkout more at: www.NMEntertains.com
Winterelise's Blog 