Sydney DJ/ producer Luke Spellbound has enjoyed a successful dance music career spanning more than 20 years.
From playing at raves and clubs, to radio stints, producing and remixing, record label management, event promotion and running a national underground rave magazine, Spellbound has shied away from nothing in the dance music genre.
What’s fresh out of the Luke Spellbound stable... Since playing at Defqon.1 Holland in 2011 I’ve been very busy playing both hardstyle and hardcore sets at various clubs and raves around Sydney. On the production front I’ve recently been having fun getting back to my roots producing hardcore again. Audio Damage [aka Interface] and I started a hardcore sub-label of Aussie Hardstyle Recordz to showcase our hardcore exploits – AusHardcore. We have also brought onboard Sydney-based DJ/ producer The Saint.
The Australian hardstyle scene... it has a vibrant subculture, but is the mainstream beginning to return to clubs, like it was back in the ‘90s, early ‘00s? Yes definitely. I’ve seen it many times in my career, even with hardcore and happy hard. As soon as a subculture becomes big the sound is welcomed by the commercial clubs and this opens it up to a wider audience.
Talking about the dedicated clubbers... how much does their enthusiasm propel you to continue as a DJ/ label owner? The clubbers and their love of the music is the main driving force behind everything I do. Listening to music at home or in the car is great, but smashing out tracks, especially tracks I’ve produced, to thousands of people in a club or festival is the most amazing feeling.
Aussie Hardstyle Recordz... is it a full-time job maintaining the label/ relationships? Aussie Hardstyle Recordz is a labour of love that Audio Damage and I have been working on for about seven years now. AussieHardstyle.com originally started out as a forum, but then we saw the demand for a record label that showcased local hardstyle talent. We’ve signed some great artists over the years including The Strangerz and Tha Artistz.
You've been in the industry 20-odd years... if you can look back at that blur of time, any moments that stick out? When Q-dance branched out to Australia in 2008 that really gave the local scene a massive boost. Defqon.1 Festival has become the benchmark for hard dance events in Australia. It’s awesome to be a part of the scene at the moment.
Your involvement with the scene has been all encompassing: from hosting radio shows, running your own underground rave magazine, the label management, event promotions. Does the passion still burn strong? Even though I’m currently not doing anywhere near as much stuff as I have in the past the passion is still burning very strong. I believe everything is connected, and even when I’m working on other projects in my life I am constantly looking to past experiences in my music career as inspiration.
Is there anything left for you to tackle within the scene? No, not really. I’m really happy with the things I’ve achieved over the last 20 years.
You're headed north to play a new room, Deluxe. Brisbane... have they been a hospitable bunch? Yes of course, you go out of your way to make a DJ feel welcome. I’ve always loved playing in Brisbane, great crowd! I’m really looking forward to play there this weekend.
Over the journey, can you recallhow many venues/ spaces/ festivals you've played at? Too many to count. There were times in the past when I was playing four, five gigs a weekend; trying to keep track of them all would have been very hard.
The next breed of DJs coming through... modern technology has certainly made it more accessible, but do you see a return to the old school with guys learning the craft as opposed to managing the stop/ play button and operating the cross fader? I am right across the modern technology and coming from a vinyl background I can see pros and cons. I think with DJing moving into the digital age the music can evolve quicker. Producers can write a track, load it to USB and play it that night. I remember waiting to get dub plates cut to be able to play a new track, or waiting for a test pressing. Everything is instant now, which means the music is constantly being refreshed and therefore stays interesting.
How often do people request ‘WannaFUK’? To this day, whenever I play a hardcore set I get asked to play ‘WannaFuk’, which is an honour! These constant requests for the track led to me doing a recent remix, which has brought it more inline with the current hardcore sound and has become a great addition to my sets.
Luke Spellbound Tour Dates
Sat May 31 - Deluxe (Brisbane)Sat Jun 21 - Eckythump Encore @ Hard Rock Cafe (Sydney)
Sat Sep 20 - Defqon.1 Australia @ International Regatta Centre (Sydney)
