Step into the world of Laxrax, a Detroit-based dance music producer weaving tales of neon romance, futuristic heartbreak, and irresistibly sexy vibes. Join us as we delve into his unique blend of emotion and electronica.
RM: Hey Laxrax. You come from Detroit area of the US, which has a strong connection with dance music, being the home phenomenal DJ's and producers and techno originators like Ken Collier, Juan Atkins, Jeff Mills and Mad Mike Banks. How has the area influenced your love of electronic music?
Laxrax: That's right! I was born and raised in Southwest Detroit. We had some great hometown artists in the mid 80' to mid 90's, and the biggest electronic influence on me would have to be the southwest Detroit underground legend DJ Hurricane, and his Latin freestyle mix tapes. Although most of the Latin freestyle artists were coming from New York, we never would've heard of them if it wasn't for DJ Hurricane. I was also into the local Detroit rap scene, listening to artists such as AWOL, MC Breed, Detroit Boxx, ICP, and Esham. These all had big musical influences on me, and planted the music creation seed that would later grow to a passion.
RM: Your music has a signiture synth sound to it, a retro cyberpunk future feel. The vocals are sexy and the vibes are cool. Did you start producing music with this sound in mind or did you fall in love with playing with synth sounds?
Laxrax: Originally, I set out to make Synthwave style music like The Midnight, Mega Drive, and Gunship. So, on January last year (2023), I downloaded a trial of Ableton Live 11 and set out to try to learn as much as I could about the DAW and make enough songs for an album before the trial ended. I finished 12 songs a few days before my trial was up and released the album 'We Are Lights' on SoundCloud. A few months after that I bought the Ableton full suite and Xfer's Serum synth, and absolutely fell in love with synth sound design and creation. I also started to use more vocal samples in my music. I love the challenge of vocal processing, and my music style just kind of organically shifted to a more retro pop sound with a heavy 80's influence in the sound design.
RM: Your musical journey began in 2001, where you first started experimenting with music
creation, but the Laxrax project is fairly recent. Can you tell us more about that early Music experience and what drew you to making electronic music?
Laxrax: Here's how my music creation journey started. I was 17 and it was 1992, I met a few guys through a friend that made basement rap songs with a 4-track tape recorder, drum machine, bass guitar, and mic. I made 2 demo songs, but it was not destined to be. The tapes were lost, and the producer with the equipment moved to New York to study music engineering shortly after, and I lost touch with him . Fast forward to 2001, I discovered MTV's Music Generator 2 for the Playstation 1, and I was hooked on the production part of music instead of the performance. I created more or less dark hip-hop style beats that some call horrorcore and was able to burn 8 tracks that I made onto a CD that I still have today. I plan on uploading them to YouTube one day to let people hear where it all started.
RM: Listeners would describe your music as having a distinct '80s vibe. What aspects of that era's music and culture inspire you the most, and how do you reinterpret those influences in a contemporary context?
Laxrax: From the late 90's, up to just a few years ago, my main musical tastes were heavy metal, metalcore, death metal, and hardcore metal. But then, I discovered Synthwave, and that brought back so many memories of 80's electronic and Nu-wave, and that I had not appreciated those classic songs at the time. I think what inspires me most about that era was being with friends and family, and the music was part of it all. I try to reimagine the sounds of the 80's with a modern feel. Something new that also sounds familiar.
RM: Technology plays a significant role in electronic music production. Are there any specific software tools or hardware equipment that are essential to your creative process? How do you stay updated with the latest advancements in music technology?
Laxrax: I'm still relatively new to music production, so I'm slowly building my arsenal of creation tools. Right now, I have my DAW of choice, Ableton Live 11, and my synth of choice, Serum. I also have an Arturia Minilab 3 midi controller. None of this would be possible without either of those, but I plan to get an audio interface in the future so I can add live guitars and piano/keyboard to my songs. I try to stay informed on the latest software and hardware and will add to my collection if it suits my needs.
RM: Your music seems to evoke strong visual imagery, almost like a soundtrack to a cyberpunk film. Are there any visual artists or filmmakers whose work you admire and draw inspiration from?
Laxrax: Absolutely! I love Star Wars so obviously George Lucas has a special place in my heart along with Ridley Scott, Blade Runner is the ultimate cyberpunk film. And who can forget John Carpenter's Escape From New York and the reluctant hero Snake Plissken. I'm such a huge fan of sci-fi, dystopian and cyberpunk films, the imagery and these styles are always in my mind when creating artwork for my music. Especially cyberpunk, there is something so intriguing about that aesthetic for me, that it somehow evokes a future vibe that is also retro at the same time.
RM: Lastly, what message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from your music? Is there a particular emotion or state of mind you aim to evoke with your compositions?
Laxrax: I think music is the ultimate healing tool. It can make a bad day good, or a good day great. It can evoke emotions, sad or happy, and sometimes we need both. My ultimate goal is to make music that I want to hear, and if others like it too, then that's awesome. I don't have one singular emotion or state of mind that I aim for, I just want people to vibe to my music and take from it what they need. For instance, my song 'Let Go' speaks of loss, for some, it could mean the loss of a relationship or friendship, but for me it's the loss of a loved one. That's the greatest gift music gives us, we can interpret each song in our own way.
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