It all started in his early school days, when he was making a name for himself as a talented graffiti artist. His attraction to hip hop eventually gave away for the magic of dance music, which he discovered on the Amiga computer of a friend.
It all started in his early school days, when he was making a name for himself as a talented graffiti artist. His attraction to hip hop eventually gave away for the magic of dance music, which he discovered on the Amiga computer of a friend. His first releases in 1995 were immediately noticed and got him signed on the Groove Alert imprint. His remix for Green Velvet's 'The Stalker' in 1997 gave him recognition in the international playing field. It received plays by luminaries like Carl Cox and earned him the title of 'Most Promising New Producer' by Muzik Magazine UK that same year. On the back of his production success Luke's DJ career started to take off as well with regular stints and festivals in the UK (Homelands, Turnmills), USA (Miami), Europe (Roskilde, Malta) and a mini-tour in Japan. In his home country The Netherlands he played for all the key events such as Dancevalley, Fast Forward, Sensation and so on. Meanwhile continuing his passion for producing music and releasing his tracks on a wide variety of labels. Originally, Luke drew his influence from the likes of Todd Terry, DJ Pierre and Carl Craig creating his 'minimal techno sound'. Soon though he felt the urge to continue his musical journey and gradually he started to shift his style to incorporate a wider range of sounds and styles. It was the Virgin imprint Labels that first picked up on his fresh sound and released his album Electronic Satisfaction, which contained the successful singles 'Rocking With the Best' and 'Popmusic' in Europe. The release of his album also created the opportunity for Luke to perform the album tracks in a new 'semi live' format, literally taking his studio on the road and re-creating the music live on stage for every performance. Luke remembers this time as a limitation of his creative skills. 'I am a true DJ at heart - I want to interact with the crowd and be able to control the flow of the mood, which means that if I am confined by the setlist of my album I am limited in my range.' It was, from that point on, a natural progression for Luke to focus on his first DJ Mix album in 2003. Windmill Skill contained the Dancevalley Theme Tune 'We Can Not Get Enough' for that year which delivered his first Number 1 in the pop charts and was the perfect showcase for his amazing DJ skills and enthusiasm. 'The biggest kick for me is making something out of nothing.' During my DJ sets it's mostly records made by others I mix together and although I love doing that, as a producer I love to create songs myself. Even when I’m spinning I have the feeling that I’m producing, because I’m constantly influencing the musical elements on the tracks. My experience as a producer taught me how to take the best out of a track and reshape the sound.' Laidback Luke has been expanding the parameters of House music by fusing Pop, Rock, Latin, R&B, Techno and Hip Hop and by doing this he has created his own unique sound: 'Live Re-Mixing'. 'Which can be considered as live mixing rather than just mixing records', Luke says, 'but all the elements of the music - the vocals, the loops, the instruments - are being mixed together on the spot, depending on the audience and vibe of the party.' Luke has great interest for the art of scratching and turntablism in general. These days he's practising his new scratches and beat juggles at least half an hour a day. 'It's my dream to once win a scratch competition, as a House DJ!' In 2004 Laidback Luke started his own imprint MixMash Rec.
