Luca Cazal/LVCA talks killing bad habits, his favourite venues, digging for new records, and his new release on Richy Ahmed’s new imprint ‘Back 2 Black’
In this week’s edition of Behind the Headphones we spoke to Luca Cazal/LVCA. If your formative years of partying began post 2010 then chances are you have danced to some of Luca Cazal’s music.
Luca has cemented himself into the European house music scene in a way not many have. His long love affair with music started as a boy messing around on piano and attending lessons which admittedly didn’t do him much good. He then went on to play in bands up until his move from Italy to London in his late teens, a city that would ultimately be the making of him. His fateful meeting with musician Ali Love gave birth to the synth pop band Infinity Ink which went on to release several successful tracks with such as ‘Infinity’ and ‘Games’.
Recently receiving a silver disc for over 200,000 sales in the UK of the now classic anthem ‘Benediction’ – which he made with fellow Hot Natured band members Jamie Jones, Lee Foss, and Ali Love – Luca remained humble insisting that he viewed the silver disc as more of a physical manifestation of the magic they had captured with the track rather than an award due to its success.
Despite being a DC10 resident for nearly 10 years and a UK Top 40 chart hitter, Luca’s passion for music hasn’t dwindled in the slightest. Known for being a voracious record collector, his enthusiasm when talking about the crazy Belgian New Beat music he had found, or his respect for the list of younger musicians that he has been making – In his own words – some of his best music in years with was humbling to see. This passion, however, has always been visible when listening to Luca’s music. Whether its spacey tech house cuts with minimal-esque aesthetics, or gritty, high-energy house, Luca always brings a certain energy that you can’t help but bob your head to…
How have you been over lockdown? What have you been up to?
Quite a lot of stuff, actually. On a personal level, I’ve made some very important lifestyle changes that have so far served me very well. It gave me the opportunity to start thinking about looking after my well-being, physical and mental. I have been doing a lot of training and being more conscious about what I eat and what I put in my body, not just in regards to food, but a lot of other stuff too. I basically knocked alcohol and substances on the head.
It’s been almost a year and a half now and that’s made a huge improvement. I spend a lot of time in the studio fuelled by this new way of life. I’ve made a lot of music and launched my new alias called LVCA, which is mainly what I’ve been focusing on for the past year and a half.
I’ve had some vinyl only releases on Anthea’s Partisan, a collaborative EP with MARLON on Alec Falconer, Harry Wills and Desert Sound Colony’s label Sock It To Me and some digital only tracks on Voigtmann’s Subsequent, and N-GYNN’s Superlux who is an old friend of mine from London, there’s also an EP coming out on Kepler’s label Perspective after the summer.
I’ve also released music under Luca Cazal, an EP on Infuse with Andrea Fiorito, one on Art Alfie’s Velvet Pony, and more recently an EP on Richy Ahmed’s vinyl only label Back 2 Black with Josh Baker.
It’s interesting that you talk about the change in your lifestyle. I recently went through something similar and gave up drugs. Do you think it has changed your creative approach at all? I don’t know what your practices where like in the studio with Jamie and others over the years, but I imagine there was a few drinks involved.
Well, I mean that phase of my career when I was making a lot of music with the guys was 8 years ago and there was all kinds of partying going on in those days during the sessions, and I guess at the time, some of us thought it was fuelling the creativity, but I don’t think it was looking back. It’s just what we did, but it I don’t think it had that much to do with the creativity.
I used to smoke weed quite a bit whilst making music, and I thought I couldn’t really get in the zone without it. Out of all the bad habits that I gave up, that was the toughest one because I connected it with music so much. At first, I found it really hard get back into it. I’ve been so used to just getting in the studio, rolling a joint, and turning the machines on, and then suddenly I wasn’t doing that anymore, so it took a little time.
But then I realised that it had nothing to do with the music making process. You can get in the zone without it. It’s just all in there and here you know. [Luca points to his head and his heart]
Yeah, definitely. I know the feeling well. It’s good to see that you have taken on this new direction in your life. I think the lockdowns and having no parties to go to have opened everyone’s eyes a bit to stuff like that.
I think people have gone either way, like literally! Some people have made a similar choice to what we did, and some people just went the opposite way. Obviously, it’s been such a stressful situation, and some people just wanted…
A release.
Yeah, that ’s what it could be perceived as, at times, unfortunately with tragic consequences. I mean it’s such weird times. I really don’t blame or judge anyone who went either ways..everyone has different coping mechanisms with such extreme situations.
What’s the deal with like over in Ibiza? It seems like quite a lot of the island is still locked down, but I know some places like a Ushuaia are announcing events again. Do you think it’s going to fully open again soon?
The thing is, the cases are going up exponentially, so I don’t know. I think a lot of countries are going to open and then have to close again. I think England is going to do the same as well which is stay open for a bit, give people a bit of freedom, make some money, and then close again for a while.
They are opening to help the economy otherwise people are going to struggle, but the cases are going up and the vaccine is not really protecting the people from this new variant.
So how did this collaboration with you and Josh Baker come about then?
I met Josh when he was very young. I think he might have been 17/18 at the time, he was here in Ibiza at an after party in a villa and funnily enough Richy Ahmed was there as well.
Neither of us had seen him anywhere before, he was so young, I’m not sure if it was possibly his first or second time in Ibiza, we just ended up playing back-to-back for a while and partying all day. He hadn’t been dj’ing for very long back then but it was apparent that he had good taste in music.
We stayed in touch over the years, and I ended up putting out his first EP on my old label ‘See Double’. It was his first vinyl release and did really well. I think it was about four years ago and Josh has been working nonstop on his music since then. We had been talking about doing something together for a while and the opportunity came around the time of the first Lockdown.
I had some unfinished tracks that I’d made in Toronto a few months before, I had been visiting Toronto for a couple of months every year for the past few years as my girlfriend is from there, and I always make a ton of music when I’m there (as there’s not much else to do in the freezing winter) So I thought why don’t I send one to Josh and see what comes out of it? After that we started sending ideas back and forth and that’s it. That’s how we did it.
The tracks on this one sound a little bit heavier than some of the other recent releases such as the one on Infuse. What the mindset behind this one?
If you listen to the stuff I’ve been doing with my new alias LVCA, that was recorded in the same studio in Toronto, it’s all made with vintage hardware and has a very Detroit inspired kind of sound. The main bulk of those sessions came from there, so I guess that’s what’s giving it a heavier sound compared to the Infuse stuff, which is a little bit bouncier, and a little bit more housey. That was recorded somewhere else – in a different mindset.
But yeah, it sounds pretty heavy. And it’s fast too! It’s over 130 but it’s still house. We haven’t gone into full Techno… yet!
A lot of people struggle to stay motivated because there’s not many places fully open at the moment, but you have still managed to have a high output releasing various records and mixes. What’s the secret? What is it that gets you in that studio?
Having a clear mind and having a daily routine, it definitely helps with staying focused. If you’re a creative person, I think that’s the most important thing, but on a musical level I’m an obsessive digger. I spend hours and hours every day looking for music, mainly online and through various dealers that I’m now in constant communication with.
Just listening and buying records is what’s been keeping me motivated to go in my studio and then, inspired by those records, just keep doing music really. I’ve replaced all my other bad habits with a full-on ‘music discovering’ obsession. I’m constantly checking records out and just hearing sounds and ideas and thinking about how I can get that sound and turn it into something that’s mine, with a modern twist.
Has anything out of the ordinary caught your eye through lockdown? Have you been listening to anything that you wouldn’t normally listen to?
Yeah, I started listening to a lot of late 80s Belgian new beat music. It’s like the Belgian version of Acid house with little bits of Chicago house, but it also has a kind of euro feel to it, a lot of it sounds awful, but there’s so much gold hidden in the b sides.
You can still find a lot of good stuff quite cheap on Discogs so I went into a bit of a ‘phase’ with that.
Any examples for the readers that might not know?
Some of it is quite dark and obscure but let me just grab some ‘easier’ examples. [Luca reaches over into his record collection]
This is a banger!
And there’s this; Amnesia, That’s the name of the band, and the track is called Ibiza (Local Acid Remix). It’s arpeggiated and quite slow.
Let’s get on to parties. You have probably had a crazy number of parties over the years, so from the ones that you can remember, what are your best memories from partying?
There’s a lot of them! Panorama Bar was great, both times I played there . First time we did a live show with Ali Love for his solo project, and the second time I did a DJ set and it was incredible. I’ve always wanted to play there. I think a few of my gigs in Berlin have been amongst my favourites.
Also, DC-10. I’ve played there so many times and usually I do a lot more early doors sets rather than late ones, but I did have quite a few ‘later on’ sets like 3rd and 4th on, and I played on the terrace when it’s been packed, it’s such a buzz. But yeah, I’d say that Panorama bar and DC-10.
Are there any other clubs that you really like? What would you say would be your top five clubs?
Closer in Kiev. I never played there, but I’ve been there to check it out because I played somewhere else in Kiev and went there after my gig. I’d heard it was amazing and it was! The Old Arma 17 in Moscow.,Actually, that’s also one of my favourite gigs that I’ve played. Fabric is a great club if it’s not too obvious and Underground in Ibiza as well. That was my place to go and party here when it was open.
You got your silver disk recently for Benediction. You have made some incredible tracks over your full career but especially with Hot Natured. Did it feel good to get some recognition for it?
Yeah, of course. I mean, it feels like so long ago when we made that track, and I have moved on musically so much since then, but it’s always nice to be reminded that we made a track that is so close to so many people hearts. I like it when some young kid comes up and says, “I started listening to House music because of that track”, or another track that I’ve made with Infinity Ink. It’s nice to hear that.
You are clearly no stranger when it comes to collaborations, but if you could make a track with anyone in the world tomorrow, who would it be?
Who would I collaborate with? That’s a tough one. I’ve always been a huge fan of Talking Heads and the New York post punk bands, and I would love to collaborate with David Byrne because I think he is a genius.
I love collaborating with people. I think it comes from all those years I spent playing in bands. I’m used to being part of a collective creative process.
I love collaborating with this kid I’m working with at the moment in Ibiza called Marlon. He is very young but he’s a sick bass player and plays a lot for Nightmares on Wax , live and in the studio. He’s a serious musician, and he made a similar journey to mine going from being a live musician to an electronic music producer, the way that he understands music and the way he works in the studio is super inspiring and the music we’ve been making in the past year and a half is some of the best I’ve made in my career.
But yeah, if you want to put someone big, let’s put David Byrne.
I like him as well. Have you read his book How Music Works?
No, I haven’t read it yet, it’s been on my list for years.
If you could meet your younger self now – The Luca who’s just about to step into music – what would you say to him?
I would say just be consistent, believe in yourself and your vision. It’s something that at times I’ve struggled with in the beginning of my career. I had so many different influences and got sidetracked easily.. so just try and create a vision for yourself and focus on that. When making music don’t get distracted.
It’s been a real pleasure, hopefully you can get yourself over to the UK soon so that we can have a rave.
I can’t wait!
BBLK001 feat. LVCA & Josh Baker will be released 27/8/21. In the meantime you can check out music from Luca here.
