SF Weekly Interview w/moi
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music
Next on deck for our Friday local DJ Q&A series is Baron Von Luxxury: the man who remixed both Marianne Faithfull and Glass Candy, who'll moonlight on L.A. station Indie 103.1, and who loves "Tits."
Style of music you spin: Italo disco (Giorgio Moroder, Glass Candy), French touch (Daft Punk, Alan Braxe), bloghouse bangers (Justice, Midnight Juggernauts), and vintage synthpop (Trans-X, late period ABBA). Name of a track you can't get out of your head: Marianne Faithfull's 1979 new wave/disco classic "Broken English", which I just remixed. If I'm working on a track for a week it tends to take at least 2 more weeks for it to stop looping endlessly in my head.
Dream DJ partner: I recently started writing and producing songs with other artists. It started with some remixes I did, including one for Glass Candy that just came out on RCRDLBL.com (and which the dude from HEALTH just called his favorite track of the year in Pitchfork.com). For my next album I'm collaborating on songs with my local homies in Sugar and Gold, Scissors for Lefty and The Blacks. Meanwhile the internet is bringing me together with Little Boots and Robots in Disguise in London, Jacques Renault and Devin Dirt in NYC,and many more. It's been exciting make music together with my peers.
my Marianne Faithfull Remix on BBC1, Indie 103.1!
Current mood: adored
Category: Music
Wow, i just found out Zane Lowe played my remix/re-edit of the 1979 classic "Broken English" by Marianne Faithfull on his BBC Radio1 show...and just a few minutes later I discovered that DJ Paul V. did the same on the Indie 103.1 Neon Noise show!
Unlike my other remixes (all of which have all new music/chords etc under the vocal a capella) I tried to leave this one relatively intact and just make it a little more DJ friendly. (Trivia alert: the amazingly perfect bass line is by...Steve Winwood!). Here 'tis:
Glass Candy (Baron von Luxxury Remix) in The Fader magazine
Current mood: amorous
Category: Music
Glass Candy (Baron von Luxxury Remix) in The Fader magazine
Tracklisting
Lil Boosie "Don't I Act a Donkey" Bohagon "Bucket" Telepathe, "Chrome's On It" Get Em Mamis "Cold Summer" Hercules & Love Affair "Hercules Theme" Estelle f. Kanye West "American Boy" Child Ballads "Cheekbone Hollows" Lykke Li "Complaints Department" Glass Candy "I Always Say Yes (Baron Von Luxxury Remix)" Ladyhawk "I Don't Always Know What You're Saying" Demarco "Fallen Soldier" Ricky Blaze "Cut Dem Off" The Foals "Balloons" Abe Vigoda "Animal Ghosts"
Thank You, Blogs!
Current mood: blissful
Category: Music
Here is where you can download my remixes, courtesy of the best blogs ever (I WUV U ALL!)
Sunny Day Sets Fire - "Brainless (Baron Von Luxxury Remix)" (February 2008) "Syncopated moments of silence can still be golden, and San FranDisco newcomer Baron Von Luxxury's suave take on "Brainless" is proof enough. A buzzing bass lulls you into an understated frenzy, and you keep expecting the interplay between beats to spiral out of control, but BVL keeps his cool, and you wouldn't have it any other way." - CMJ
Glass Candy - "I Always Say Yes (Baron von Luxxury Remix Parts II + III)" (January 2008) "Best Glass Candy remix I've heard yet. Wow. Big thumbs up to Baron von Luxxury for putting this one together. Here's the story: Von Luxxury, Johnny Jewel, and Ida spent nine months working on this remix! Johnny and von Luxxury were quite the collaborative team as they kept bouncing ideas off of each other, passing around edits, and critiquing each incarnation of the edit. The final cut wound up being nineteen minutes long, believe it or not (hence the Parts II & III thing)! The von Luxxury remix is dark and ambient like Glass Candy songs ought to be, bouncy and post-punk-infused, but with just enough disco gloss and atmospheric shimmers to bump it up to moody dance floor fodder (if also very smart and expertly arranged). It rocks, rocks!" - Bibabidi
Scissors for Lefty: "Ghetto Ways (BvL's Super Thanks for Asking Remix)" (November 2007) "Far better than the original!" - Radio Sidekick "Disco-goodness, complete with a sneaky Rush sample!" - Get Weird Turn Pro "Smooth, buzzing, disco-y, electro-y. Great track for the early evening." - La New Shit
CSS: "A la la (BvL's Lovefoxx + BVL = BFF Remix)" (September 2007) "Comme dans les chansons pour jeunes filles, je suis ton meilleur ami… Pourtant, je préfèrerais être ton pire amant..." - Monsieur P
Hilary Duff: "Stranger (BvL's Eyes of Laura Mars Remix)" (June 2007) "Anyone who could make Hillary Duff's puffy pop songs sound like edgy, lusty, club music must know how to mix a track. The San Francisco singer/songwriter/DJ, Baron Von Luxxury, creates lethally addictive electro-rock songs that sound like a retrofit of Devo combined with the modern, pulsing beats of Daft Punk. Relying mostly on synth and bass guitar, Baron manages to splash a dance party into every note drawing inspiration from glam rock, disco, and pop. Luxxury's mash-ups of Scissors for Lefty and Dirty Sanchez's tracks show notable creativity and showcase his unique ability to find the gritty core of a song and shock it into throbbing, yet controlled euphoria" - URB
Luxxury: "Drunk (BvL's Lovesick Vocoders at Night Remix)" (May 2007) "Luxxury is another gem out of Frisco….If you're not familiar with them, you've encountered them at the perfect time b/c they've commissioned quite a list of up-and-coming producers to remix their "Rock and Roll is Evil" album. The result is a whole lotta dance-rock-disco-electro goodness. Luxxury has actually adapted their live show to play the remixed versions of some of the songs. I picked out my favorite little morsel of the bunch. awwww, is it too hard for you? I thought you told me that you liked it hard..." - Miss Toats @ Big Stereo/IHEARTCOMIX
New, Exciting, Thrill-packed Announcements!
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music
We're proud to announce that Luxxury has just signed a songwriting deal with Razor and Tie publishing, and an EP deal with RCRD LBL, a new imprint of Downtown Records (Gnarls Barkley, Eagles of Death Metal, Cold War Kids) launching next month. Baron von Luxxury is currently writing a batch of songs for some exciting international artists as well as working on material for his next album, due in early 2008 and tentatively titled "Baron von Luxxury is My Fake Name."
While BvL is deep in songwriting and production mode and the performing band is taking a break, you can catch him DJing for Disco Workout every fourth Thursday at House of Shields in SF (in tandem with the MP3 blog www.discoworkout.com). He'll be doing DJ sets for CMJ at Studio B in Brooklyn October 17 (for BigStereo showcase) and 205 Club in NYC (Bassment Bangers) October 18, and pontificating at the Billboard Dance Music Summit in Las Vegas October 10.
Check out this month's URB and XLR8R wherein Mr. von Luxxury can be seen doing the D.A.N.C.E. Check out a preview: at http://blog.myspace.com/luxxury
Currently
listening
:
Risqué
By
Chic
Release date: 15 September, 1992
Baron von Luxxury’s So Fucking Disco: Summer Night New York City ’07 Mixx
Current mood: anxious
Category: Music
Sorry I've been absent for a little while but some stuff went down, and it wasn't exactly the cherry I'd hoped for on top of my 10 weeks in NYC. But you know what my mom says, which is incredibly genius advice? "Life is for the living." And for me, the pulse of life is in the throbbing heartbeat of disco. From the timeless 16th note whirl and phase of Moroder to the robot rock of Daft Punk; from the sugary yet hedonistic Swedish pop of Abba to the jangly hi-hat imperfection and post-punk revisionism of LCD Soundsystem; from the retro-Chic of Escort to the slow space of all things Troubleman. From 106 to 131 and all the BPMs in between, it's The Shit That Keeps Me Fiddling While Rome is Burning.
It was interesting putting this together since making a "DJ mix" is, it turns out, not quite the same as doing a live DJ set. For one thing, you're not reacting to a crowd in real time, which is half the fun of performing, since I'm never quite sure what I'll play next. The other major difference is that it's meant to be listened to in a different context than a dark room filled with sweaty people - presumably with headphones on the subway or in the background on a laptop. Which, I suppose, could both still be dark and sweaty environments.
Anyway, for this first mix I decided to have it be a snapshot of my most recent live set opening for Scissors for Lefty at Union Hall, Brooklyn on July 21. I also added a few original edits and what I am calling "blends" (sorry, I can't bear to call them mashups). And because it's my first mix, it's got a few tracks from my best of 2007 so far, just so I can catch up. To make up for the not-so-newness of those bloghouse faves, I have also included a special treat for you: the worldwide exclusive debut of "Tom Cruise is a Gay Scientologist", an awesome new and heretofore unblogged track by my latest discovery, NYC's Black Russians. You heard it at Disco Workout first!
Enjoy, and feel free to pass this little disco valentine along to the people you love.
xx, - Baron von Luxxury
Baron von Luxxury's So Fucking Disco: Summer Night New York City '07 Mixx 1. "Love Theme from Baron von Luxxury" - Baron von Luxxury 2. "So Fucking Disco (BvL Blend)" - Pase Rock 3. "All Through The Night (BvL Blend)" - Escort 4. "Disco Dynamite" - Mr Flash 5. "Intro" - Alan Braxe and Fred Falke 6. "Into the Groove" - Madonna (snippet) 7. "Transexual (BvL Blend)" - Mr. Oizo 8. "Shadows" - Midnight Juggernauts 9. "Ghetto Ways (Baron von Luxxury's Super Thanks for Asking Remix)" - Scissors for Lefty 10. "We Are Rockstars (BvL Frida Edit)" - Does it Offend You, Yeah? 11. "Theme From S'Express" - S'Express 12. "UFO (Van She Tech Remix)" - Sneaky Sound System 13. "Acceleration (BvL Blend)" - Franz and Shape 14. "Rock and Roll is Evil (Devin Dirt's Fat Elvis Remix [BvL Blend])" - Luxxury 15. "I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)" - Dragonette 16. "All Systems Down" - Knightlife 17. "Black Arabs" - Black Arabs 18. "Rolling Down The Hills" - Glass Candy 19. "Summer Night City" - ABBA 20. "Tom Cruise is a Gay Scientologist" - Black Russians 21. "Love Theme from Baron von Luxxury (reprise)" - Baron von Luxxury
Theresa and Jeremy
Current mood: cold
Category: Friends
i don't know where else to put this i need to say how sad i am to have lost two of my best friends in the world theresa killed herself on july 10 just three blocks away from where we are staying in the east village jeremy is missing he was last seen walking into the ocean at rockaway beach on july 18
i have known theresa for 13 years she was like an older sister to me i was there the night she met jeremy who became like an older brother to me
if you've read theresa's blog 'the wit of the staircase' you'll know how erudite, witty and gorgeous her writing and thinking were well, so too was she as a person hyper-intelligent, hyper-beautiful, hyper-ambitious not to mention generous and loyal: fiercely loyal
but she scared the hell out of some people with her sharp tongued rapier wit i've seen so many people turn on her i've seen so many people afraid of her and i've seen how they harrassed her literally to death
you people should be ashamed of yourselves theresa had no power she just wanted her art to be in the world that's all
beyond their friendship and artistic mentorship i was so so proud and honored to have been able to work with them theresa did my liner notes and jeremy did my album cover art theresa's words are so evocative and accurate and personal and witty a perfect summary and introduction to the music (you see, theresa is really sable starr. now you know.) and jeremy's cover is so striking and gorgeous and perfect 70s filtered through the 80s the sexxy babysitter in a day glo future retro disco daydream and its kind of her too
(i'm not going to link to anything, you can google whatever, its everywhere... this is just me needing desperately to put my version and anguish somewhere)
god damn you pop music i can't believe that song came over the PA last night so ghastly as to be comic i swear it was hot chocolate's 70's FM ballad "emma" "'twas a cold and dark December night/When I opened up the bedroom door/ To find her lying still and cold Upon the bed/A love letter lying on the bedroom floor/it read: "darling i love you, but i just can't go on livin' on dreams no more/i tried so very hard not to leave you alone/i just can't keep trying no more"...'
theresa adored pop music and irony she would have found that amusing so i'll let myself laugh
as for jeremy i refuse to believe he's not coming back so i'll hold out hope because i also can't believe that band played that pixies song last night that can't be a coincidence: "cease to resist/given my goodbyes/drive my car/into the ocean/ you think i'm dead/but i'll sail away..."
jeremy adored pop music and irony he would/will find that amusing so i'll let myself laugh
here come those santa ana winds again...
RIP Theresa Duncan 1966-2007 jeremy, please call me back...
i love you both xx blake
Currently
listening
:
Gaucho
By
Steely Dan
Release date: 10 October, 2000
BONUS: you can download the aforementioned Hilary Duff remix from Big Stereo or Palmsout...
"Anyone who could make Hillary Duff's puffy pop songs sound like edgy, lusty, club music must know how to mix a track. The San Francisco singer/songwriter/DJ, Baron Von Luxxury, creates lethally addictive electro-rock songs that sound like a retrofit of Devo combined with the modern, pulsing beats of Daft Punk. Relying mostly on synth and bass guitar, Baron manages to splash a dance party into every note drawing inspiration from glam rock, disco, and pop. Luxxury's mash-ups of Scissors for Lefty and Dirty Sanchez's tracks show notable creativity and showcase his unique ability to find the gritty core of a song and shock it into throbbing, yet controlled euphoria."
Currently
listening
:
Time
By
Electric Light Orchestra
Release date: 12 June, 2001
BvL doin' the D.A.N.C.E. in the new Billboard
Current mood: Hustlin'
Category: Hustlin' Music
A year ago I borrowed $25k to put out my own records, shoot some videos and tour the UK. And thanks to my song being used in a Pontiac ad, I just broke even.
The latest Billboard mag has a nice article about my small-but-significant D.I.Y. achievement. I hope you enjoy it.
MAKING THE BRAND: MORE THAN MEETS THE EAR By Michael Paoletta, Blllboard July 07, 2007
Last summer, Blake Robin took out a personal loan for $25,000 to keep his Nolita record label afloat, get some CDs manufactured and embark on a four-week trek of the United Kingdom. Sure, Robin, who records as Luxxury, was taking a risk.
Two weeks ago, after depositing a check from Pontiac in his bank account, a smiling Robin paid off the loan—suggesting that, even without support from a big industry machine, determined artists today can sometimes land the deals they need.
The first ad, for the Pontiac Solstice, was a triple cross-promotion with the Michael Bay film "Transformers" (due in theaters July 3) and the Maxim Hot 100 Countdown on VH1. It featured actress Megan Fox and pointed to killer3.com, where consumers could enter to win a Solstice GXP as well as a trip to Hollywood for the June 28 premiere of the movie. "Drunk" was then licensed for a Pontiac G5 spot.
The ads, which are nearing the end of their runs, have been airing on VH1 and MTV since May. They are also accessible at YouTube and such Robin sites as luxxury.com and discoworkout.com.
While it may not be the best song title for a car commercial, "Drunk" deftly drives the visuals in the spots. For the Solstice ad, Pontiac's agency Leo Burnett needed a piece of propulsive music "to match the killer3 attitude," says Jeff Cruz, creative director of Leo Burnett Detroit. "It was also important to have something that matched the technology feel of 'Transformers.' " With a confident swagger in its rhythms and a techno vibe, "Drunk" fit the bill.
Leo Burnett used a different part of the song for the G5 spot to reflect the car's digital applications, Cruz says.
The creative team at Leo Burnett became aware of the Luxxury track by way of Virgin Entertainment Group. For the past couple of years, Pontiac has been branding itself in Virgin Megastores via merchandise and participation in the Virgin Recommends music program. The multifaceted arrangement often finds the folks at Leo Burnett sharing campaign storyboards with Virgin staffers in return for musical suggestions.
After seeing the storyboards for the Solstice campaign, Virgin sent "Drunk" to Leo Burnett.
But Virgin was not alone in its fondness for Luxxury. After manufacturing 1,000 copies of the Luxxury album last summer, Robin sent copies to radio tastemakers like KCRW Santa Monica, Calif., and TV and film music supervisors. He also sent a copy to Heather Kreamer, formerly of creative agency Natural Energy Lab and digital distributor INgrooves, and currently music supervisor at mOcean, a trailer house in Los Angeles.
Key Razor & Tie Entertainment execs found out about Luxxury because of Kreamer, who gave a copy of "Rock and Roll" to R&T creative director of music publishing Peter Lloyd several months ago. According to Robin, Lloyd called him in May to let him know that he couldn't stop listening to the CD. "Peter was talking about me doing co-writes and remixing for other artists," Robin recalls.
A few days later, Razor & Tie salesman Anthony Livreri was talking to marketing execs at Virgin who tipped him off that Leo Burnett needed a piece of music for a Pontiac spot. Livreri shared this newsy nugget with R&T director of music licensing Manny Lorenzo and the lightbulb went off. He submitted "Drunk" to Virgin and Pontiac, and Leo Burnett immediately greenlighted the track. All necessary paperwork was completed within five days (it helped that Robin controlled his master recordings and publishing). And on the air the first spot went.
Now, the Razor & Tie team is actively looking for other synch opportunities for Luxxury. "For a long time, licensing was the stepchild of the publishing and record companies," R&T senior VP of music publishing J.W. Johnson says. "Now, licensing is the new black."
At press time, Robin remains in discussions with R&T regarding a co-publishing or administration deal. And R&T continues to pitch his music to supervisors and creatives.
As a one-man machine, Robin wholly acknowledges that the biggest change in his life is that the Pontiac campaigns are now the lead bullet points in his discography and bio.
"These days, my goal is to get signed to a label and find an agent," Robin says. "But I don't need one of the majors. I'd be happy with one of the cooler French or Australian dance/electronic labels that understand music and branding."
MAKING THE BRAND: MORE THAN MEETS THE EAR By Michael Paoletta, Blllboard July 07, 2007
Last summer, Blake Robin took out a personal loan for $25,000 to keep his Nolita record label afloat, get some CDs manufactured and embark on a four-week trek of the United Kingdom. Sure, Robin, who records as Luxxury, was taking a risk.
Two weeks ago, after depositing a check from Pontiac in his bank account, a smiling Robin paid off the loan—suggesting that, even without support from a big industry machine, determined artists today can sometimes land the deals they need.
The first ad, for the Pontiac Solstice, was a triple cross-promotion with the Michael Bay film "Transformers" (due in theaters July 3) and the Maxim Hot 100 Countdown on VH1. It featured actress Megan Fox and pointed to killer3.com, where consumers could enter to win a Solstice GXP as well as a trip to Hollywood for the June 28 premiere of the movie. "Drunk" was then licensed for a Pontiac G5 spot.
The ads, which are nearing the end of their runs, have been airing on VH1 and MTV since May. They are also accessible at YouTube and such Robin sites as luxxury.com and discoworkout.com.
While it may not be the best song title for a car commercial, "Drunk" deftly drives the visuals in the spots. For the Solstice ad, Pontiac's agency Leo Burnett needed a piece of propulsive music "to match the killer3 attitude," says Jeff Cruz, creative director of Leo Burnett Detroit. "It was also important to have something that matched the technology feel of 'Transformers.' " With a confident swagger in its rhythms and a techno vibe, "Drunk" fit the bill.
Leo Burnett used a different part of the song for the G5 spot to reflect the car's digital applications, Cruz says.
The creative team at Leo Burnett became aware of the Luxxury track by way of Virgin Entertainment Group. For the past couple of years, Pontiac has been branding itself in Virgin Megastores via merchandise and participation in the Virgin Recommends music program. The multifaceted arrangement often finds the folks at Leo Burnett sharing campaign storyboards with Virgin staffers in return for musical suggestions.
After seeing the storyboards for the Solstice campaign, Virgin sent "Drunk" to Leo Burnett.
But Virgin was not alone in its fondness for Luxxury. After manufacturing 1,000 copies of the Luxxury album last summer, Robin sent copies to radio tastemakers like KCRW Santa Monica, Calif., and TV and film music supervisors. He also sent a copy to Heather Kreamer, formerly of creative agency Natural Energy Lab and digital distributor INgrooves, and currently music supervisor at mOcean, a trailer house in Los Angeles.
Key Razor & Tie Entertainment execs found out about Luxxury because of Kreamer, who gave a copy of "Rock and Roll" to R&T creative director of music publishing Peter Lloyd several months ago. According to Robin, Lloyd called him in May to let him know that he couldn't stop listening to the CD. "Peter was talking about me doing co-writes and remixing for other artists," Robin recalls.
A few days later, Razor & Tie salesman Anthony Livreri was talking to marketing execs at Virgin who tipped him off that Leo Burnett needed a piece of music for a Pontiac spot. Livreri shared this newsy nugget with R&T director of music licensing Manny Lorenzo and the lightbulb went off. He submitted "Drunk" to Virgin and Pontiac, and Leo Burnett immediately greenlighted the track. All necessary paperwork was completed within five days (it helped that Robin controlled his master recordings and publishing). And on the air the first spot went.
Now, the Razor & Tie team is actively looking for other synch opportunities for Luxxury. "For a long time, licensing was the stepchild of the publishing and record companies," R&T senior VP of music publishing J.W. Johnson says. "Now, licensing is the new black."
At press time, Robin remains in discussions with R&T regarding a co-publishing or administration deal. And R&T continues to pitch his music to supervisors and creatives.
As a one-man machine, Robin wholly acknowledges that the biggest change in his life is that the Pontiac campaigns are now the lead bullet points in his discography and bio.
"These days, my goal is to get signed to a label and find an agent," Robin says. "But I don't need one of the majors. I'd be happy with one of the cooler French or Australian dance/electronic labels that understand music and branding."
BvL Remixes: Scissors for Lefty, Hilary Duff, Dirty Sanchez, Luxxury
Coming soon: * Glass Candy "I Always Say Yes (Baron von Luxxury Remixes: Part 1, 2 and 3)" * Robots in Disguise "The Sex Has Made Me Stupid (Baron von Luxxury Idiotech Remix)" * CSS "A la la (Baron von Luxxury Remix)"
accomplished
adored
amorous
blissful
anxious
cold
