Interview: Lane 8 Announces His Debut Australian Tour and Previews His Upcoming Album

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Interview: Lane 8 Announces His Debut Australian Tour and Previews His Upcoming Album

Lane 8 A.K.A Daniel Goldstein has become a name synonymous with Above & Beyond’s deep house imprint ‘Anjunadeep’. What sets Daniel apart from the deep house music landscape is his ability to craft music that succeeds both in the club and on the iPod – and it only takes a listen to his catalogue to see why.

Over the past year, Lane 8 has released a string of huge singles on Anjunadeep and French Express, while receiving major support from around the globe with his vigorously innovative originals and game-changing remixes, which he has done for the likes of ODESZA, Eric Prydz and Above and Beyond. Usually releasing under the 1-track single format, the Californian born, now German based producer has returned with his first original work of the year with his debut album ‘Rise’, an electronica-deep house influenced collection that sticks melodically true to his sound.

SR: What were your main influences behind the album?

Lane 8: I think the influences on this album range from subtle to direct – I grew up on classical music and I think some of that shines through, but I’ve also taken some direct inspiration on certain tracks. “Klara” for example, is directly influenced by Joris Voorn’s “Ringo”. During the making of this album I also drew influence from a lot of music that I was playing in my DJ sets that wasn’t necessarily parallel to the music I put out in my releases – which is why there is also some instrumental material on the album, as that’s what I’ve been leaning towards in my sets in the past year.

SR: Your sound is deep house influenced, how would you describe the music you make?

Lane 8: The description I keep falling back on is “dreamy backrub house” – I’d never call my music deep house, to me deep house is the kinda stuff that Theo Parrish made, very jazzy and soulful, musically it’s very different from what I do, which is quite emo in comparison. I’m not too concerned with genres though and try to take a little bit of techno, a little bit of house, a little bit of trance, a little bit of indie and shape it all into what fits my personal tastes.

SR: Judging by the latest tracks ‘Ghost’ and ‘Hot As You Want’, your album is taking a more lyrical approach. Is this part of your natural progression as an artist?

Lane 8: I’ve done vocal tracks pretty much my entire career so far, so I feel my progression is actually developing toward instrumental tunes – my favorite track on the album is a longer instrumental piece called “Rise” which is also where the name of the album comes from. Although I do enjoy vocals, I found the challenge of composing compelling music completely unassisted by vocalists to be very fulfilling.

SR: Was there any difficulty finding the balance between club music and pop-friendly music you offer on the album? Does the new album take a different production approach to your previous work?

Lane 8: Any concerns about club-readiness or being too poppy, or not poppy enough, never influences the actual production process for me – I’m simply not thinking about those sorts of things when I make music. Not all of the music I have made as Lane 8 has always been super club friendly and I don’t feel pressure at all to make an album full of club bangers. At the same time, when you write vocal tracks there is always going to be an element of pop to it – the album is full of verse-chorus structures, which is inescapably pop. I like pop music though, so it’s not something I’m concerned by.

SR: How did the vocals come about? Did you base each track around an artist’s vocals, or did you create the track and set out for a certain vocalist?

Lane 8: All the tracks were written with some form of instrumental track already in place – usually the instrumental usually would be completely revamped later on to better fit the vocal written, but it’s always helpful to actually have something musical to write lyrics to. While I did a lot of online collaborations in the past, the vocals on this album were almost all written collaboratively in recording studios, so I got to be quite involved in the process, which is a plus – I feel like I got to contribute a bit of my personal taste to the lyrics. I also wrote the current single, “Hot As You Want”, entirely on my own and then gave it to Joe from Solomon Grey to sing.

SR: What are your future plans with the live performance? Would you consider making a live show? Is there a live show in the works?

Lane 8: I do want to do a live show in the future, but for now I’m quite focused on being the best DJ I can possibly be, which is a challenge I’m very excited and serious about. I’m always looking for opportunities to do more live performance though, and have done a few filmed performances in the last year to start to give people an idea of what the live show might sound like.

SR: Do you notice a different reaction from your music between continents such as North America, Europe and even Australia? Or is it roughly similar?

Lane 8: I’ve never been to Australia so I can’t say much there – but the response is quite different between America and Europe for sure – it seems that I have a larger fanbase in America, so the response there is always a bit bigger, more singing along when I play one of my own tracks and stuff like that. There are a few places in Europe though, in particular London, where there seems to be a nice little fanbase growing which is great to see.

SR: You’re coming down to Australia for the very first time next month, What can Lane 8 fans expect from you? 

Lane 8: I’m super excited to come down to Australia for the first time – I honestly have no idea what to expect, but to me that’s the beauty of DJ’ing, adjusting to each situation as it’s always a bit different. I’m excited to play tunes from my album, some new remixes and edits I’ve done, and lots of my favorite records in the world.

SR: You have previously spent some time living in the US and Europe; Has this played a role in the music you make?

Lane 8: I’m based in Leipzig, Germany at the moment – but spent some time in San Francisco before that. To be perfectly honest I don’t think San Francisco influenced my music very much – I’ve always discovered music online or through friends, not through going to clubs or being a part of any particular scene.

SR: What are your thoughts on the underground verses mainstream debate? Where do you think your music sits?

Lane 8: I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with mainstream music – and in fact some of the most “underground” artists around today are extremely commercial-minded! I suppose my music sits somewhere in between – there’s a big influence from the underground, but at the same time there’s an accessibility to it; but I think that’s true for a lot that gets made these days in all corners of the scene.

The debut album from Lane 8 is out July 17th on Anjunadeep – Catch him on his debut Australia tour next month.

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