Know Your DJ - Leaving Laurel

Interview

1. How did you get started in DJing? What’s your journey been like so far?

Many, many years ago, now it seems, I started here in Halifax DJing around town playing a lot of the trendy electro/disco/blog house sounds that were popular around 2009/2010. One of these early “gigs” was at a friend of a friend’s birthday party, where I met my friend Erick (yehno). We bonded immediately over the fact that we were the only other person we knew in the city that was interested in Ableton Live. This was well before YouTube tutorials, so production knowledge was quite hard to come by. We bonded instantly, and pretty soon after, we formed a duo called Botnek.

Let’s speed run the next decade.

From there, we moved to Montreal, got signed to Dim Mak, started playing all over the planet, and moved to California. It was there that I started this new project, Leaving Laurel, and signed with Anjunadeep. The pandemic happened, and I was forced to come home—and I happily haven’t found a reason to run away again just yet.

2. What genres do you usually play, and which ones are your personal favorites?

It depends on the situation, of course, but honestly, I think my favorite genre to play is Tech House. It’s all just so groovy, and it kinda doesn’t matter what key you are in. You can play 2, 3—even 4 songs at once—and it all just feels exciting. It’s a little too easy to play that genre well, and I think that’s what I like about it. It’s always just full of happy surprises.

But with Leaving Laurel, I’m always being a lot more curated with my selections. The music I make isn’t really suited for clubs, so I try to find the right kind of dance tracks that have the right kind of emotive electronic energy I like to play, but are also fun to dance to.

3. What does DJing mean to you? How would you describe the role and its responsibilities?

For me, DJing really just is about playing the right music for the right setting. Setting the mood—from when it’s an early night and people are still feeling coy, to when the venue is red hot and people want to keep the energy up, or just when you have people over at home and everyone is listening to music in your kitchen. Finding the right track to match the energy and try and elevate it to an even better setting.

4. Who are some of your favorite producers right now, and why do they inspire you?

Wow, I don’t know where to begin. Not gonna lie, yehno is sitting on a lot of unreleased music that I am a huge fan of, so that’s the first person that comes to mind.

For my own productions and inspiration, I’m always drawn to emotive electronic artists, so anyone I find that is writing great melodies and presenting them in very interesting ways really attracts me. I’m looking for people who have an inventive sound that can inspire my own productions. There’s a Swedish producer named Martinou that has my immediate attention any time he puts out a mix or a new EP. Some others I’ve been listening to a lot lately are Rival Consoles, Daniel Avery, and Kiasmos.

I’m also extremely late to the game, but I’ve recently found a fascination with the late Andrew Weatherall. His ability to merge the worlds of dance and indie was quite singular.

5. If you could only play one track for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Oh wow. I feel like I like too many different genres to narrow it down to just one. I would want something groovy, but also beautiful and ethereal. I suppose a good example of that would be “Scorpio” by James K and Hoodie. I don’t tend to listen to my favorite music that much, in fear that I’ll ruin the magic for myself. But that song is so carefree and breezy that I could have it on repeat without it sounding stale after each listen.

6. What’s the most bizarre situation you’ve encountered while DJing, and how did you handle it?

Certainly, in the Botnek days, there were some wild situations we got ourselves into. The first one that comes to mind was this time in Houston, Texas. I was flying in from LA and landed around 7 in the morning. It was starting to rain, but they were projecting some sort of biblical storm with rain—and maybe even tornadoes, if I remember correctly. We were there to play an outdoor festival that was forced to cancel, so the artists that made it before flights were cancelled were asked to play a smaller indoor event for the fans that had tickets.

Almost no one from the lineup ended up making it to Houston that day, and so we went from originally opening a festival stage early in the afternoon to now headlining this smaller party.

And what proceeded was a DJ’s nightmare.

The openers had a very pre-planned set that they were playing, and their set was actually 10 minutes short of their set time. Usually, we would hover in the booth about 5 minutes before we go on, but from somewhere in the venue, we heard them just say “good night” and full-on stop the music. We rushed to the stage, completely blindsided, to keep things going. The previous artists were playing off their laptop, and when I went to plug in our USB to the CDJ, I found out not only did the link not work, but the second CDJ couldn’t read either of my backup USBs.

I found this out as our 1:10 long intro was coming to a close, and I had nothing that I could play afterwards. I’m praying for this other CDJ to somehow start working, I’m looking around for a sound guy, and there’s no one around.

Our big EDM intro track runs out of time...

0:03... 0:02... 0:01... silence.

I get on the mic and start trying to get the crowd amped up, as if this is all part of the act. I’m telling them to make some motherf***ing noise, put their hands up, the whole shtick. The second CDJ is not working. I play a second track on the first CDJ and have to factory reset the second one. I restarted it, and waited and waited, and thankfully, it magically started working again. My god. I still have stress dreams about that one.

7. What’s been your favorite gig or performance so far?

There’s honestly been too many. The obvious ones are, of course, massive festivals like Tomorrowland, where you have a sea of people in front of you. There was a time Steve Aoki caked me in the face during our set that was so surreal and ridiculous I’ll never forget it. But then there’s the smaller, more niche things—like DJing in Albania and swimming in the Adriatic Sea afterwards. DJing at Fabric in London twice, at two completely different stages in my life. Onetime when we were still young and confused, and one when I was on the other side of trauma and rebuilding my life.

8. Can you share a moment when a set didn’t go as planned? What did you learn from it?

That Houston one was definitely the most stressful, but there were others. There was a time in Miami at Ultra when we had a CDJ go into emergency loop mode, and I had to mix using the browse knob while it was playing a one-bar loop of a track that I was trying to take out. Absolutely a mess.

But really, I think the thing I’ve learned the most is that “perfect” sets are kinda boring. When everything is flawless and you’re not taking any risks, it can just feel a little dull. Sometimes the best moments of a set are when you take a risk and it pays off. So I think you need to just take risks and not be too precious about your mixing.

9. How do you usually connect with your audience and fans? Any favorite platforms or ways to engage with them?

I try and keep my social media at an arm’s length. It’s quite hard for me to be constantly online, but I do try and respond to everyone’s DMs. I remember as a teenager, I emailed the drummer of Semisonic, and he actually replied. It meant so much to me, so I try to do that when people reach out.

10. What’s your guilty pleasure track or artist? What do you listen to outside of your sets?

Oh man. I honestly have so many. I love listening to the MuchMusic Countdown hits of 1993–1998. All the cheesy Canadian pop hits from that time period are so nostalgic and fun to me. I think I just really love things that bring me back to being a kid. I still listen to Deftones all the time. I’m also a huge Radiohead fan. ‘Kid A’ was a massive album for me and really what led me to Warp Records and everything that followed.

11. What gear do you use? Any favorite software, hardware, or setup tips for aspiring DJs?

I honestly don’t DJ as much these days. I mostly just prepare music in Rekordbox on my laptop and hope that I don’t mess up when I play. I used to DJ with vinyl in the early days, then graduated to CDJs in clubs, and now I just DJ whenever I get booked. I don’t think anyone should be afraid to use the sync button, though—it really is such a game changer.

12. How do you discover new music to play in your sets?

Mostly by listening to SoundCloud mixes. I’ll hear a track I like, Shazam it, and then look up the tracklist to find out where I can buy it. Beatport is always such a mess for me to navigate. I used to be pretty diligent about checking new releases each week, but now I just let mixes and recommendations guide me. I’ve slowed down and become a lot more selective these days.

13. Describe your dream party. Where is it, who’s there, and what’s playing?

Probably a day party outdoors, where the sun is shining and the music is groovy. Something like Piknic Électronik in Montreal. Good music, crisp beer, and everyone’s home before midnight. Am I getting old?

14. What’s something about you that people might be surprised to learn?

I bartend part-time. I actually really enjoy it. It gets me out of my introverted shell and helps me structure my week around something outside of music. Keeps me grounded and human.

15. Are you a cat person, dog person, or something else entirely?

I like cats for their calm energy, and dogs for their fun. I don’t own either at the moment, but I’m a happy dog uncle.

16. What’s your go-to comfort food or favorite cuisine?

Probably Mapo Tofu. But also love Mexican food, sushi, and anything brothy. I really can’t decide.

17. What’s your favorite drink—alcoholic or non-alcoholic?

A crisp pint with the sun on my face. The sun is non-negotiable.

18. What’s your favorite travel destination you’ve visited, and where do you still want to go?

Montreal, Amsterdam, and California are favorites. I really love Laurel Canyon for obvious reasons. Hawaii might be the most beautiful place I’ve seen though.

19. What advice would you give to someone just starting out in DJing?

If you’re trying to make a career out of it, get good at video content and social media. That’s just the reality of it now.

If it’s just for fun, follow your curiosity. Find music that makes you excited and just have fun sharing it.

If you’re making music, my best advice is “two for them, one for you.” Make something that satisfies your own creative needs in between stuff that is more palatable or marketable.

20. What’s next for you? Any exciting projects, releases, or goals on the horizon?

With Leaving Laurel, the first few years were about grief and processing the death of my best friend and bandmate. But lately, I’ve found a new lightness. I’ve found love, joy, and written a new record that reflects that.

There’s also a live show in the works. I feel like Chapter 3 is just beginning.