Unbound by genres LVNDSCAPE seems to have propelled out of nothing, aiming for timeless beauty, packed into elegant bootlegs and remixes, overflowing with melancholy and atmosphere.
With over 200 million plays on Spotify, LVNDSCAPE is quickly becoming a highly anticipated name. We caught up with him at this year’s edition of Amsterdam Dance Event and spoke about various topics including his recovery from knee injury, his recent single – RIOT, and why Armin van Buuren is a celebrity that he would rate as a perfect 10.
T.H.E – So, what have you been up to?
LVNDSCAPE- Well, first of all, I just recovered from an injury on my knee so yesterday was the first time I was playing after being out for so long, at Sam Feldt’s party so very glad to be back on stage.
T.H.E – What happened?
LVNDSCAPE – Well, my front ligament had torn which happened with football… with soccer (laughs) so I needed to have surgery on it. It’s been 7 weeks since the surgery and this week is the first week without crutches so I’m glad to be at ADE um and yeah, the rest is making music and trying to be back in good shape.
T.H.E – Considering you have been following soccer for quite some time, how does it feel to be out for so long?
LVNDSCAPE – I can’t play soccer for about 9 months in total, at least, so I hope I will be recovered in 9 months.
T.H.E – Which club do you follow?
LVNDSCAPE – I love Feyenoord, it’s a club from Rotterdam which is another big city in the Netherlands. That’s my favorite club. I do also like Manchester United.
T.H.E – And from a music point of view, how has 2018 been for you?
LVNDSCAPE – It’s been very well yeah because I have a lot of new releases.
T.H.E – Love the new single, by the way, RIOT.
LVNDSCAPE – The single… RIOT! Oh yeah!
T.H.E – I’m a big fan of it.
LVNDSCAPE – Oh, thank you so much man, thank you.
T.H.E – How has like 2018 been like for you overall? When you started off, obviously you might have some goals that you wanted to do this year. From that point of view, how has 2018 been for you?
LVNDSCAPE – Um… yeah well like I said, a lot of new releases, did some remixes and I know there’s a lot of new tracks coming out so yeah 2018 has been… till today quite amazing with a lot of support so very happy about that.
T.H.E – And there are still a few months to go, so what do you got lined up?
LVNDSCAPE – Um well this month…. no, no next month is the new single coming out it’s called “Apologize”.
T.H.E – On?
LVNDSCAPE – On Spinnin’, so I am looking very forward to the release of the track. It’s with an American rapper called Jaden so it’s like a house beat with a rapper on it.
T.H.E – That’s interesting.
LVNDSCAPE – Yeah, it’s something new but it’s coming out next month so I can not tell a lot more about it.
T.H.E – And oh from a touring point of view of what are your plans going forward? Are there sort of new markets you want to visit?
LVNDSCAPE – Yes I really want to. Well, I’ve been to Japan for the very first time …. 3 months ago so the Asian market is I think, the best for me to play. The people are going crazy and I’ve been to some other places like Jakarta and um I’m going to Thailand next week. I also want to visit Southern America, countries such as Mexico… Brazil yeah, that’s on my list for sure.
T.H.E – Let’s talk about your name for a moment real quick. What is the message behind LVNDSCAPE and why did you choose LVNDSCAPE as your DJ name?
LVNDSCAPE – Um I think LVNDSCAPE is the feeling of the very first few tracks that I released. It sounded like very earthly with some bird sounds and waterfalls and like yeah very chill out yeah it’s kind of hard to explain but um a friend of mine came up with the name and it all fits together um but we have to change the ‘A’ for a ‘V’ because if you Google landscape with an ‘A’, you only see mountains!
T.H.E – What brought you into electronic music?
LVNDSCAPE – When I was 15 years old I was watching Tiesto of course. I think it was during the Olympics, he was playing at the Olympics and I loved it. Then I got like a very cheap mixer from my parents and that was the first time I was trying to play with tracks and songs and from that moment on, I was hooked. I didn’t want anything else, I wanted to be a DJ.
T.H.E – So you learned everything by yourself?
LVNDSCAPE – Yup yup. Well, I got some tips and tricks advice by some bigger DJ’s, um some Dutch heroes for me like Baggi Begovic and yeah, those guys helped me a little bit with how to play and how to perform and yeah that’s been for over more than 10 years ago and now we are here signed at Spinnin so I am very glad for the path that I have taken.
T.H.E – And you have obviously defined a sound for yourself, through all your releases.
LVNDSCAPE – That’s good to hear. I mean I am trying. I’m trying!
T.H.E – It obviously didn’t happen overnight, it happened over time but um is that something that we expect you to continue producing or do we see you producing different genres?
LVNDSCAPE – Yes and no, um because first I started with a tropical house sound with very uplifting, happy sounds but now it’s a wider spectrum of music from like 80 bpm to 150 bpm all different kinds of music because I want to evolve, I don’t want to do Tropical house only so that’s why RIOT is more like a pop song with a sort of future bass trappy vibe on it um but the next one “Apologize” is like 100 bpm very chill, very slow so I am trying to do a very wide arrangement of music but still with a bit of LVNDSCAPE signature with certain percussions and style.
T.H.E – When you get in the studio, what is the kind of thought process you deploy by making music. How do you come up with the melody?
LVNDSCAPE – Most of the time it doesn’t happen in the studio, it happens before the studio. It happens when you walk on the streets when you hear some sounds or when you’re listening to the radio and yeah it’s like a process going in your head. It happens and then you remember it, when you’re in the studio you’re trying to work stuff out but it’s not that I am sitting behind the MIDI board and think ok now we are going to put this in, no no it happens way before.
T.H.E – Which DAW do you work with?
LVNDSCAPE – Logic… logic yeah.
T.H.E – Is that something that you would recommend for all producers?
LVNDSCAPE – Yes, yes.
T.H.E – Why?
LVNDSCAPE – Um well I started a very long time ago with Music Maker, I don’t know if you know it. It’s old school and then people were telling me to try to use Fruity Loops but I couldn’t see it with the patterns and that’s when I started Logic and I think Logic is quite easy… if you have a Mac of course and I always had a Mac (laughs) so I couldn’t do Ableton or Pro or other stuff you know like Qbase and I only had Logic so um yeah, that’s I think it’s one of the easiest things.
T.H.E – You’ve been to so many cities in terms of touring and all.
LVNDSCAPE – Yeah, a little bit… yeah.
T.H.E – Which has been your favorite city to play at so far?
LVNDSCAPE – Um well, Japan is crazy. I’ve been to Osaka, it’s really great. I love the town, it’s so clean, so fresh and the people are amazing um that’s what I love.
T.H.E – Did you like the food there?
LVNDSCAPE – The food well some things weren’t meant for me (laughs) they have a little different taste but I like sushi. I love sushi so the base of things with salmon and tuna, those were perfect but the promoter was giving me like other stuff and I was like no man…
T.H.E – What other stuff?
LVNDSCAPE – With like shellfish but with the cartilage so it’s like cracky, like if you are chewing on a bone (laughs) yeah it was weird… it was weird so I said sorry man but I have to… to spit it out I’m so sorry um so yeah, Osaka is very cool and I love the eastern European countries like the Czech Republic and especially Prague. And yeah, I played in Miami and that’s also amazing.
T.H.E – Now we just have a series of like fun questions.
LVNDSCAPE – OK.
T.H.E – Favorite movie?
LVNDSCAPE – Favorite movie. Depends on what kind of genre but the best movie for me is um…. um whoa, that’s a difficult question (laughs) I think yeah I like The Godfather.
T.H.E – The Godfather.
LVNDSCAPE – Yeah I really like The Godfather.
T.H.E – The first one?
LVNDSCAPE – All three!
T.H.E – And favorite animal?
LVNDSCAPE – Um well, I have a dog. I love dogs.
T.H.E – You have a dog?
LVNDSCAPE – Yeah… I love dogs.
T.H.E – What’s his or her name?
LVNDSCAPE – Pablo.
T.H.E – Pablo.
LNVDSCAPE – Yeah, Pablo is my dog.
T.H.E – Favorite football player?
LVNDSCAPE – Uff… this is difficult um… I really don’t have a favorite football player um… no no, I can not answer this question. Ok, well do you know Dirk Kuyt?
T.H.E – Yup, Kuyt.
LVNDSCAPE – Yes yes. He’s like a very known Dutch player.
T.H.E – Yeah the guy used to play at Liverpool.
LVNDSCAPE – Liverpool yes. So that’s my favorite football player.
T.H.E – And oh which celebrity would you rate as a perfect ten and as a perfect zero? Two celebrities – perfect ten and perfect zero?
LVNDSCAPE – (Laughs) I think Armin van Buuren is the perfect ten because he’s such a humble guy and he’s so relaxed and still like a legend and a god. So when I met him it’s he was like very cool and down to earth “yo man, what’s up?” and you can see that in his music and in how he performs and so, he is the perfect ten for me. And the perfect zero, I don’t hate a lot but there are some people I would give a zero.
T.H.E – Who is the funniest DJ that you know?
LVNDSCAPE – The funniest DJ… hmmm. Well, I have a lot of fun with Steve of Lucas & Steve.
Those guys are very funny… um, especially Steve. He is crazy um yeah but all the DJs are a bit similar, we’re all trying to be funny.
T.H.E – Favorite drink?
Water. I drink water all the time. I am trying to drink at least 3 liters of water a day.
T.H.E – Favorite cuisine.
LVNDSCAPE – Sushi, i.e Japanese or Italian
T.H.E – Cool! Thank brings us to the end of this interview! Thanks, man.
LVNDSCAPE – Thank you so much, man. Thank you!
