The Los Angeles based DJ, producer, music production mentor and Co-Founder of Broken records, Left/Right is buzzing off his debut album, Big Rave Energy that has garnered support from artists such as Gorgon City and Leftwing:Kody. The album further inspired a new immerse live show experience powered by Left/Right’s CONDUIT real life and digital visuals and aesthetics project.
The LP sprouted a new branch of electronica with house music and break beats at its roots that certainly set off the Boiler Room in Dallas eariler this year.
Over the spring Left/Right revealed the hard work he has been putting in the studio along his carefully curated CONDUIT tour that featured AI and AR innovations, sidequests and more with a collective of over 25 different artists. Left/Right’s next CONDUIT series will explore the human and AI experience in art and philosophy later this year.
Left/Right’s progressive take on dance music, his lazer focused passion to elevate the scene and legendary performances has us curious on his story, so without futher ado, our interview with Left/Right.
What stages did you perform on during Burning Man and Lightning in a Bottle? Can you share something you have taken away or a good memory from either or both of those festivals?
I’ve been to Burning Man many years now, so a lot of it blurs together but some of my most memorable moments have been my sunrise sets either on Icarus Art Car or the Dirty Goat Roadhouse as well as some of the bigger stages/cars including Sonic Soul Tribe, Sanctuary Art Car, Opulent Temple and many others. I’ve had hundreds of cool art experiences there as well.
At LIB I played the Stacks stage late night which was also a vibe and I got to go heavier there. In general, Burning Man has actually been a great motivator for me to make art and create experiences beyond just making music – the ethos and interest in tech-art shows up a lot in my CONDUIT art events, too.
What is a more unique track you have mixed into one of your sets?
‘Ecstatic Descent’ by Ayesha has been a fav recently 🙂 Or anything by Throwing Snow.
Can you elaborate on the overarching message or concept for the new album?
Yes! Although the title is a bit tongue and cheek, it really is about more of a positive underlying feeling about life – something I really tried to portray that both in the art and title track. I’m really into the idea that so much of what makes our existence beautiful is just in the act of connecting, making art, and dancing. In the song, there’s a quote that says, “It’s this weird, mysterious joy. We’re trying to come together to connect… to be human. We’re like nothing that’s ever lived.”
I wanted the image of the person ascending to encapsulate this, something transcendent. And I try to capture that feeling many times on the album (see: Windows, The Way, Waiting, Guide) and many more. I wouldn’t say I’m a big PLUR person as it can come off a bit cheesy but I definitely think that’s something it stands for and I’m behind that for sure.
What were some of your favorite innovations or music techniques that progressed your sound throughout your new album?
I’d say using analog synths were a much bigger part of this album: I used my Prophet Rev2 and Moog a lot throughout. Another thing I focused on was making sure I had a variety of moods, tempos and genres that flowed – with singles you just need to focus on one but having multiple moods flow over the course of the album and changing the order was something I spent a lot of time on.
Big Rave Energy, what events or raves have you attended or played that had that Big Rave Energy?
Funny enough I’d say a lot of my favorite events have been smaller underground events that were just packed to the gills and sweat dripping from the walls or super immersive experiences – that’s what we try and do at CONDUIT. I think that really is my favorite vibe. In terms of larger events I’ve also loved Shambhala and Glastonbury as well as an expired festival I loved call Day for Night.
How did you initially cross paths with E.R.N.E.S.T.O (Dirtybird/Toolroom)?
Good question! I believe we originally got to know each other via Punks, the London label we both released on, and eventually we hung out in Miami. He did a great remix on my tune “One/Two“ which actually play more than my version… we teamed up again for our collab on the album Deeper; I really appreciate his unique sounds and ways of melding electro, miami bass and breaks alongside house.
Your Boiler Room set was insane. What is a moment that sticks out from that day?
It was so badass to see that night come together, since it was a collaboration with CONDUIT + the venue It’ll Do and we worked a long time for it to be special and memorable with Boiler Room. At the end of the day just remembering how wild the show was and getting to play a lot of special remixes and edits I’d made just for that night was really fulfilling.
Can you share about the new concept series of interactive art you revealed at your shows in San Francisco and Dallas?
Sure, this is our first year to take CONDUIT to new cities, and we try and have a new concept for each series. This one is very in the AI – hacker realm and about your exploration of a sentient between the corporation nCarnation and the mysterious entity R.O.S.E. Helpful hint- once you arrive you’ll find out it’s not your first time there 😉
We worked with a collective of over 25 artists this time including an interactive website with ai interactivity, Augmented Reality scavenger hunt, a full storyline with sidequests, secret messages, plot twists and everyone who walks in gets a floppy disc, haha.
THIS FRIDAY : the art installation party @C_O_N_D_U_I_T returns to @itlldoclub! On deck for this edition : @nikki__nair / @leftrightmusic / @DannyGoliger / @DJBostonKassidy
? : https://t.co/Nf7SffUK3v pic.twitter.com/Y06qe4rpBq
— It’ll Do Club (@itlldoclub) May 31, 2023
What is one of the first lessons you give when mentoring in the studio? What is the biggest hurdle to overcome when starting to produce music?
Ooh great questions. Often the first lesson I teach is about drums and understanding phrasing and turn-arounds…it’s not a hard concept to understand but yields a lot of productivity in improving people’s writing.
The biggest hurdle for most all artists in my opinion is their own mind. Every artist is different but most of us all struggle with similar ideas (my music isn’t good enough, why do ‘they’ get this opportunity and not me, having trouble with motivation to sit down) – I try to attack each of those with each student individually. I think the biggest thing to remember in the industry is if you make music because you love it, then learning to enjoy the journey, sharing it with others, and trying not to compare yourself are all important concepts to learn early and stick with / practice.
What is something you have recently learned in the studio?
I learn something new everyday – often from my students! The latest thing I’ve been most excited about though was learning Touch Designer which is a modular visual program for our CONDUIT shows – that has been very exciting to me and I hope to integrate it more in my performances / art.
I am excited to see what you all have been developing at CONDUIT.xr. When do you think the beta signup list will be available for the electronic music and virtual reality experiences you are building? Any more updates or insight around Conduit?
That makes me so happy to hear, honestly. We do need to start an email list, actually! 🙂 Anyone that wants to be involved as an artist or attendee can mail us at [email protected] or follow / dm us at @conduitcreative. Yes the next thing we’re focusing on is building the label a bit more with our first compilation and now that we’ve finished shows in Dallas + SF I’ll be working on shows in LA / Denver most likely for the fall, possibly Austin as well. 🙂
Favorite dessert?
Haha I’m actually not much of a sweets guy, but occasionally I do like a cheesecake with espresso.
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