Interview With LVDS (10 Questions to…)

01. EST: Who are you, how old are you, what are you doing and where are you from?
LVDS: Hi! My name is Laurens and I produce music under the name of LVDS. My main genre is Swing Hop, which is a blend between Electro Swing and Hip Hop. As I love to experiment with different music styles I also release a lot of other stuff like Swing and Bass and Swing House. I am 27 years old and I live in Roosendaal, a small town in the south of The Netherlands.

02. EST: How did you come to music producing and what musically influences and roots do you have?
LVDS: I always had a big interest in different music styles. When I was just a little kid I used to go crazy on Firestarter by The Prodigy when the videoclip came on. That track is definitely still one of my all time favorites. A few years later my dad introduced me to Rammstein, a very famous German metal band, which I still listen to a lot. But I can also enjoy some relaxing Jazz and Blues music, it depends on the mood that I am in. When I was around 15 or 16 I began producing my own music. That was a lot of House music back then. I wanted people to hear the music that I made, so I also decided to perform on stage and do DJ sets. I played a lot of festivals and clubs, but after a few years I felt like this was not the music that I wanted to produce anymore. After a little break I started to produce music as LVDS, which I finally found my musical direction in.

03. EST: Why did you choose Electro Swing and Swing Hop and where is the musical attraction and the specialty in these genres?
LVDS: What attracts me the most in this genre is the blend between old and new. I always listen to a lot of really old 1920-1930’s songs. I love to dig up new samples and combine them with the inspiration I have for the new parts of the song. I also like the fact that Electro Swing has no boundaries in my opinion. The genre is very diverse, and it has a lot of subgenres to experiment with.

04. EST: Has the corona crisis hit you and what has changed for you?
LVDS: I think the Corona crisis has hit us all in some kind of manner. The impact of it is huge. It’s sad to see it causes so many health and economic problems. Let’s just hope this doesn’t last too long anymore, so we can continue our normal lives. The crisis also created a lot of spare time for me because everything is pretty much closed. This resulted in a lot of studio time and productivity for me to finish the album.

05. EST: What else do you do, do you live from music and what are your interests and hobbies?
LVDS: At the moment I still have a daily job besides music. My main goal with LVDS is to be able to make a living from it and being totally focussed on making music, which is increasingly going in the right direction now luckily. When I have spare time I love to watch some good movies and series and hang out with friends to game or have a few drinks with.

06. EST: What do you think about man-made climate change and what can we all do about it, do we have to change as a society?
LVDS: I think it’s a very important issue, which most people aren’t aware of. I love it when people are doing their very best to prevent cases of climate change, but we have to do it all together. All small bits help, but we definitely have to change as a society to get these problems of this size changed in a good way.

07. EST: What’s the political attitude of Electro Swing in the 21st century, if Swing in the Roaring Twenties fought for emancipation, anti-apartheid, social justice and better morals, or is it just about music and fun?
LVDS: Of Course Electro Swing is all about having fun and enjoying the vibe. But I think everyone has their own feelings with the music they listen to. I believe if they fight or stand for something, music can help them to achieve these goals. Whether these are political goals or not. Music really connects people.

08. EST: How do the ideas of your tracks come about and how do you discover the original vintage samples of your tracks?
LVDS: I start with hours of listening to 1920-1940’s music, not only to dig for samples, but also because I really love the old “vintage” feeling. It’s like stepping into a time machine. After I have found some nice samples to work with, I combine them, together with my drums and “new” sounds. I usually use some guitar or piano cuts to top it off.

09. EST: What do you dislike about Electro Swing, could something be improved and how will the genre sound in a few years, are there new crossings?
LVDS: There is nothing to dislike about Electro Swing! I love how the genre is growing and more and more people are listening to it. There will absolutely be new crossings. You already see it nowadays. There are a lot of subgenres, which I also produce. Like Swing House, Swing and Bass and so on. I assume there will pop up a few “Swingstep” and “Swingstyle” tracks in the future ;)

10. EST: What are your plans and releases for the future?
LVDS: For now, most of the time I will be promoting the album. It’s been some busy months producing  tracks for it. I also have other ideas besides making music, like a little webshop with merchandise and hardcopy albums / vinyls which I can focus on right now. At the moment I have 1 collaboration planned with Wolfgang Lohr. I am really looking forward to this release. Far before I was into Electro Swing I used to listen to his music already. So this is a special one! After this collaboration there will be enough tracks to be released, but I can’t say when or what. First things first, and that’s the album.

EST: Thanks for this great interview, it was very exciting and interesting to find out more about you and your way. Good luck for your future plans and most important thing: stay healthy!