A lot of the new house revival makes me feel like I'm trapped in a shitty nightclub with a bunch of idiots on drugs in the 90s. Maybe it's because I wasn't listening to that branch of techno at the time, or maybe it's because I did get trapped in a lot of bad clubs with jerks. While acts like Kangaroo Skull have nailed the bleak feeling of being too high to go home and left with no option but to keep dancing forever, Melbourne producer Les Level makes music that evokes a much warmer aspect of the clubbing universe. His debut 12" sounds like finding yourself in a taxi on the way home after a bender that should have turned you into a regretful zombie, but has instead left you with a cathartic feeling of blitzed out contentedness. The kind of bullet-dodging perfect storm experience where you catch your reflection in the rearview mirror and think "wow I'm actually looking pretty bloody okay for someone who has been up for three days". Luke Brown (the man responsible for Les Level's laid back house style) was also recently behind the now defunct dark industrial project PCP. How does one move from making brooding gothic dance to soothing tropical house? We caught up for a beer to talk transformation.
Luke Brown: Well, I met my girlfriend and became happy, so I wrote a happy record! (laughs) The industrial stuff, while I loved it, wasn't really what I was about. With this record I sat down and made music based on how I felt, and that's what happened. The main music I listen to is post-punk, then post-punk house music, and industrial, that's what I love. All the house records I collect, all the old post-punk records, they have the same kinda energy, the same "fuck you", the same weirdness about them. They aren't commercial Top 40 records. They are all made by weird people, so they kind of fall into the same thing.Electronic music in Melbourne moves through a lot of phases – especially in terms of retro fashion. What do you think of the 90s thing that is coming up now? How do you see yourself fitting into it?
I think it's inevitable. Right now with the 90s thing, the kids that do the fashion side of it scare the hell out of me. They do it so well and look so authentic, even though they were barely born when it first happened. It's terrifying! As far as the way it influences music, I can definitely see the trend of rave elements coming into a lot of production, from Top 40 dub step tracks to industrial house records, and electronic dance floor music. 90s house music and 90s techno has always been popular with DJs at the clubs we all go to. Stuff like Larry Heard / Mr. Fingers has never been out of fashion - DJs have always played that stuff. So I don't feel that my particular record can be classified as 90s per se, although it is definitely an influence.You run a club night and are known around town as part of the DJ teams Leslie Salvador and Negativ Majick. What impact has your DJing activity had on writing your own tracks?
I guess playing out for so many years is a benefit because you get to see what works on the dance floor, you get to see what people are feeling, even though that changes over the years, you can see what small nuances of sound you can do to make people feel certain ways. With this record I didn't want it to be too minimal or DJ friendly, I wanted it to be a pop record in the sense that each song has a verse and a chorus and a breakdown, an intro and outro. I like that formula because it's catchy, and although it might not be as avant-garde as some other electronic music that's out there, it's memorable.I remember when I was younger and made the transition out of my gnarly goth phase – I cut my hair and took my nose ring out and begrudgingly discovered this whole new world of people who were suddenly willing to talk to me. Do you think that now you are making music that is more palatable to so many more people, you won't ever make industrial music again?
(laughs) Definitely not! I probably won't make any more as PCP. I feel that Les Level is it now. There might be industrial flavoured music that comes under that moniker though. I've been working on some New Age tracks lately, and some really dirty ghetto house tracks too. I think Les Level feels honest, and feels right, and the music I make under that name can go in many different streams. I'd like people to look at Les Level and see diversity. I'd rather not be pigeonholed into a genre.Les Level's debut 12" House Of Need is out now through 100% Silk.Miles Brown plays the theremin, writes music and yells about things in Melbourne. Follow him @M1le5Br0wn
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THUMP: PCP was quite a gloomy proposition. What prompted the shift to the lighter sounds of Les Level?
Luke Brown: Well, I met my girlfriend and became happy, so I wrote a happy record! (laughs) The industrial stuff, while I loved it, wasn't really what I was about. With this record I sat down and made music based on how I felt, and that's what happened. The main music I listen to is post-punk, then post-punk house music, and industrial, that's what I love. All the house records I collect, all the old post-punk records, they have the same kinda energy, the same "fuck you", the same weirdness about them. They aren't commercial Top 40 records. They are all made by weird people, so they kind of fall into the same thing.Electronic music in Melbourne moves through a lot of phases – especially in terms of retro fashion. What do you think of the 90s thing that is coming up now? How do you see yourself fitting into it?
I think it's inevitable. Right now with the 90s thing, the kids that do the fashion side of it scare the hell out of me. They do it so well and look so authentic, even though they were barely born when it first happened. It's terrifying! As far as the way it influences music, I can definitely see the trend of rave elements coming into a lot of production, from Top 40 dub step tracks to industrial house records, and electronic dance floor music. 90s house music and 90s techno has always been popular with DJs at the clubs we all go to. Stuff like Larry Heard / Mr. Fingers has never been out of fashion - DJs have always played that stuff. So I don't feel that my particular record can be classified as 90s per se, although it is definitely an influence.You run a club night and are known around town as part of the DJ teams Leslie Salvador and Negativ Majick. What impact has your DJing activity had on writing your own tracks?
I guess playing out for so many years is a benefit because you get to see what works on the dance floor, you get to see what people are feeling, even though that changes over the years, you can see what small nuances of sound you can do to make people feel certain ways. With this record I didn't want it to be too minimal or DJ friendly, I wanted it to be a pop record in the sense that each song has a verse and a chorus and a breakdown, an intro and outro. I like that formula because it's catchy, and although it might not be as avant-garde as some other electronic music that's out there, it's memorable.I remember when I was younger and made the transition out of my gnarly goth phase – I cut my hair and took my nose ring out and begrudgingly discovered this whole new world of people who were suddenly willing to talk to me. Do you think that now you are making music that is more palatable to so many more people, you won't ever make industrial music again?
(laughs) Definitely not! I probably won't make any more as PCP. I feel that Les Level is it now. There might be industrial flavoured music that comes under that moniker though. I've been working on some New Age tracks lately, and some really dirty ghetto house tracks too. I think Les Level feels honest, and feels right, and the music I make under that name can go in many different streams. I'd like people to look at Les Level and see diversity. I'd rather not be pigeonholed into a genre.Les Level's debut 12" House Of Need is out now through 100% Silk.Miles Brown plays the theremin, writes music and yells about things in Melbourne. Follow him @M1le5Br0wn