[thun-der] a loud, explosive, resonating noise produced by the explosive expansion of air heating by a lightning discharge. Our good friend Ludovic Llorca aka Art Of Tones is back on Lazy Days with a bang. A double header featuring Thunder and Secousse.Thunder comes in two versions, showcasing a more electronic side of his production while retaining its unmistakable groove.Secousse goes back to his love for 90s House and comes with a remix from Fred Everything keeping things bouncy during this lockdown summer.
“Ludovic Llorca aka Art Of Tones has been one of my favourite producers for over 20 years now. I’m very lucky to be able to call him my good friend as well as being able to release his music on Lazy Days.
His newest offering, Thunder/Secousse, comes out Friday. While it’s a slight departure from his Disco & Funk influence he’s gotten us used to lately, It’s as strong as you can expect from this prolific and versatile artist. Here’s a little q&a to find out a bit more about the man behind the music, in the time of covid.” Fred Everything.
INTERVIEW
Hi Ludo! How are you and what have you been up to the past few months?
Hi Fred ! I’m good, I’ve been mainly working on remixes lately, still a lot of remix requests coming in my mailbox these days. I’ve also been composing a few original tracks.
Have you noticed a spike in productivity or a lack of motivation (or both)?
A lack of motivation, definitely! But I’m not freaking out, I know I usually go through creative cycles. I can produce music 10 hours a day for 8 months then feel a bit uninspired – that’s usually the right time for recharging the batteries, stop a for a little while, reading, doing something else… Right now, I know it’s impacting my long term projects more than my daily composing routine.
What does dance music mean to you now that there are no dance floors
Well, that’s the thing : what’s the point in making dance music if you know people can’t dance to your music ? I’ve got a few Art Of Tones tracks ready but I don’t feel like releasing them right now. When you spend so much time on a track, putting so much effort in the composing, editing, mixing, you don’t want the track to be forgotten after a couple of weeks.
You are located in the south of France in Perpignan. An area not particularly known for clubbing. Did you feel isolated without the travels and being able to connect in person with fellow producers?
Travelling usually brings some fresh air in my life. There’s no proper club or bar, or electronic scene where I live, and I usually gets my inspiration when travelling abroad… when you travel and dj in a busy club in Italy, UK, or Asia, and you play your own tracks, you can feel that what you’re doing on your own, in your studio, is worth it. I’m a lonely person, I like to spend time on my own, making music in my studio, and travelling breaks this deadly routine.
In the past few years, we’ve gotten used to a more disco side of your production. This showcases a more electronic side to your production. Can you tell us more about your new EP Thunder/Secousse. What was the inspiration behind each tracks who bare a similar theme?
Thunder was composed a couple of years ago, but at the time I wasn’t happy with the mix and the whole sound. I played the bass with my Model D and mixed it again some months ago, and I thought it’s a good track because it’s different from the stuff I usually release. There’s still this disco element with the beat, but the rest is very electronic. When I composed it, I thought of the music I:Cube was making 10 years ago, but I also thought of the early Innervisions sound for the electronic and melodic side of the track.
What equipment was key to the sound of the ep?
The bass was done with a layer of Behringer Model D and a layer of Diva plug-ins. I think some of the chords were done with a Juno 106 one of my friend lent me one for a few months. The rest is done with software and plug ins. I’m more a software guy than a synth freak. The track was mixed again with the Neve 8816 summing desk I bought last year.
You’ve done a few EP and remixes for us already, what does Lazy Days mean to you and do you feel you can express yourself creatively differently?
First, to me Lazy Days is YOUR label, so it means it’s my friend’s label! I usually keep the most electronic tracks for Lazy Days because, well, I guess this is how I see Lazy Days : an electronic, elegant deep house label. The good thing is that it enables me to compose or release different music – I’m trying not to focus on the “disco” elements with my lazy days releases, and rather focus on the “electronic” element. After all, that’s what this Art Of Tones project was supposed to be in the first place with my early projects on 20:20 Vision! And I’m proud of the different stuff I’m releasing on Lazy Days – recently some friends told me they heard “Elephants”, they didn’t know the tune and they loved it – they seemed positively surprised. I guess it’s a way to showcase another side of my music.
Thanks for the kind words indeed! Now, tell us something we don’t know about me
You’re secretly in love with me and wanted me to move to Canada.
You know me all too well. Now tell us something we don’t know about you.
Something about us maybe : we call each others funny names on the phone or in the messages :-) Patate, Patatos, cocovin… it’s usually food-related nicknames, go figure! Currently it’s “cocovid”.
I’m sure people will find these anecdotes super interesting…or not! We share a love for wine, how many bottles of wine have you drank during confinement?
Hahahah a lot! You know we both are natural wine lover, and you know I drank a lot of natural wine during lockdown, especially when my girlfriend was at my place as we couldn’t do “apero” with friends, we were doing “apero” together.
Apero is my wife’s favorite word, so I can dig it! Any Séries, books, movies, albums that kept you busy and, any recommendations?
Movies : “Uncut Gems”, “Cet obscur objet du desir”, “Katie says goodbye”, “Teddy Pendergrass : If You Don’t Know Me”, “Les Miserables”, “Portrait de la jeune fille en feu”, “Ne croyez surtout pas que je hurle”
Series :”I know this much is true”, definitely one of the best series I’ve watched. I’ve also watched “The Deuce”
Albums : Resavoir “Resavoir”, Cleo Sol “Rose In The Dark”, Ludivine Issambourg “Outlaws”, Altin Gun “Gece”, the “Africa Airways 6” compilation
Books : Didier Eribon “Retour a reims”, Echenoz “la vie de gerard fulmar” , Fabcaro “Open Bar2”, Marc Endeweld “Macron, Le grand manipulateur”, Emmanuel Todd “La Lutte des classes au 21eme siecle”, Pastoureau “Le petit livre des couleurs”
Interview by Fred Everything
