At the forefront of Canada's growing dance scene is Luke Fair. He has performed at some of the most prestigious venues and events in the world, offering club goers a taste of his funky - techy eclectic house sound each and every weekend. His sets include everything from groovy house and techno to funky progressive and electro. Constantly re-editing tracks to customize his sets, Luke's ongoing desire to make every set stand out from the others is very evident.

Luke has pushed his sound the world over, headlining at world renowned clubs like Pacha (Buenos Aires), Bedrock (London), Red Light (Paris), Space (Miami), 'Zouk' club (Singapore) and The Womb (Tokyo). He headlined the 8000 person 'Moonpark' party in Argentina this past June and Luke's recent Eastern European tour with John Digweed ended at Godskitchen's massive Global Gathering festival.

Luke's skills have won the praise of some of the industry's biggest players. He was chosen by Danny Howells and Deep Dish as their 'future hero' in DJ Mag's Top 100 issue and, most recently, Luke was selected by none other than DJ Sasha to open up for him in every US city on the Involver CD release tour. He has also toured extensively with John Digweed and John that also signed Luke for his Bedrock label. In 2005 Luke Fair released his Original Series OS_3 album on Bedrock.

Over the past few years, Luke has garnered attention for his extremely diverse and genre-crossing studio efforts. From dubbed-out house to melodic progressive, his tracks have been played by djs from all across the dance music spectrum. Everyone from Sasha to David Morales to The Plump DJs have all included Luke's production in their sets. As well, Pete Tong has featured numerous Luke Fair productions on his world famous BBC Radio 1 'Essential Selection' show.

Luke Fair has carved quite a reputation for himself as a producer and passionately experimental DJ, making him the perfect choice to follow others on the Balance series, such as James Holden, Chris Fortier, Phil K, Paolo Mojo, Desyn Masiello, Anthony Pappa and Jimmy Van M. Fair’s music can be described as groovy, funky, housy and techy all at the same time.

He has created a signature style for himself by creating and re-editing versions of songs for his own sets. In the studio, his genre-crossing productions run the gamut from Dub House to melodic Progressive. His music has landed on every major radio show across the world, including BBC’s Radio 1 Essential Mix and Proton Radio, and his edits have graced the decks with DJs from Digweed to Morillo.
How did you approach the task on putting together the Balance 11 compilation?
- I basically wanted to make a CD that would be reflective of a club night, from open to close, as opposed to just a two hour peak time mix. I also wanted to make sure I didn't limit myself to just the newer upcoming stuff. Using every resource to find the best possible music for the CD was what I wanted to do. I searched for many hours a day for almost 3 months looking for tunes, and sometimes hunted specifically for one track or two to fit on certain parts of the CD.
How was doing Balance 11 than mixing your fantastic Bedrock OS_03 compilation?
- The Bedrock CD was a little more clubby. When I say that I mean 'peak time', and everything was pretty current on that CD. Since it was only one CD, I didn't have a lot of time to weave through different sounds, so just tried to make it similar to my live sets. Balance 11 is a double CD which allowed me more freedom to be creative and choose a broader selection.
When I listen to the compilation; CD1 is a fantastic ride, almost filmic in its build and tempo and the tracks are carefully selected and mixed together. On CD2 you step up the tempo, but you still keeps everything in balance and the dynamic of each track is fantastic. Did you have a set goal when you stated out – or was it just something that evolved over the period of production?
- It's definitely what I was aiming for. I have so much amazing music that I never get to play out as it's too deep. So I focused CD 1 on those sounds. Since I'm usually DJing later in the night, there's
rarely a lot of time for a nice long, slow build. CD 2 was a little more similar to live sets, but I put a lot more time into the sequencing and tune selecting than I get to do with an on-the-fly liveset.
Was it easy for you find the right tracks for the compilation?
- It wasn't really hard, but it was extremely time consuming. I wanted to make sure I left no stone unturned, so put all my time into finding the tracks. I searched all the major record and mp3 sites pouring through their current stuff and back stock. I didn't want to finish the CD and think that I could have tried harder or looked in more places
How do you feel, now you are done with with the compilation – and is it as you wanted it to be?
- I've never been happier with something I've done, either a track or a mix. It turned out almost how I had envisioned it in my head be-fore I even started. Things obviously changed in the process, de-pending on the songs I found, but overall it was what I aimed to do.
I haven't had the pleasure hearing you DJ, is the Balance CD an example of your style?
- CD 2 is a pretty good example of how I like to play in a club. Obviously there's so many variables that go into live sets...based on the crowd or the opening DJ or any number of other things, but CD 2 is how I would play live if those factors weren't in place. Overall it's very similar though.

Tell me a bit about your style and what tools you are using – CD/Vinyl/Abelton ???
- I haven't mixed a record in a club in around 4 years. I play strictly on CD. Around half of the music I play I originally buy on vinyl though. It's so surprising that lots of labels don't make their music available digitally. There's a whole new generation of DJs who have never mixed a record in their lives. When I buy the vinyl I record it straight into my computer, edit bits if it's needed, then burn it straight to CD. I'd like to get into Ableton, as I do most of my edits on there, but I'm not ready to be doing live sets with it just yet.

I also understand that you do you own edits of tracks – what edits do you normally do the tracks?
- A lot of times it's very minor, either extending an outro or cutting out a part I don't like. Many times though, there's less than half of a track that I like, so I take that half and turn it into a new track. I think it's really important for all DJs to be editing now. It's so easy and it's a great stepping stone into production. Pretty much everyone these days has access to the same music, so you really have to get creative if you want your sets to stand out.

How do you feel about the strong electro influence the scene is under at the moment?
- Like any current trend, there's lots of good stuff and even more bad stuff. Whenever a sound gets popular, you get all these producers copying the style. All it means is that you have to dig even harder to find the good stuff, but those that do are rewarded!
How do you see the future music and style wise – we have see somechange into a more chilled (down tempo) – do you thing that we will see a rise again of the progressive sound?
- It's tough to say. I don't think anyone really knows what the word 'progressive' means anymore. It's been used to label so many different styles lately. I think it's more of a style of DJing than a certain sound now. I think music will always follow the same cycle, and it's tough to say what will happen in the near future. A sound will get big, become oversaturated and then die out a bit until it's time again for it to be popular. I'll put my money on polka in '08!
You are hailed to be one of the frontrunners of the Canadian club scene - tell me a bit about the Canadian club scene?
- Canadian club scene is great. I obviously know Toronto's the best, as that's where I'm from. There's a massive scene for almost every genre there. Be it house or techno or drum and bass or trance. The crowds are really open minded and have been exposed to everything, so they're very educated and a lot of fun to play for. I'd play in Toronto over any city in North America any day, but unfortunately it only happens about once a year now due to travelling so much.
How do you see the club scene around world at the moment – any favourite venues?
- It's amazing just how far reaching dance music is now. Pretty much everywhere has a scene, and one of the great perks of this job is I get to see so many different ones in different stages. Some places it's very new, and the crowds have that raw energy that you rarely find anywhere else. Other places you go have been exposed to it for nearly 2 decades and the crowds are a little more reserved but educated. Argentina is probably my favourite place in the world to play. It's pretty amazing there because they've had a pretty long running scene but they are so passionate and responsive that you'd think everyone in the club is out for the first time ever.
What are your feelings that everything is coming out on MP3?
- It's a double edged sword. One great thing about it is that it doesn't cost $20 for one track anymore. But the other side of the coin is that anyone can start a digital label. There's no quality control anymore and anyone with a computer can release a song. When it was only vinyl, you had to go through the label's A & R, then they had to decide if it was worth it to release... factoring in all the pressing costs. That's why I mainly search for my music in online record stores, then check to see if each track has been released digitally. There's a better ratio there in finding the good ones.

What else are you working on and are we going to see any tracks or remixes from you in the near future?
- I'm finally back in the studio. I haven't really made anything in around 2-3 years, due to lack of inspiration and travelling a lot. I got re inspired after doing the Balance CD as I listened to so much music. Two tracks are nearly finished, and I want to do two more for an EP. It should all be done by September.
Interview by Christian Almind Luke Fair website  
Thanks to Luke for doing this and to Dennis for setting this up. More info  
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