Luxley is Turning Colors Into Music [Exclusive Interview]

Luxley is Turning Colors Into Music

4/2/2019

What kind of music did you listen to growing up? How has that influenced you?
I listened to my father playing a lot of flamenco guitar in my living room. I also shared a lot of music with brother, where we amassed a collection of alternative rock, flamenco music, 80s synth, techno, R&B, pop, and metal.

Artists that influenced me growing up were Strunz & Farah, 311, Duran Duran, The Cure, Prince, The Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers, Britney Spears, Jimmy Eat World, TLC, Filter, Mariah Carey, Misery Signals, Between the Buried & Me, As Cities Burn, ATB, and Tiesto.

What made you decide to create music and become an artist?
When my parents got divorced at a young age and so I found solace by teaching myself music by ear. I really couldn't find happiness outside of music because of the family strife. Before the separation, my parents bought me a piano which I taught myself how to play. I immediately became passionate about learning other instruments like guitar, bass, audio electronic devices, and vocals. After I had learned the basics, I began writing my first songs on guitar and eventually synthesizers as well.

After years of writing music and playing in a few bands, I left medical school at Tulane University to pursue my solo project, Luxley.

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A post shared by LUXLÎ£Y (@luxley) on Mar 30, 2019 at 9:01am PDT

Who are your favourite artists at the moment?
Tycho, Friendly Fires, Angele, ZHU, Pretty Lights, Chris Malinchak, Weval, Foals.

How has your music changed overtime?
I would say it has evolved from indie rock to synth pop, and now electronica.

Tell us about Chromasthesia and how that plays a role in your creative process?
My chromasthesia helps me focus on songs that paint the most color. Those songs tend to create the strongest feelings for me, and then end up being published.

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Chromatics. Out now.

A post shared by LUXLÎ£Y (@luxley) on Mar 22, 2019 at 3:45am PDT

What can you tell us about your EP "Chromatics"?
Chromatics is an expression of my chromasthesia, where I see sound as color. The biggest driving force for this new record is having people see the colors that I see and have them experience certain feelings created by the color spectrum of the record.

As a frequent composer of electronic and instrumental music, I decided to marry my organic instrumentation and electronica into an experience revolving around the colors that I see. My contribution is solely based on using color to anchor listeners and connect them to electronic sounds. If you had to name the style, I would probably call it chromasthesic.

Overall, Chromatics is much different from my previous tracks. The music I used to make wasn't speaking to me anymore, but I think that experience was invaluable. Since the change, I feel like I can connect with people on more a fundamental level. This record also marks a departure from the traditional studio model of working with an outside producer. I decided to collect my favorite pieces and put them into this record, which is arranged by the colors that I see in each track. Fun fact: Some of the colors are seen in the artwork created for each track.

How would you describe the work to someone who has never heard it?
Virtual worlds where anything can happen. Where you can submerse yourself in a painting and swim with the colors of a feeling.

What do you do when you're not in the studio making music?
I support myself and the Luxley project by bartending full-time and crafting cocktails at a restaurant in New Orleans. I also spend recreational time swimming, boxing, and curating artwork. I'm the sole investor in the Luxley project.

Best performance you've been to and why?
Tycho at Buku Festival, 2017 in New Orleans, LA. A surreal cast of illusionary visuals and perfection on synth and guitar that took me somewhere completely euphoric for a whole sixty minutes.

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A post shared by LUXLÎ£Y (@luxley) on Feb 8, 2019 at 12:15pm PST

What other artists would you love to collaborate with and why?
Angele, Pretty Lights, Friendly Fires, RJD2, DJ Shadow, and Tycho. I feel like the kinetics in my music would pair well with the instrumentation and vocal style of these artists (espcially the new material which is not yet released). I have several songs on the shelf with their names on it.

Any more news we should know about? What are your upcoming plans for the rest of the year and what can we expect to see?
I will be mixing and mastering my new record this summer, potentially with mixer/engineer named Count (Radiohead, Frank Sinatra, DJ Shadow, The Rolling Stones, No Doubt, and Tycho). Currently untitled, you guys can expect to hear singles from this album during the fall of 2019.

I will also be curating color-named playlists on Spotify over this year, as well as campaigning the Chromatics record. The colored playlists will be a carefully curated collection of songs that express the color in the playlist name.

3 words to describe you and your music?
Chromesthetic = Colorscape + Kinetic (Lx)

Thanks so much to Luxley for taking the time to answer our questions and also thank you to Ben Beamish from our partners over at The Music Elk for arranging and conducting this interview!