Blueprint Artist Q & A: LAZY RICH
Tue. Dec 20, 2011
2011 was an incredible year for LAZY RICH. At the start of the year he was seen as the underdog to watch for, but by the end of it he not only proved that right but also accomplished what is undeniably an incredible leap in success. A UK native and a resident of Vancouver, BC Canada, Lazy Rich is heading full steam into 2012, a year that promises to be nothing short of an intense and well-deserved return on an incredible amount of hard work both as a producer and a touring artist. For our second outing of the brand new Blueprint Q & A series, we thought of no better a candidate than our friend LAZY RICH!
This past year has been quite the whirlwind for you. Continuing your assault on the Beatport charts, your label Big Fish breaking new sounds & artists, international jetsetting DJ gigs, etc. Tell us a bit about the past year and where things are headed for Lazy Rich.
Yeh it's been insane! I feel like all my hard work from the last few years is actually starting to pay off, and for the first time I feel like I made the right choice in following this career path. I've been booked pretty much every weekend for the last few months and am already booked solid through March next year. I think this has been mainly due to the dramatic increase in interest for EDM in the States, and I've been lucky enough to be among the artists that people want to see.
It's safe to say you're a pioneering producer in the current crop of popular Electro (or "Complextro" as some people call it). Tell us about the evolution of your sound & the part your label Big Fish has played in this.
Yeh I think a lot of people have been influenced by the sound that I think Wolfgang Gartner really pioneered, using a large number of musical elements to piece together a tune, and it is a sound I've enjoyed making for a long time. I do feel however that the sound is starting to get a bit stale now as so many producers all try to be the next Porter Robinson. Everything is starting to sound the same, so for Big Fish I'm always on the lookout for original and interesting tracks.
How did you come to work with Porter Robinson? You must've been one of the first people to really see something special in him.
Porter first showed me his track 'Say My Name' and I was completely blown away. I got his Skype details and started chatting to him and it turned out he was already familiar with my work. The track we did together came about after Sue Cho sent me the vocals as she was keen to do a track with me, I sent them to Porter to see what he thought of them and we agreed that we could really make a collab work. The guy is an absolute genius and there is no doubt in my mind that he is going to continue his rise to be one of the absolute biggest names in the scene. He's very easy going and down to earth so I'm really happy that things are going so well for him.
Rich, explain your relationship with the city of Vancouver. Why is this the place you call home?
I came here 6 years ago with some friends just after I finished my degree, just because it was something I'd never normally consider doing and I wanted to broaden my horizons. That six months quickly turned into a year, and before I knew it I was deeply immersed in the EDM scene over here and enjoying a part of life that I'd never really experienced before. My DJing career really started to take off partly due to the support I received from a lot of people in the scene such as Hirshee, Jeff Daniels, the Intimate crew, Nima, and of course yourselves, and I realized that Vancouver is a city that I could definitely call home. Since then I have of course met my future wife and I'm really enjoying things here. With all the touring I don't get to spend as much time in Vancouver as I'd like, so it's really exciting whenever I get booked here and can catch up with all my friends again.
Top 3 shows you've played so far in 2011?
Hmmm, Voyeur in San Diego is one my absolute favourite places to play. I did a show in Phoenix a couple of months ago that was good fun, and of course I love playing in Vancouver!
Top 5 tracks in your current set(s) that are really doing it for you:
Zedd - Slam The Door
Felguk - Jack It
Revolvr's Rollin' In The Mush bootleg
Bingo Players - Rattle
Tiesto - Maximal Crazy (R3hab and Swanky Tunes Remix)
Your current favourite producer or sound? Who or what is most influencing the way you DJ & produce these days?
Personally I feel its time to move on a bit from the complextro sound, taking the intensity from it and applying it in a slightly more dance floor friendly format. Guys like Zedd, Felguk and R3hab have been masters at doing this recently, and it's that style of 'big room electro' that really interests me right now. Other guys I'm really liking right now are Tommy Trash and Bassjackers. All have a sound that appeals both to the hardcore complextro guys and all the dutch crowd too.
What upcoming releases of yours do we have to look forward to? What about for Big Fish?
Tons of stuff! My remix for Lady Gaga is out this week, I have remixes for Morgan Page, Zedd, Porter Robinson and Fast Foot all coming out in January, then I have a collab with Chris Lake along with a couple of new originals. On Big Fish we have an E.P. from Adam K and one from Lucky Date, plus of course our Best of 2011 compilation hitting stores soon.
What are you listening to outside the realm of EDM these days?
Man, it's so bad, the only time I listen to non-EDM is when I put the radio on in the car when I pick my girlfriend up from work. So the answer would be 'crap'.
2011 was indisputably a year of tremendous growth for EDM. Where do you see electronic dance music as a whole going in 2012?
I'm really enjoying the resurgence of electro right now, and I'm hoping we'll start to see more and more producers move back into making it to take advantage of the market in the States. I think 2011 was a great year as more melodical aspects were introduced to electro thanks mainly to Mord Fustang, and I'd like to see that trend continue as it definitely suits my style more. I think we're likely to see a drop in demand for complextro and HOPEFULLY an end to that awful modern talking sound!
Catch LAZY RICH alongside FELIX CARTAL at the Blueprint X-Mas party, Stereotype Fridays, December 23rd! Tickets are available here.
