She can do it all. You can’t even call LUXI a triple threat because she writes, records, plays, produces and creates the songs, art, music videos AND video games to go along with her sometimes dark but always dreamy tunes. When she’s not busy producing music for other artists, LUXI really takes charge of her own work. She started 2020 in introspection mode before the pandemic and fight for social justice gathered momentum. Her self-inflicted hibernation in the beginning of the year turned out some really great music, as she shifted making dance music for the apocalypse to an optimistic soundtrack for a revolution.
Check out the full audio interview below to hear more about the creation behind " Luv Infiniti," her commitment to social justice, how jazz improv changed the way she writes and what former Milwaukee artist made one of her favorite albums of the year. One more thing, LUXI just dropped a new song " G.T.F.O." (too naughty for radio) so check that out too. Now, let’s dance!!!
Dori Zori: "Luv Infiniti" came out in the summer this year, but you recorded it before everything changed, right? Tell me about the creation of your record.
LUXI: The timing was definitely a little bit unusual for sure. I was mostly making it earlier this year before the pandemic happened. It was kind of during a long period of introspection for myself. I was kind of already hibernating a little bit in my home here. I mostly made this album just at my dining room table, just trying to create in my mind kind of like club and dance songs for the apocalypse, ironically enough. Then it started hitting a little bit too close to home once the pandemic started, so I changed my thinking to dance songs for the revolution to kind of bring some optimism back.
D: Perfect timing for everything that happened this year. Didn’t proceeds from the album go to a really cool cause?
L: 100% of the proceeds are being donated to an organization called Love On Black Women here in Milwaukee. And I just thought it was a really cool idea to get money directly back into women's pockets who are living in our city and it's a great way to support our local community.
D: That's a very forward thinking, but that's not unusual for you. When you're putting together the album and recording it, what was different than the last bunch of stuff that you worked on?
L: I think it was definitely more solo than some other albums, I’ve had other artists working with me before. This was definitely a very personal project to me and I just wanted to see what I could do and where I could bring my skill as far as production and stepping up to the next level. I tend to make music based on my personal life and my personal struggle. It’s kind of a similar process every time, honestly. So, not too much has changed, same old LUXI.
D: You're such a great combination of music and art too, so you'll put out your music and then you won't just make a music video. You’re so talented in all different kinds of artistic fields. So talk a little bit about extras that you did along with this music.
L: For this particular album, I had a 3D interactive experience that was kind of like a game, it's available on Itch, a platform for independent game developers. The premise is every level is a song. You are moved through this surrealistic environment, exploring these little, I call them little fish tanks, it is an abstract idea. Post-apocalyptic. I really like dystopian literature. So that's kind of where I got a lot of those ideas and I tend to go back to that concept pretty frequently in my artwork.
D: Is there a favorite song on this album that stands out to you and why?
L: I think I am a little bit biased toward the second song “So Charmed” mostly because of the melody. I'm drawn to melodic music. So that one had my favorite little melodies. I've gotten a lot of feedback so far and people like “Virtual Underworld." It’s more, rhythm driven techno vibes.
D: Did you have any collaborators on this album?
L: Mystery Room Mastering did the masters of all the tracks. They didn't necessarily change a lot, but I think it just helps to have other people listen and level everything out. You have some outside perspective, so it's not just creating in your own bubble. That’s dangerous creative territory for sure.
D: What the listeners can't see is that you're sitting in front of your childhood piano. Tell me a little bit about your first memories of that piano.
L: We go way back this piano and I. It used to be just sitting at my parents' house in their basement. Last year I kind of was going through a lot of personal stuff and I was like, I need that piano. I knew no one was really playing it. I just remember plucking along on the keys as a small child, since I was like five years old.
D: Did you have to take proper lessons? Were you into it at the time?
L: I actually begged for piano lessons. It was not something that they like wanted to necessarily put me into, but my older sister was in lessons at the time. So I saw her taking them her little book bag and her piano books. And I was so jealous. By the time I was like three or four, I was asking about it. And then finally when I was five years old, they let me take lessons. I was very fortunate to be able to take piano lessons weekly, until I graduated High School. I was 18 and then I took a year of improvisational jazz and I feel like that really opened up my creativity.
D: What do you think it is about improvisational jazz that unlocks parts of your creative brain?
L: Getting into that flow and just letting the creative spirit move through you without thinking too much or overthinking.
D: What comes out of those sessions? Is it a mirror of how you're feeling, if you're angry, does the music sound different? Or are you in a serene calm place?
L: Any time I'm sitting down to play or to write, I think it's a reflection on how I'm feeling in that moment. I tend to play more when I'm in a more melancholy place. I feel like a lot of my songs have a tinge of nostalgia or that kind of a vibe or like happy/sad songs, which I'm kind of drawn to automatically.
D: Tell me something good about this year.
L: Well, it's definitely been another period of reflection. I’ve been able to survive this year but I see a lot of people struggling. It's just been a time of gratefulness for me just to have everything that I do and to be able to make it through this time. I've been hold up kind of just making music and working on another album for next year and other projects. So that's good. There's something called the Milwaukee virtual Gallery I'm working on, that’s going to be out by the end of the year. It’s an experimental gallery project.
I still have my independent boutique, an online shop, called Wicked Alley. It’s a place for my more visual art and apparel and other things that I work on and also a place for physical releases like vinyl and CDs.
D: If you can find a picture of you as a little kid playing that piano, I would love to see it.
L: Oh man, there actually aren't any for some reason and I've tried finding them.
D: No grandma Polaroids sitting around anywhere?
L: Oh, I guess I was just solo, practicing the piano as a little kid.
