A Chat with Luxe (11.01.22)
Inspired by the iconic sounds of Green Day, Blink 182, New Found Glory and The Starting Line, Canadian singer-songwriter Luxe brings old-school pop-punk/pop-rock sounds to modern-day scenes. We speak with Luxe about his new album get over yourself, future plans and big mistakes.
OSR: What drew you to music?
Luxe: I don’t really remember a defining moment in my life that drew me to making music. I was always just obsessed with the process and how it worked. How artists wrote, recorded, perform…
OSR: What can you tell us about your new album get over yourself?
Luxe: get over yourself came together during the beginning of the pandemic. I was living in California earlier and came back to Canada with a hard drive full of demos that didn’t make it to my last two projects. I had rented an electric drumkit to mess around with while in lockdown and decided to play drums on some of these demos. I used to play drums in a couple of pop-punk/punk bands so the tracks started taking this sonic turn. I was just having fun messing around and eventually, these demos that originally had this trap-inspired feel started sounding more like pop-rock. My brother Nick sent me over some guitar and the next thing I knew I had 10-12 fresh songs. It all came pretty organically from just having fun making music and experimenting.
OSR: Did you face any challenges when writing and recording the album?
Luxe: I think all musicians have had similar challenges the last 2+ years. my biggest one was getting into recording from home. I used to go and write/record my records in professional studios. The pandemic forced me to learn to do a lot of stuff for myself and get the recording process completely done from home.
OSR: What do you hope people take from get over yourself?
Luxe: I just hope they enjoy it half as much as I enjoyed making it. It was so fun combining all my influences into one sound. This is my first project where I truly feel there are no skips and it’s definitely my best work!
OSR: Which is your favourite track on the album?
Luxe: It’s always changing but currently it’s either ‘toxic’ or ‘sorry you’re sorry’.
OSR: What about your least favourite?
Luxe: That’s like picking your least favourite kid. I would say right now it’s ‘move on’, just because it’s the first track I released off the project so it’s the oldest to me. I’m always the most excited for the newest release.
OSR: If you could perform with any musician, who would it be and why?
Luxe: I have a bunch of musicians that have inspired me early on. Steven Page, Brian Wilson, Dave Grohl, Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus…
OSR: Which is more challenging: melody or lyrics?
Luxe: My writing process is a little odd. Typically I hear a melody as I’m producing the beat. I’ll go record the vocal melody just making random noises or “scatting”, and I’ll keep repeating until things start to sound like words and I can slowly form the song. I haven’t actually written anything sound since like 2014!
OSR: What was the last big mistake you made?
Luxe: I wish I added a couple more songs to the project! With things opening up here in Canada, I was trying to get something out that I could tour on, so a couple of tracks got cut. With these closing again, I guess it’s not too late to maybe release a “deluxe edition”.
OSR: What does the future hold for Luxe?
Luxe: Hopefully shows and tours once things open up again! I’ve already started working on some new music so I’m hoping to have some new stuff out by spring!
Many thanks to Luxe for speaking with us. For more from Luxe check out his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
