Lapalux Gutter Glitter Beats

Lapalux

Gutter Glitter Beats

Flying Lotus’ imprint, Brainfeeder, is going from strength to strength. The LA based label is providing a brilliant platform for artists who wish to release danceable, glitchy and unique beats. JOE CASSIDY chats with the label’s most recent offering – Essex based producer Stuart Howard, aka Lapalux.

Lapalux is an interesting moniker but it is not a reference to Greek mythology, nor a childhood fantasy; it was simply Howard’s attempt to explain to his friends early one morning when things were a little hazy that he is currently living in the “lap of luxury”. It came out as “Lapalux” and it stuck.
Howard’s moniker is basically the only part of his project that is not meticulously thought out and the time he devotes to his work is insurmountable. He has a tireless work ethic and is either in the studio making beats or out touring. It is precisely this labour of love, producing such distinct sounds and unique beats that brought Flying Lotus and Lapalux together.
“It’s got a cinematic quality,” Howard says of his music style. “Before I was making all sorts of different pieces but I feel that now I’ve been making music for quite a while, I‘ve finally found somewhere I want to be and I want to continue with it… Without sounding too cheesy, it’s an organic electro. I’ve never liked anything too polished or too over produced.”
Howard’s March 2011 EP Many Faces Out Of Focus demonstrates his spaced out rhythms that sound as though they are oozing out of a stereo system of an intergalactic resort on Mars. His sounds come from another place, something distinctly different in a sometimes over saturated dance music scene.
Like many left of centre DJs, Howard’s influences come from old school electro which he refers to as a “stable diet” and early electronica. “Aphex Twin has always been a really big influence since I was young, I was just absolutely blown away by it all [electronic music] and Prefuse 73,” he adds.
Prior to this, he was introduced to production through a primitive audio game on his Sony Playstation. He would also record the sounds of his friends chatting away and spend his nights turning them into mini beats and short tracks. It is not really that surprising that his latest EP When You’re Gone is rich in textures and sounds that have not been slapped together in an instant but rather lovingly caressed into a wonderfully ethereal package.
Howard’s approach to production comes from imagining something visually and attempting to turn that into a sound. “It never turns out like that though; it just generally snowballs really from one idea,” he says before adding “it’s a lot of my mood really, not to sound all emo but that’s the grounding for it.”
Even outside producing, Howard likes to find interests that are different to his every day activities and life, in particular, odd documentaries. “Anything that is not close to home, I really like the HBO documentaries,” he says. He is also an amateur photographer, “It’s nice to have a separate creative hobby where there is no pressure involved,” he concludes, casually.