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Interview: LB aka LABAT
- Olive McCagh
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
"You know LeBron was born to play basketball. I don't know. I was born to be a DJ"
Electronic music has no bounds, yet artists like LB aka LABAT manage to find their corners and dominate them. LB is part of a generation of producers who merge genres and sonics and thrive in collaborative settings. Born in Strasburg, LB grew up between France and India, putting his hands on the decks for the first time at only 7 years old. He has toured the world, a nomad who lives and breathes his music, trusts his peers and loves his audience. There is a strategic recipe to the partying, and an almost superhuman ability to keep up with it. On the release day of his debut album ‘Feel So Good Around U’, Baptistan Calabou (LB aka LABAT) called in, relaxing on the balcony of an apartment in Perth’s coastline. Fresh off the back of an insane marathon-style run of shows in Europe - five days of power, DJ sets in Paris, London, Strasbourg, Brussels, Lyon, and back to Paris. Australia welcomed him with open arms, though our country is so remote from the hub of electronic music that our artists are shipped out and appreciated more than in any other genre. He completed a national tour the following week, playing a set at Pitch Festival before returning home and continuing the nonstop run.
A project as large as ‘Feel So Good Around U’ let LB explore different genres - drum & bass, house, elektroclash, reggaeton, mumble rap, and French techno, paying homage to the scene that paved the way before him. It has showcased that his artistry runs deeper than club music and DJing. Over the last two years in studio settings with several collaborators, he not only created an impressive fourteen-track record but learnt and grew as an artist.
When it comes to putting together a song, LB works fast and confidently, focusing on capturing the feeling. In order to project an emotion onto an audience, it has to be imprisoned perfectly in the track, sitting tight, waiting to be unleashed. His songs are usually finished in one or two sessions, proving he isn’t one to get lost in the limitless nature of electronic music.
“Because if you take too much time or if you spend like months and months on the track, I get it. It can get better, it can get more interesting, it can get more technical. But I think at some point you lose the actual feeling of how you want it to or why you did it at this moment.”
Our chat unveiled some underlying misconceptions I was pinning on male DJs and their attitudes. LB showcased the deep-thinking, emotional capacity and importance of community in these electronic art spaces. A deep insight into a new world and its culture, which fronts as masculine and stoic, but rather is all about human connection and mastering one's craft. He spoke completely openly and sincerely about his fears of entering a studio space for the first time; this was one of many firsts.
“I thought there was going to be judging, or I thought it was going to be scary collaborating in the studio with other artists, and it was just fun and pure. I was feeling that I was at the right place at the right time.”
The album includes collaborations with other world-leading DJs and producers: Skin on Skin, Memphis LK, Sam Alfred, amne, notinbed, DJ Fuckoff, KURT and MJ Nebrada. Some of the world’s most influential electronic acts, LB considers his inner circle. Touring nonstop for the last two decades has led him to finding community all over the world. LB ensured to keep his ears and mind open.
“Everybody's so talented on this album. All the producers, I learned so much stuff. For the past two years, I have been just learning, listening and putting my trust into others.”
He was craving a shift in his musicianship, something new, and to push himself further, this record did just that. You can hear the love and hard work on the album; his music really does fuel the community, and that is what is important to him. I was lucky enough to speak to him on release day. When asked about how he was feeling, he told me he was keen to jump back in the studio, his nonstop attitude shining through.
“I'm not stopping this. It's opened a whole new a whole new world to go into and keep working.”
LB started mixing when he was seven years old after his older brother gifted him his turntable. He went on to play his first nightclub at fifteen with his mother waiting outside. Describing vinyl DJing and CDJing as two totally different forms, continuing to nurture the art form and his skills even now.
LB reminisced on digging and curating records for sets; he has been building his collection for most of his career. What can be lost on people is the tactile act of DJing, the physical music and media that gave life to it. LB began primarily CDJing only when club sound systems had altered to support heavier WAV mixes and heavier flak for CDJS, leaving records to sound “trash”. He recounted a story of a young DJ following his own set at a club, and just plugging in a USB, going ham on the flak and “the soundsystem just blew up”.
That’s when he decided, “Okay, I don't want to be that dude who is fighting something”.
Working with a balance between the two, LB just completed a five-day marathon in Europe to celebrate the pre-release of the album. Taking a crate of records to each show and watching the crowd react as he turned to grab one. Feeding off this energy because “there’s some living stuff behind the booth.”
LB acknowledged the amazing artists coming out of Australia; he has even gone so far as to call it his second home.
“I was thinking, how come Australia took over Europe at some point with amazing artists? I'm thinking Mall Grab banged the doors open for everyone. It’s crazy because out here it's sunny. There aren’t too many people. You eat well, everybody's earning quite good money quite easily, and have time to actually make other stuff on the side, like making music or painting. I’ve met so many artists who can actually craft their art while working on the side and are not too needy in terms of money and stuff like that. Also, I just meet great people all the time in Australia.”
I forever push the notion that Australia’s music scene is underrated and underappreciated, but electronic music is seemingly an area where our work is getting imported into other countries. It was interesting to hear that from such a successful international artist like LB.
In all areas of his work, LB holds a sense of direction and balances old and new school, creating something completely fresh. He was heading to play a set at Pitch festival the following weekend, debuting a brand new audio/visual set in collaboration with a Paris studio called CTC.
“When I do a live show and it's one hundred percent my music and it goes off, I'm like, this is crazy. People came just for my music, and it went well because of my music only.”
DJing leaves room for his more expressive and creative side, thriving on the improvisational element of a DJ set. Reading audiences, crash coursing tracks, playing other people’s tunes. As much as he enjoys the setting of a studio and producing, his truth is in the album’s title, 'Feel So Good Around U'.
“I feel so good in the booth. Every time I'm behind the booth, I feel great, surrounded by people who come for the love of music, come for the love of partying. And I always feel great around everyone in the club. So that's it for me. That's the best.”
LB took over the ‘Resident Advisor’ stage on Saturday night at Pitch, and the reviews are in. Comments on his mix on Soundcloud said: “Had me bouncing around in circles”, “I will never forget this moment”, “Had RA bouncing”.
Throughout it all, the stamina, passion and drive LB holds onto, decades after his first introduction to turntables, is compelling. His marathon only a week prior was five nights in a row, playing late, sleeping a couple of hours between all of the travel. Even in those moments where he was tired, all it took was one track in the booth to revive him and get him going again.
“It's crazy because when I go back in the booth, and I just put one track on, I don't know, all the fatigue goes away. I feel good in that particular place.”
Having water, not getting too fucked up and having fun also seem to play a role in his routine. Even LB is shocked by the way his body accommodates this behaviour,
“It's just I'm capable of doing it., I'm still doing it, and I'll still do it. I love the marathon, I just love playing. I could do this every day.”
“You know LeBron was born to play basketball. I don't know. I was born to be a DJ”
'Feel So Good Around U' is out now. You can buy/stream it here
