Luke Chable Interview

While the 'European summer' is only a concern to those Australians able to afford the holiday, Luke Chable identifies with these words on a completely different level. Quite the opposite of a holiday, his most lucrative work opportunities are coordinated around the European summer. Riding a wave that promises to be, if not the Endless Summer then the endless European Summer, Chable's growing standing as an international DJ sits comfortably with an already enviable reputation as a producer. How serious is Luke Chable- Serious enough to uproot himself from girlfriend, family and, perhaps most significantly, the amazingly supportive and talented dance music community in Melbourne, to base himself in Amsterdam for six months.

"I made the decision to temporarily move to Amsterdam purely from a career perspective," explains Chable. "I already have a solid base as a producer, but as a DJ there was a massive opening to start cleaning up on gigs and really building a profile and moving up the ladder as there were so many gig offers. I'm booked throughout the European summer already. So it was an opportunity to further myself."

Is he feeling homesick- Probably, although his admission that it's good to hear a familiar voice is my only evidence to back this up. More significant, and to his credit, is that despite removing himself so massively from his comfort zone, Chable's mood is overwhelmingly positive and his mind focused.

In a career already cluttered with highlights, his latest claim to fame is compiling and mixing the second in the 'Renaissance presents Therapy Sessions' compilation series. As with the first in the series by fellow Melbournian Phil K, Dave Seaman mixes the accompanying CD in a contrasting style. While best known as an exponent of melodic progressive, some will be surprised to hear the many styles explored on Chable's disc. "I never went out with an agenda to change people's perception of me with the CD," explains Chable. "I just wanted to create a mix that showcased a wide variety of my musical taste. Even on Renaissance it doesn't include everything that I like, but I've managed to get about ten styles into that CD somehow."

There are few Djs who would even dream of their first commercially released compilation being on as reputed a label as Renaissance, but this was not always going to be the case. "I already did a mix CD for Release Records, but the deal fell through at the last minute so I never gave it to them," clarifies Chable. "The timing was still good for me to release a compilation though, and my agency, Therapy, said that Renaissance were interested in getting me to do a mix. Dave Seaman, who runs both the artist management and record label arms of Therapy, talked to them and it became a 'Therapy Sessions' compilation with me and him rather then just me on Renaissance. This was probably better for the timeline as I had to get ready to go overseas and get the CD done. So better that I didn't have to do two CDs. We took that option and are touring it at the moment. A lot of the gigs are booked as Renaissance gigs, but many of them were already in place before the compilation was organized."

Chable's touring schedule can best be described as frantic and includes recent visits to most continents with almost the entire month of April set aside to conquer the vast expanse of the U.S. However, it is as a producer that most dance music fans were first introduced to Chable, and while an expansion into label management is quickly becoming a reality, it appears that at least in the short-term, the labels success will partially be decided by his own production and remixing contributions. "Right now I've been working on a remix of Tokyo, which is by Nubreed and myself," he says. "I've also been working on a remix of Petter's These Days. Both of these are due out on my label Trojan Records this year. Trojan is not aimed at anything experimental at all. It's just for releasing really good dance mus Tags

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