An interview with ^L_

Luis Fernando adopted the stage name ^ L_ which is pronounced “control L”). Born and resident in Brazil, ^ L_ seeks to adopt the concepts of alienation and entropy in each of his subjects.

Luis Fernando defines the sound of his project as a mix of techno, breakbeat, hard techno, acid, dark ambient and even gabber.

As a main project ahead, there is the promotion of the current release of the artist entitled ‘THE SKULL’, edited and presented by Antime Records, Berlin. Marking a pivotal moment in the project, ^ L_ consolidates his place within the field of dance music. The result is an album as experimental as it is intense and addictive, which takes over oneself like sweet poison, while progressively transporting us, as few producers with a certain fluidity are willing to do. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know that this record is testimony to a turbulent and uncertain present, which will remain in our memory forever. For records like this, we can continue to fight for a better future.

Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from / how did you get into music? Was it all internet based?

I’m Brazilian and I live in the capital, Brasília.

Influenced by bands from the 90s. At the time, I played in a guitar band influenced by bands like My Bloody Valentines, Sonic Youth, and other bands from the then titled, alternative rock.

at the same time, I met several artists such as Aphex Twin, Autechre, LFO, Plastikman, Underworld, among others.

In the same period I heard for the first time Primal Scream’s “Screamadelica”, which was crucial in his career as an electronic music producer. my first recordings

In the mid 2000s, I started working with software like Cakewalker, Nuendo, Reason and Fruityl Loops (now only FL Studio) until I settled on Ableton Live, which I’ve been working on since 2007 and Currently I’ve been studying MAX/MSP a lot.

and little by little I started working with analog equipment, such as drum machines, synthesizers and so on.

anyway, everything happened in a very natural and unplanned way.

Who have been your main inspirations (both musical and in “life”)? And how have they affected your sound?

I confess that I don’t even know where to start to answer, because there are so many influences and references… but I remember a funny story: I was the cliché of the displaced teenager and outsider at school, bad school grades, this things… I remember looking at popular students and thinking that I should have a different attitude in order not to become something like them as an adult. I saw them as empty people and I was very afraid to become like them. Based on that I decided that from then on I would absorb every kind of culture and information possible… music, movies, books, everything. and since then I have followed this philosophy. I was 13 or 14 years old, but I remember becoming obsessed with this idea.

Probably my greatest references come from literature, music and cinema: David Foster Wallace, JD Salinger, Stanley Kubrick, Bergman, Miles Davis, Robert Smith, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed. 

But as I said, this is complicated because I am constantly changing my mind. I live in constant contradiction with myself

How would you define your sound?

I define it as mad, aggressive and provocative. But I prefer people to define it for me. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m writing.

How has your sound evolved so far?

I think it has become less dance floor oriented since my older releases. It’s definitely more like something to be listened to at home, with headphones than in a club, for example. This is interesting because it perfectly reflects how I, as a person, went through changes in my daily life. Of course, there are other changes, but this one was the most significant.

What can you tell us about your last job? What inspired you? What do you want to convey?

about the EP, “THE SKULL”, I knew it would be a different work compared to my previous records. I knew and wanted it to be different. a change in my career, between what I had previously produced. Honestly, I get bored very easily and get angry when I can’t explore a new way of writing. Of course, taking more risks you make more mistakes, but when we get it right, the result is wonderful and motivating. that’s how I feel about this work: it worked and I liked it. Making art is taking risks… that’s what keeps everything exciting.

I constantly try to renew my sound, bring something new, different. With this work I achieved something I’ve wanted for a long time: joining music with visuals. The artwork is my painting on canvas and when you buy the EP, at Antime Records’ Bandcamp, you get a full size fineart copy of the painting.

and conceptually speaking: I think the great influence of this work is chaos and entropy. The skull of the EP’s artwork and title symbolizes the disorder. There’s not much to explain, that’s basically it.

What can you tell us about each song that makes up your latest work? What is hidden behind?

the whole concept of the EP is anger, disbelief, lovelless. I concluded one thing about my entire writing process: I may be having a great and lovely day, I may be in a great mood, but just sit down and write that I am possessed by a feeling of anger and anger that I can’t explain.

THE SKULL marks a change that was already happening since my last release.

The title track is divided into three parts, which together form a very aggressive, fast piece. The first and third parts follow a more ambient and drone sound and the middle and longer one sounds like industrial, hardcore, very similar to bands like Atari Teenage Riot. it’s very aggressive… I don’t use any melody, just beats within beats. that I can’t always hear it fully. the beginning consists of the sound of machine guns, which were taken from a film about terrorism after 9/11. after the track was in the process of mixing, I passed its signal through an MXR guitar pedal to make it even more distorted and aggressive. I used binaural frequencies throughout the track, as I wanted to cause discomfort.

The track TERROR TURBO is one of the most complex tracks I could write. Honestly I don’t know how to define it, because there is a huge amount of references in it. It is based on a breakbeat beat, with vocal samplers saying “scare, scare, scare…” … many layers of textures, an organic sound… in the final part I use another drum line, with several fills in sequence. I end the track with subway sounds and a saxphone solo that a lot of people loved. So, on this track we have breakbeat, electro, acoustic drum improvisation and a jazz sax solo… I don’t know how to define this fusion and I prefer it that way.

the artwork is my painting on 50×80 canvas. The skull means the dark side of the human being.

How are you living the current situation because of COVID? Has your work affected you a lot? Do you think there is hope? I feel like the underground scene will continue to persist.

As everyone knows, Brazil lives one of the worst governments in its history. with an irresponsible, unprepared and totally devoid of values ??in favor of life. And this was directly reflected in the more than 600,000 deaths and the total neglect to combat the health crisis caused by the pandemic. It is impossible to talk about the fatalists caused by covid in Brazil without mentioning President Jair Bolsonaro. A president so reckless that he defended the use of a medication proven to be ineffective. Who so far refuses to wear masks and insists on crowding in public.

of course there is hope… that’s thanks to medicine, health professionals in all fields, serious leaders, with a sense of humanity… there are good people in the world.

I was totally isolated in the pandemic and that reflected a lot in my work. I gained extra time to put old ideas and projects into practice, like building a painting studio. Musically speaking, I recorded a lot, studied and tested new sounds. I think I managed to get good results from this sad moment.

About the underground scene. It will definitely survive… in fact, it already shows signs of it. One of the great wonders of underground culture is knowing how to reinvent and adapt to diversity. Gradually the world is returning to normal too.

What projects are you working on right now?

right now my focus is to finish the sequel to the EP “THE SKULL”. I’m recording several tracks, with sounds ranging from electronics, jazz and even classical music. is the testing time. It will probably only be released in 2022, so I’m not in a hurry.

But before that I’m releasing the new EP, by another label, called “Eyes of the Old Man”, where it explores a more dance-oriented sound, again. The label responsible for the release is MTDN recs, from London.

Still in 2021 I participated in the soundtrack of a film selected from the first edition of the Berlin Sci-fi Filmfest. it’s a great honor to be a part of this…