The new release from BK-based DJ/producer Luke Santy (also of HYPEMOM) is an ambitious, wide-ranging, at times insane set of sonic collages and “the result of what happens when you compose sample-first, layering randomly or based on gut instinct and trusting your computer-collaborator”
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When I hosted HYPEMOM—one of the funniest + my fave groups of dudes—on the radio back in March, we spent a good chunk of time discussing one of the trio’s favorite pastimes: watching Jeopardy at Bed-Stuy bar Do or Dive.
I’m not just mentioning this because it’s pretty much the most endearing and wholesome of hobbies (though I’m not exactly sure we covered how many drinks are typically consumed during the watching of aforementioned game show…) but because it turns out that Jeopardy is not only a source of entertainment for the band, but indirectly responsible for ‘Quarantine Mixes’—the newest release (out TODAY!) from LUKEINTERNET, the solo project of HYPEMOM’s Luke Santy.
“After live performance went away and I dropped my computer on its face during a Zoom Jeopardy game, I ended up spending a lot of time going through and organizing old hard drives,” the artist told us over email. “Some of the unreleased audio experiments I found there I developed and finished into ‘songs’ or released ‘as is.’ Other odds and ends, things that I’ve maybe performed live in theater pieces or DJ sets but never released, I combined and organized into these two ‘Quarantine Mixes.'”
The two mixes together clock in at around 38 minutes and are labeled in what the artist tells us is the most literal of ways: “Good Ideas” and “Bad Ideas.”
“The titles are not meant to be ironic; the ‘Good Ideas’ are things I found to work really well. Beats I made for abandoned rap duo LMNOP, or for a podcast that never got produced, or rare collaborations with friends like the enigmatic BBIIGG BBEENN pepper 20 minutes of mostly original, sample-based beats.
The ‘Bad Ideas’ are truly that: ideas like remixing ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ trying to mash up a song in 4/4 with a song in 6/8, or sampling Rent. The 18-minute B-side is more mash-up and DJ-based, but also features original production. The ‘Quarantine Mixes’ are the result of what happens when you compose sample-first, layering randomly or based on gut instinct and trusting your computer-collaborator.”
From Kanye to Katy Perry to Tom Petty tunes, electronic beats to Broadway-belter faves (and way, way more), LUKEINTERNET’s man-meets-machine music boldly and playfully incorporates it all, making for an audio adventure that’s def worth embarking on—
Or, to put it another way: I’ll take ‘Quarantine Mixes’ for 1000, Alex.
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Snag ‘Quarantine Mixes’ now at lukeinternet.bandcamp.com and, while you’re there on the (luke)internet, keep up with HYPEMOM on Instagram and Bandcamp.
Feature image (provided by the artist): Lee Bilsky and Matt Caldamone