Over the last few years Loods has become a major force in Australian dance music. His infectious melodies and hard hitting drums have secured him releases on influential labels like Sweat It Out and Steel City Dance Discs and positioned him as one of the big names of underground house music in the country.
His most recent work sees him being tapped by the legendary Flight Facilities to remix their new tune, but according to Loods himself, it was more the other way around….
“Basically, I slid into their DMs. It kinda started as a bit of a joke – each new single they released, I’d reply with a “Stems?” They sent me the parts to ‘The Ghost’, and I made my own driving Italo version to play in DJ sets. Then an opportunity came up with ‘Move’ for an official remix, so I was thrilled to put my spin on it. I’m a longtime fan of Jimmy and Hugo’s work.”
Loods’ flip turns the track from a laid back Sunday afternoon into a certified Saturday Night Stomper, something Loods created to fit into his DJ sets
“My approach was to pump up the clubbier elements of the track and make a really exaggerated recreation.
The only original stems I used were the arp and the vocals. I rewrote the bass, inverting some of the notes. For the piano chords, I wanted a slightly different progression, using the original chords. My music theory isn’t as amazing as it could be, so I used one of my favourite Ableton tricks: Convert Harmony to Midi. Then I did my own string melody. But the most obvious changes are probably the drums and arrangement. It felt to me like it was begging for a breakbeat, and I was happy to indulge. And structurally, I liked the idea of switching gears between the cheekily persistent bassline, and the piano chord journey.”
The 90s references in the Flight Facilities original are taken to another level on the remix and Loods has utilised the secret weapon of all producers aiming to recreate the iconic sounds of that time period. The all time great, Korg M1 Workstation. Originally released in 1988, it came at the right moment for early 90’s producers looking for high quality piano and organ sounds – something not readily available in the early digital synths of the era.
“The M1 organ sound is iconic and wildly prolific. And the M1 piano is one of the truly defining characteristics of early house and rave. It sounded to me like the boys used the organ for the lead melody, so I decided to go all-in on the organ patch, beefing up the low-end EQ to make it work as a bass sound. Then of course, there’s that piano. And I also used the M1’s Soft String patch… honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever released a song that didn’t have the M1 Soft String in it. To me, it’s the perfect string sound. I don’t own the actual synth – I use the Korg plugin, which definitely does the job in my opinion.”
The real magic of Loods remix is the seamless combination of 90s style and modern production – the kick in particular stands out as a modern club sound, perfectly tuned for big rooms and festival rigs. But again the source material is the classic Roland 909 – the go to for house producers world wide looking for that authentic sound.
“The Roland Cloud 909 plugin is the starting point for a lot of my jamming. I find it really difficult to get away from that kick – my love for it has turned into a bit of a golden cage. It does everything I like; the perfect balance of slap, boom, thud, and pump. And it’s versatile – you can make it shallow and crunchy, big and booming, or all of the above.”
But theres more to creating a hybrid of old and new – the kick is processed to perfection in a way you wouldn’t hear on an early 90’s house record and its a modern production technique available thanks to Ableton’s plugin wizards
The secret sauce? That’s me tweaking the parameters on the Ableton Drum Buss until I can feel it in my heart and soul.
We can’t wait to hear this tune on a big system over the next few months and we can’t wait to hear what Loods has up his sleeve for the next release!