Latmun has made a name for himself in the past few years, specifically as the Party Tech King. His sound has become iconic within the world of tech-house with almost every dj having at least one of his tracks stored on their usb flash drives. Born and raised in the UK, Latmun has had various issues entering the US with visa complications, unfortunately leading to him missing several festivals in which I was specifically attending just to see him play. Luckily, the visa issues were since cleared, and we get to rejoice to the sounds of Latmun at CRSSD Fall Fest 2017 this weekend at Oceanfront Park in San Diego, CA on Saturday September 30th. EARMILK got a chance to chat with the king himself in light of the sunny festival oasis just around the corner.
EARMILK: How did the name "Latmun" come about?
Latmun: Well the most simple reason is there are already too many Joe’s… haha! But the actual name came from a brand of Kayaking paddle called Lettmann, I used to do kayaking competitively at the time of first starting djing, so that provided the inspiration for the name Latmun.
EM: How old were you when you started producing music?
Latmun: I first started having a go at about 18, but it wasn’t until I was 20/21 that I started putting some serious production hours in.
EM: Who was your first music inspiration?
Latmun: The the first form of electronic music I really fell in love with was Leftfield, that’s how I got hooked! That was before producing though so by the time I did start producing I’d say my big influences were Jamie Jones, Matthias Tanzmann, Marco Carola.
EM: Who is your biggest inspiration right now?
Latmun: Right now I’m really inspired by the Fuse crew, Enzo Siragusa and Archie Hamilton are making some amazing really stripped back music which means the groove needs to be perfectly on point – which they nail!
EM: Who are your favourite up-and-coming artists?
Latmun: Right now Pasquale Caracciolo, Rhoowax and Rone White are making some amazing music I’m playing a lot of.
EM: When did you begin finding your style of ‘party’ tech house?
Latmun: It came about by accident when making ‘Who’s That’, I was playing around with break beat samples but not in the usual way and Who’s That is what came from it. I then tweaked and refined the sound and branched out from there.
EM: What is your favourite genre outside of tech house?
Latmun: I will always have a love of old skool Hip Hop even though I don’t listen to it too much anymore, Souls Of Mischief – 93 Till Infinity will forever be one of my favourite tracks.
EM: What has been your favourite sample or vocal to use in a track?
Latmun: I can’t answer this one in case I get into any trouble ;)
EM: If you weren’t a producer/DJ, what job would you have?
Latmun: I studied Business and Computer Science at University and did a year working in London as a Project Manager on placement between my 3rd and 4th years. I very nearly continued this after finishing my degree and would probably be still doing it today if I hadn’t not been accepted onto the main job I applied for! Haha.
EM: What is your favourite track to play during a set?
Latmun: This changes all the time… so a recent amazing moment / feeling to tell you about was playing an edit of Casius – Sound Of Violence by Max (Italy) at Sunset on a boat party in Ibiza. For those of you who aren’t aware of the lyrics they say “I feel like I wanna be, inside of you, when the sun goes down yeah." The whole boat was singing along and it was really special.
EM: What has been the craziest moment during your music career?
Latmun: There have been so many crazy moments! But I have to just mention the last week which has been very crazy and surreal playing 5 countries in just over 1 week, I have played in Canada, Dubai, Ibiza, Portugal and the UK! Safe to say I don’t know what time it is or where I am right now… haha.
EM: Who is an artist you wish you could go B2B with?
Latmun: I would love to go B2B with Marco Carola, the style of music we choose to play and mixing style is quite similar except that he has about 20 years more experience than me… so I would definitely be able to learn a lot!
EM: Do you play any instruments? If so, how have they influenced your music?
Latmun: When I was at a young age in primary school I for some reason decided I wanted to play the flute, I have no idea why and not too much later realised it wasn’t the best option for my school credibility haha. But it definitely gave me an early understanding of music from learning to read and play it.
EM: What do you like to do in your free time?
Latmun: I like to go to the gym to keep as healthy as possible while on a hectic touring schedule (which is very hard!) I also like working on my graphic design skills as well, as I do a lot of my own design work and its something I want to continue to improve upon.
EM: Any after parties we can look forward to after your set at CRSSD?
Latmun: Of course! I will be playing at Spin on the Sunday B2B with Solardo for the first time, so that’s going to be something special. My good friend Detlef is also on the bill so the full party crew is assembled!
EM: What type of set can we expect at CRSSD?
Latmun: Groovy so that your feet remain glued to the dancefloor, rolling with builds to match the feeling on the of the crowd. And depending on the sun at the time of my set, maybe slightly euphoric too.
EM: Any advice to young music producers?
Latmun: Don’t rush, this isn’t something that you can force, it will happen when your music and you are ready. Trying to get your music signed before it is ready will be detrimental in the long run. Put everything you can into playing the best possible set you can for that moment every time, even if its to 10 people. All those times contribute to how well you can play to a crowd of say 5000 when you get put in front of them in the future.
EM: Any last words?
Latmun: I can't wait to see you all next weekend!
Connect with Latmun: Soundcloud | Instagram | Twitter
Grab tickets to CRSSD Fall Festival 2017 HERE
