Up on deck we have George Loukas founder, owner, and operator of 6N7 music, an independent Canadian recordlabel. He wears many hats. He DJs, produces, writes for magazines, and somehow finds time to sign artists in between.

KBB: So George, tell us about yourself and how your adventures in electronic music began.

First and foremost I’m a husband and father of 3 wonderful kids who love music. My oldest daughter Alyssia (12) writes and produces; she has a couple releases out with Lunatics Of Sound and some solo remixes. My middle daughter Lexie (9) is the youngest all-ages club DJ in the country (www.lexieloukas.com). She’s played dozens of clubs, outdoor events and radio shows. My son Stamati (5) is only now showing real interest, so we’ll see where that takes us. Lastly, I have an incredibly understanding wife, who puts up with my late nights an busy schedule. I’m truly blessed.

Electronic music for me is exactly that…An Adventure! 20 some odd years ago I found myself in a nightclub on the island of Rhodes, Greece. It was 4am and the place was completely out of control.  3,000 people on the beach dancing to a Brooklyn Bounce track. It was nothing like I had ever seen before. The music was so different from what Canadian radio stations were playing. This was my defining moment.

KBB: What’s it like juggling all of these projects while creating your own music? Would you say that they contribute to your creativity since you’re working with new artists all of the time?

I balance things well with the help of my Label Partners James Makris, Rene Tavares and Stewart Graham. Without them 6N7 would be completely unmanageable. They’ve all put 100% into this label and the our success is solely based on that effort.

I would definitely say our artists contribute to my creativeness. We have some outstanding artists signed; keeping up with them is a challenge all on its own.

KBB: How’s the electronic music scene in Canada? And where does dubstep fit in? Is it taking over like it is down here in the southern US?

It depends on who you ask. House Music purist are not happy with today’s blend of Top 40 Electronic music. House music or Electronic music has always had an underground edge…it seems, in my opinion, it’s lost that. Not to say that today’s top 40 dance music isn’t electronic but its far from underground.

Dubstep seems to have made its place in the mainstream here in Canada and the Sates. It came in hard and fast and I believe it’ll go out the same way it came in.

KBB: DAW of choice?

I’m a huge Ableton fan.

KBB: Have you seen the new Bitwig Studio DAW? It’s in the pre-Beta testing stages, but what do you think of it so far based on their preview video and website info?

I’ve had a chance to read up a bit on the new Bitwig DAW…it presents like an arcadic version of Ableton mixed with Reason. Some of the functions lead off where Ableton comes up short so I imagine it will appeal to some producers. I, myself, will stick with Ableton.

KBB: Favorite gear/plugin/cooking utensil of choice.

I run a fairly modest studio setup but Omisphere, Sylenth and Ozone are my favorite VST’s/Plug-ins.

KBB: Tell us about your process of creating a track and how long it usually takes from ground-zero to a finished product.

I try to develop an idea before I actually get into the studio. A riff or melody to get the ball rolling. Once I’ve got that translated to the machine, I’ll work on the supporting pieces. Usually 2 main leads and 4-6 supporters. From there, I’ll work on percussion and arrangement, then transitions, fills, builds and effects. Depending on how busy I am with non-creative work, this could take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

The real fun begins when you get into the mix. Like most, I mix as I work… but now’s the time where you can really bring a track to life.
Understanding what your desired “sound” is will make this process move quickly. I write mostly Progressive House, so I have a certain sound in my head before I get started.

If the mix is done well, Mastering should take very little time and effort. Stereo Field, Eq, Dynamics and Compression. Maybe a Limiter to catch the odd peak but it shouldn’t be present throughout the entire mix.

From there, I’ll walk away from the project. I don’t immediately test it on several different systems or burn it to CD and run out to the car. I just leave it.
I revisit it in a couple days with fresh ears. Then I’ll test it across the board. I’ll use a reference track as a comparable and listen to both tracks on my studio monitors, computer speakers and in the car.

I work all-in-one sessions, meaning I run my mastering chain in my arrangement. I don’t mixdown, bounce and open a mastering session.
This is incredibly intense on the machine but makes life easy when needing to make slight changes or adjustments.

Its difficult to gauge “how long” it takes to start and finish a track. I’ve started and finished projects in an afternoon and some have taken me months. So each track is different.

KBB: A lot of producers have a hard time expanding a short idea or phrase that may only be a few bars long into a full blown track. How do you go about doing this?

I’ll start by running a vocal phrase through several VST’s and plug-ins. Ableton’s Beat Repeat has some interesting results. I’ll bounce each treatment to audio and fill a folder as if building a remix pack. Then, I’ll move onto chopping them up into smaller pieces and rearranging them, each time creating a new sample. I’ll continue to experiment until I have an ample amount of samples to build a track.

KBB: What’s your favorite track of all time and/or the artist that’s influenced you the most?

My favorite track of all time is Tones Energy – Phantasm (Male VS Female) it came out in 1992. The track isn’t overly complex its actually its very simple but extremely catchy.

I’m inspired mostly by classic house artists like Masters at Work, Green Velvet, MK and Todd Terry. I’m just so amazed with how much depth their releases had. Today’s Electronic music is a lot more linear than the classics.

KBB: What’s the most valuable advice anyone’s ever given you and what is the most valuable advice you would give to artists/producers/entrepreneurs?

The most valuable advice in regards to music production was given to me by my good friend Jake Chec (www.jakechec.com). When I was first starting out and had no idea what I was doing, he took the time and helped me get the basics down. He pointed me in the right direction. His advice to me was “There’s no rules to making music, just do what sounds good”. That always stuck with me and I’ll always be grateful to Jake for taking the time to teach me.

My advice to new producers would be “keep your mouth closed and your ears open”. If someone is sharing wisdom with you, absorb it. Also remember what music is all about. Expression, feelings and most importantly fun. If it becomes like work, take a break. Keep in mind, not everyone will like your productions but it’s important that you like them.

KBB: Any special plans for 2012? What do the Lunatics of Sound and 6N7 have in store for us?

My partner Dimimak and I have taken a bit of a break from the studio since our last release. We have several projects in the works but our number one goal for 2012 is Quality. We are in no rush to put tracks out, so whatever we do put out will be our best work. As for 6N7 Music, our goal is to constantly improve. As a label, Management team and Publisher.

KBB: Any last comments?

I would like to thank my family, partners, friends and fans for supporting myself, Lunatics of Sound and 6N7 Music. Without your support nothing would be possible. I’d also like to acknowledge Mr. Francis Preve and Tom “Everfly” Jones for writing 2 of my all-time favorite books.“The Remixers Bible – Building Better Beats” and “WARPFLOW”. Both books are a wealth of knowledge and have played an incremental role in my production career.

Thank You.

Links:
www.lunaticsofsound.com
www.6n7music.com
www.facebook.com/lunaticsofsound
www.facebook.com/6n7music