Written and Published by X
XtinaDC is a growing brand and blog that’s been known for interviewing local artists from around the DMV. Although my niche and insights are focused mainly in Washington, DC, I made myself a promise to branch out to different areas from all over the world and decided to make a section for non-local artists. There’s so much talent out there in the world, and to limit myself within an unlimited network would just be ignorant. That being said, I’m excited to announce that my very first non-local artist is from the beautiful and biggest city in the southern hemisphere, São Paulo, Brazil. Luan Gouveia, known as “Luan LAG” makes trap, dubstep, and future bass. “I'm always innovating my style and trying out new genres. I got into these genres when I first went to Lollapalooza in Brazil back in 2015. It was captivating and I fell in love with each genre. There were a lot of big DJs that played at this festival like DJ Snake, Skrillex, Major Lazer, and Dillon Francis.”
Because Luan was so inspired by these DJs, he started producing music in FL studio and later started using Ableton Live, but that’s not where his journey in music first started. “My first step into my music journey was learning about music theory. Around this time, I was actually playing the saxophone and then I finally started producing electronic music in 2017. My very first song was a Future Bass song that definitely had electronic and hip-hop vibes to it. It’s called ''They Don't Get It'' by Luan LAG (me) and Brito. After this song came out, I started making more dubstep and bass music.” He explained. Luan’s love for this kind of music kept him consistent with his creativity and he then decided to take his talent to the stage.
“I started playing at some private parties in Brazil and then I started focusing on playing my music in various nightclubs around São Paulo. I had an awesome experience playing at events in Los Angeles too at Station 1640. I haven't played at any festivals yet but I will make sure to look out for an opportunity to do so. I know of the Lost Lands festival that takes place in the US from being so deep in the dubstep scene.” Luan explained. He then continued to talk about the cultural differences within the scene from Brazil and the US. “I'm a Brazilian DJ and in my culture, almost no one knows about bass music or dubstep, in fact, my top listeners are from the US so it makes me happy that I’m growing more of my audience from all around the world!” Luan then mentioned that he wants to focus more on his career so he can release more music and eventually move to Portugal and then take trips to explore Europe. He explained that later in his career, he’s also planning to travel to Australia and begin DJing there as well. It sounds like an amazing life, being able to share your music all around the world, and I wish nothing but the best for Luan.
I then asked Luan who he felt most inspired by in the electronic music scene and who he could see himself collaborating with. “Definitely Skrillex. He’s my favorite artist of all the time. He’s brought Dubstep to an entirely different level. As for collaboration, I would love to collab with Soltan or Borgore.” He conveyed. I then asked him what his advice to upcoming artists would be and how he feel about the industry itself. He continued, “Believe in yourself. Allow yourself to grow stronger with criticism and don't let yourself get put down by others. The most import thing is to follow your dreams and goals. I have a lot of appreciation for the music industry, but I see many artists that don't want to help each other at times. Unfortunately, not everyone will care about you, but we have to remind ourselves that we’re all in this together. Thankfully, I have a lot of support on Facebook from other artists. I manage some Dubstep pages and I grew my audience from the beginning of my music career. I’ve been helping a lot of artists grow their audience there on my pages as well.” Overall, Luan has been such a help to many artists, and continues to raise the bar for dubstep, trap and future bass. His music is always catchy, heavy and powerful. If you want to listen, Luan is releasing a new song with Eko Zu very soon that was produced in Los Angeles and has many more tracks on the way. Check out his music and social links below. -X