Luke Slater
Luke Slater Bio
A key player on the UK (and now global) techno scene, Luke Slater has been a firm fixture on all the right electronic line-ups since the early nineties, and like fellow electronic visionaries and sonic sorcerers like Sven Väth and Richie Hawtin, he’s never stopped to smell the proverbial roses. Born in Berkshire, he’s a major player with a sound and (punk) attitude that’s impossible to miss and yet despite all of that success, he’s always kept his artistic feet on the ground. That’s extremely evident as we chat over Zoom for this new interview as 2022 comes into view. “I think I’ve got more fire now than it had in the beginning. And I like that. I remember talking to Derrick May back in the 90s at a café in Belgium and all we talked about was the hunger. And the hunger was born out of the life you’ve lived, how you grew up and what you went through. And the situation for me growing up, although I didn’t have a bad upbringing, it was flippin’ hard, man. The world was not how I wanted it to be and I didn’t fit in. People romanticize the 90s but the path was not easy. I don’t want to be bogged down by the rules. Society. And unfortunately, that’s something that’s even stronger in me now.”
A bona fide pioneer of sound design and performance with a singular musical vision, Slater first minted the P.A.S. alias back in 1993. Since then, Planetary Assault Systems has become a byword for hypnotic, soulful and funk-heavy techno that blurs the lines between pure psychedelic and peak-time, main room techno for audiences large and small. Whatever the environment, Luke Slater’s work as Planetary Assault Systems captures the very best elements of techno for audiences across the globe. Crucially, this is music with a huge vision and scope, meaning Luke has fans across the world, from London and Berlin to Detroit via Dekmantel and back. It’s no accident that his latest album comes to a close with the classic sonics of ‘Nano Chameleon’: this futuristic, forceful slice of funk is powered by white noise percussion and never lets go for a minute. It’s the same spiritual ethos that has powered Luke’s own mind-set since the early days and it’s no accident that he’s been called “one of techno’s most chameleonic enigmas” in the past. And when you’ve released on labels from NovaMute and Ostgut Ton to Peacefrog and his own Mote-Evolver imprint, you’d be a fool to argue against the karmic chameleon.