Interview
Luke Bestrom is a DJ and booking agent for DJ Caspa, based in the American Midwest. However, Bestrom has also played an instrumental role in building programming for The Underground Sessions, an internet radio station broadcasting from London. Since it's beginning nearly 10 years ago, The Underground Sessions, in addition to Bestrom's selections, the station has served as the residence for DJ Caspa, Jeff the Fool, intr0beatz, Peter Croce, mood:indigo, and more.
In addition, Luke has taken up his own show, Selected Timbres, so far featuring some well renowned names in house music. Through these roles supporting the global house music scene, Luke has become a beloved member of the community.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How did you get involved in The Underground Sessions?
After being a regular listener and supporter of the station for around 6 months, I was approached by DJ Caspa to see if I had any interest in helping out. I was eager to get involved somewhere in the music world, and after realizing UGS was home to some really great heads in the music world, I was sold.
And it seems your work with The Underground Sessions, and your existing relationship with DJ Caspa led you to booking for him? Tell us about your experience booking a UK-based artist almost exclusively in Europe while you are in the United States.
While managing the station over a 2-year time frame, Caspa and I grew increasingly closer as friends, and there was a high level of trust between the two of us. With his gigs picking up for the summer, he was looking to get some help during the first few months, and true to his reputation, he invested his time and energy into teaching me some of the inner workings. The biggest obstacle when dealing overseas for me is just the time difference, but honestly, with guidance from a true veteran, things went smoothly between us, as they typically do.
With the perspectives of your deep personal relationships rooted in music, combined with your more logistical perspective in radio operations and booking, what is your insight on the global dance music community now that parties have returned to full swing?
From what I've seen and heard from our own DJ's is that there's plenty of gigs out there, and people are excited to be out on the dance floor once more. I see the BPM has started to rise up now that summer is coming, so it's always a treat for me when the producers start putting out their 'peak festival season' releases. Always notice the vibe of music being released changes from season to season, as do most people's moods. I think you can put that same framing on how people are viewing the clubs being open. Excitement is in the air!
I seem to recall you saying recently you'd almost prefer to play jazz out these days over house music. Additionally, your Underground Sessions shows featured an eclectic catalog of music. Where is your head at musically, and how do you view yourself as a DJ?
I view myself as more of a supporter of the scene, and noticed that mixing in a traditional DJ format was a great way to showcase the music I loved. Someone I highly admire is producer Rick Rubin. He's known in the scene for working on some of the greatest hits in music, but doesn't really have much insight into the production side of things. Where he excels is his ability to pull the best out of artists he works with. That's something I try to do as often as I can. There's a few producers who I've given some pretty in depth feedback to on their albums, and that has brought me the most fulfillment in the music world outside of the relationships with people in the industry.
What went into your selection for this mix?
I just found some more upbeat tunes that I could have some fun with while still creating a nice journey of quality music. And that's what mixes like this are about for me. Supporting music I like while enjoying myself :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more from Luke Bestrom:
Tune in to The Underground Sessions: