Release Radar: Larry Lan - A Wonderful Album

Larry Lan begins his Cadenza journey with A Wonderful Album, a tailor made special that was born from the beginnings of a friendship with label boss Luciano. The Barcelona based DJ and producer tells us how he dedicated 29 days working on a humble setup, channeling his love of the low end into a full length album of spacious, bubbling minimal. Larry is music through and through, from his dedication to vinyl, to his collaborations with his son Ian Kiddo, who at just 12 years old is already making waves on the scene. Following in his fathers footsteps, as they pave the way for the new generation.

We’ve been hooked on your Monday online mix streaming sessions that have become a weekly highlight. Can you tell us more about your mixing style, and how those quick cuts between the records complement the mix?

I’m glad for this, thank you! I like to show people the dedication and love with which I choose music at the vinyl store (Discos Paradiso, Barcelona), until the needle hits the record. I launched Monday is Monday, where on Mondays from 3pm, I’m playing with vinyl for about an hour. I like to work on the mixer, on the decks - being busy! Timing, playing, and dancing alone to the track that is coming soon. My mixing style comes from hip-hop, crossfader cuts without anesthesia. I’m not handsome or funny, so my job is to entertain with creativity in my hands. If you want a different kind of show, like getting up on the decks, I’m not the DJ you were expecting.

Rap gave me scratching, and hip-hop gave me the way I feel music, even how I’d wear pants when I grew up. I don’t want to seem like a hater of the digital world. I’d like to clarify that I have nothing against it. I’m just saying, like I told my son Ian, you learn to add first, and then you’ll have time to use a calculator. If I ever went blind, I could still be a DJ. For those who can’t mix by ear, no. And music thrives on hearing it.

Living just outside of the city, you remain an active player in the Barcelona underground scene — where can people catch you playing these days, and how is the music community there?

Well, in the ’90s I did have gigs. But social media wasn’t a path I followed much. When they asked me days before a gig how many followers I had and how many people I was going to bring to the party, I turned around and walked away. Fifteen years later I started an Instagram account for my son, about skateboarding-related topics, and realized that the question they asked me in 2003 about followers or likes had already become a cancer of society. DJs had multiplied. Had they eaten after midnight? Had they gotten wet? I saw the DJs surrounded by people - maybe looking uncomfortable mixing or playing.

Barcelona is a place with a lot to offer, a lot of partying and no rules. So my favourite place to go is El Círculo, a wonderful club where I can play New Wave, post-punk, Gothic… People are knowledgeable and curious about the tracks that catch their attention.

Your son Ian Kiddo is already making waves as a DJ and producer at just 12 years old. When did you first sense he might be following in your footsteps and how has it been working together creatively?

The kiddo Ian danced to the beat with his foot at one year old. If you do that, you can mix right away. He’s like a dry sponge, absorbing everything with amazing speed. He has such an imagination that the problem for him with composing music is that he just can’t stop. Ian can be whatever he wants. But he always says he’s a skater and he likes music, just like movies. He can watch 100 movies a year, for example. Now he’s focused on school and a future in the career he’s chosen. Now for fun, skating, music, and playing with friends.

Taking it back — when did your own journey into electronic music begin and what pushed you to start producing your own tracks?

In 2003 I went to a friend’s house who had Cubase. I’d already expressed curiosity and he showed me everything you could do with MIDI. My head suddenly became saturated. I wanted to make 200 tracks that same afternoon! I felt capable of capturing all my ideas on that screen. And so it was - I bought a Mac and downloaded Logic Pro, and my hermit life began.

Your debut LP on Cadenza, A Wonderful Album, is packed with minimal delights. When did you first come across the label, and what does it mean to you now to be a part of its story?

I discovered Cadenza from the moment it came out. My vision of minimalism, or techno, had shifted from Belgium, to Berlin, to Chile. The DJs I liked were all there: Dandy Jack, Allendes, Matías Aguayo, and of course, Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos. I tracked Cadenza from day one. In 2021, through Ian (yes, it’s all through a video we posted of Ian playing vinyl), I met Nacho Capella, and he started uploading videos of Ian playing Villalobos tracks. One day Ian told me that Luciano had contacted him. I looked it up because I manage all of Ian’s social media, and yes! We met up with him and two of his sons and talked about everything.

At no point did I tell him I was a DJ, nor did I tell him I was a producer. It wasn’t the right time; we were there for Ian, and that’s how it was meant to be. Luciano gave me his WhatsApp contact for better communication and at the end of the day, we said our goodbyes, and that was that. Three years after opening an Instagram account of my own, starting production again and realizing that everything was really complicated, I decided to send Luciano an album via WhatsApp. When I sent the file, I instantly regretted it. I thought it wasn’t the right thing to do. But then he replied, on December 22nd.

The Chilean Santa Claus who remixed Nina Simone told me: “Send me everything you have and I’ll release it on Cadenza.” I cried for 15 minutes.

How long was this album in the making? Were you working towards a specific sound or concept with this release?

I wanted the low end to be the focus. And if a conga line could sound super low-end, I’d be thrilled. The album took me 29 days to complete.

There’s a real spaciousness and patience to many of the tracks — what does your creative process look like when you’re building these kinds of minimal grooves? Which pieces of kit are you using to make music?

My life is humble; I don’t have any equipment or a studio. People are amazed when they see that my decks aren’t Technics. I work with an Akai MIDI controller and a 13” MacBook Pro. I create a beat and break it down, grinding, flanging, destroying myself too. And I usually like the end result. Honestly I’m very self-confident. It may seem arrogant, but I don’t need ‘likes’ to be satisfied with my dedication.

Now that A Wonderful Album is ready, what’s coming next? Are there any upcoming projects, solo or with Ian, that we should be looking out for?

Modula-3 is another album of mine and it’s already with Cadenza, waiting for its moment. Ian and I have collaborated on the 10th Anniversary VA for Playedby with our track 1602Landed. And, like The Smiths, we’ve taken some time off! He’s now working on Kiddo 002, which will be released on a sub label of Curtea Veche, where our track Sweden was also released, with Enzo Leep. Personally I’m doing something very dub, very techno, and with lots of sounds. Tocotos!

Check out A Wonderful Album which is available now on Beatport or Bandcamp.