Luke Slater (born 12 June 1968,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England) is an English

electronic musician ''Electronic Musician'' is a monthly magazine published by Future US featuring articles on synthesizers, music production and electronic musicians. History and profile ''Electronic Musician'' began as ''Polyphony'' magazine in 1975, publis ...

, DJ and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, who has concentrated on

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

since the beginning of the 1990s. He achieved break through commercial success with his tracks "Love" (1997) and "All Exhale" (1999). As well as releasing many tracks and albums under his own name, Slater has recorded and performed under a number of aliases, the best known being Planetary Assault Systems, the 7th Plain, L.B. Dub Corp and LSD.

Early life

Born in Reading and raised in

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own ec ...

, Slater's early sound dalliances with his father's

reel to reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...

and his

drumming Drumming may refer to: * the act of playing the drums or other percussion instruments * Drummer, a musician who plays a drum, drum kit, or drums * ''Drumming'' (Reich), a musical composition written by Steve Reich in 1971 for percussion ensemble ...

stints led to work in local record shops, including Jelly Jam in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. By 1988, Slater was immersed in the embryonic

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

scene, DJing in London's

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

Music

Slater began releasing original tracks under various aliases, following his

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

debut in 1989 with "Momentary Vision".Hoffman, Dave.
Luke Slater: Fabric 32
. ''

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'', 19 February 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2019 Releases followed on

Djax Saskia Slegers (born 1962) is a Dutch DJ and producer who has run the influential music label Djax since 1989. She deejays dance music as Miss Djax. Career Based in Eindhoven, Slegers started to DJ, make and release dance music in the 1980s. ...

as Clementine, on General Production Recordings as 7th Plain, and as Morganistic (with Alan Sage), and especially on

Peacefrog Records Peacefrog Records is a British independent record label based in London, England. The label produces releases in many different styles of electronic music, as well as branching out into folk and indie artists such as José González, Nouvelle ...

, with nearly a dozen of releases as The X-Tront and as Planetary Assault Systems. After releasing four albums on Peacefrog, he issued 1997's ''

Freek Funk ''Freek Funk'' is a studio album by British techno producer Luke Slater, released in October 1997 by Novamute Records as his first album for the label and his first for a major label. The album was among Slater's most personal works to date, and ...

'' and ''Wireless'' two years later. His tracks "All Exhale" (2000) and "Nothing at All" (2002) reached #74 and #70 respectively in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. His first volume of the mix series ''Fear and Loathing'' appeared in 2001, on the React label. ''Alright on Top'' (2002) was an "album of songs" with vocals from Ricky Barrows and others featured on every track. The second volume of ''Fear and Loathing'' appeared in late 2004. Slater has released a mix for the Fabric DJ-mix series, and has reinvented innumerable tracks in remixes from artists such as

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

and

Ken Ishii is a Japanese Disc_jockey, DJ and record producer from Sapporo. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University. He has released work under his own name as well as under the pseudonyms: FLR, Flare, UTU, Yoga, and Rising Sun. Strongly influenced by De ...

to more recent remixes for Radial and Soul Designer. In 2006, Slater set up his own label, Mote-Evolver, releasing limited 12" records and digital downloads through the Mote-Evolver and N.E.W.S. websites. In 2014 he launched a podcast entitled ''The Spaceship''.

Pseudonyms

*Planetary Assault Systems (releases on

, Mote-Evolver, Figure, Token and

Ostgut Ton Ostgut Ton (also known as Ostgut Tonträger) was a German record label owned by the club Berghain in Berlin. Resident Advisor described it "a dominant force in dance music, beloved for its mix series and dozens of EPs, albums and compilations."ht ...

) *The 7th Plain (releases on General Production Recordings and Ostguton Berlin) *Clementine (releases on Djax Records) *L.B. Dub Corp (releases on Mote-Evolver and Ostgut Ton) *Own name (releases on Peacefrog Records,

novamute Novamute Records is the electronic dance music subsidiary of Mute Records, which was started in 1992.Larkin, Colin (1999) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 243 The label's staff included Mick Paterson (promotions ...

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

and Mote-Evolver)

Selected discography

(As Luke Slater) *''X-Tront Vol. 2'' (1993) *''

'' (1997) *''Wireless'' (1999) *''Alright on Top'' (2002) (As The 7th Plain) *''My Yellow Wise Rug'' (1994) *''The 4 Cornered Room'' (1994) (As Planetary Assault Systems) *''The Drone Sector'' (1997) *''The Electric Funk Machine'' (1997) *''Atomic Funkster'' (2001) *''Temporary Suspension'' (2009) *''The Messenger'' (2011) *''Arc Angel'' (2016) *”Straight Shooting" (2019) (With LSD) *''

Process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

'' (2017)Williams, Harrison.
Function, Luke Slater and Steve Bicknell debut LSD project on Ostgut
. ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'', 11 October 2017. Norman Records * '' Second Process'' (2019)Holbrook, Cameron.
Luke Slater, Steve Bicknell and Function launch new LSD imprint
. ''

'', 28 May 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019

References

External links

Mote-evolver websiteLuke Slater at DiscogsLuke Slater para fans de habla Hispana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Luke 1968 births Living people English DJs English electronic musicians People from Horley People from Reading, Berkshire Mute Records artists English techno musicians Peacefrog Records artists Electronic dance music DJs