Featured Base DJ – Luke King
Written by Admin on January 7, 2013
This week’s featured Base DJ, Luke King of the Mixed Bizness Crew, will be banging out the tunes at a Base party over on Waiheke Island this weekend.
Extend that summer holiday vibe a little and drop by Sandbar on Waiheke on Saturday night (January 12) for some Mixed Bizness goodness along with Dylan C, Junior and Si-Res and Speakeasy. So very, very worth the boat ride.
Luke says he’s always been surrounded by music, from his parent’s collection of Grace Jones, Talking Heads, Billie Holiday, and BB King (true story : Luke’s middle name is BB) to the reggae, ska and even 80s pop rock (Guns n Roses might have been mentioned) of his older brother and sister. He gives a lot of credit to his siblings for these early musical introductions which still stick with now in the under current of the tunes he selects for a set.
Luke has been part of the Mixed Bizness crew since 2009 but his original introduction to the Base decks came a few years earlier, doing some fill in shows for Duane and Aza back when they were still doing “The Freshness” at the old Ponsonby Rd studio. Back then he didn’t even consider himself a “real DJ” but R.I.A (the DJ at the helm of the earliest conception of Mixed Bizness) convinced him to play a live gig and after that there was no looking back.
The future DJ bought his first car off his brother when he was 16. The car came with a cassette of Snoop Dogg’s “Doggy Style” which was the first time Luke had heard G-funk but he was hooked and listened to that tape till it was worn out. He half jokingly admits that in a way this album changed my life as it sent him off down the road towards Dr Dre, the West Coast sound and then eventually the East Coast and groups like Tribe and De La.
When he was 17 a few of his mates bought turntables and introduced him to Funkmaster Flex mixes and artist like Gangstarr and Rakim. By now Luke had a huge collection of CDs but no way to play his sound. He used to just make lots of compilations which at least taught him how to put a set together. It wasn’t until he was 24 that a friend bought that first Serato box and his whole world opened up.
Of course, DJing is only half of it. Away from the decks Luke King is in fact quite a prolific sculptor, creating a lot of the iconic works that make Auckland city a little more beautiful. After studying design at AUT he started working full time with his mother, sculptor Virginia King.
When he started working with her they were making wooden sculptures and some bronze casting. But over time their works got bigger and were commissioned more and more for outdoor spaces so they needed to become more weather durable. They have made works from aluminum but now solely work in marine grade stainless steel as it is rust proof and has long lasting visual beauty. They have made major works for Sydney, Melbourne, LA, Singapore, Hawaii, Perth, London and exhibited in galleries in Taiwan, Singapore, Melbourne, London as well as had pieces in the Chelsea flower show in London (Fern, Leaf and Limpet). Told you – prolific. They’ve exhibited all over NZ and have won the People’s Choice Award three times at the Sculpture On The Gulf show on Waiheke. That stunning large round silver disc in the New Market Khyber Pass intersection is their work as is and the Aramarama Millennium Footbridge in Mission Bay and the David Lange Memorial in Otahuhu. They are currently working on a national memorial to Katherine Mansfield which is going up in Wellington.
Tune in to Mixed Bizness every Wednesday from 12pm – 2pm for the meanest 50 cent lolly mix of 90s hiphop, reggae, bangers, mash ups, downbeat and even a bit of jungle and d’n’b.
Check out Luke’s mixes and mashes on his Soundcloud page
Like the Mixed Bizness Facebook page to stay in the loop
And see you all in the late evening sun at Sandbar this weekend to block out that first week back at work!
