Multi-instrumentalist, producer and DJ Alex Saurez has lived multiple musical lives that ran the gamut of styles and genres. It’s his latest works under the moniker LEFTI that finds him blending these myriad experiences into an exciting nu-disco blend.
Earlier this week, LEFTI unveiled the Discoteca EP which also serves as the debut of the toucan sounds imprint. The batch of dance-floor ready bangers further establishes LEFTI as an artist you need to watch in 2019, and Brooklyn-based readers can do so IRL when he joins Crush Club, Jpatt (of The Knocks), and French Horn Rebellion for the toucan sounds label launch party at Freehold on April 4th (RSVP).
To go along with a stream of Discoteca, we had LEFTI break it down for us in his own words track by track. Check it all out below and look for the EP via your preferred service here.
“All Night”
“‘All Night’ is the only song on this EP that was recorded at a studio outside of my own. The studio is owned by my good friends J Ashley Miller and Jon Kraft (also former bandmate) and is called “The Infoaming Vertex”. I went out to Kansas City to do a gig at The Riot Room and stayed for the whole weekend so that Jon and I could hang, try some local BBQ and just play around in the studio.
J and Jon are both drummers who own a very extensive list of percussion so, I decided to try to make a live sounding disco sample of my own and re-sample that. I did layer in some electronic elements to modernize certain parts but the synth, guitars, bass and percussion were all performed, recorded and re-sampled there. I love making my own samples, I do it quite a bit.
The vocal sample/idea came to me on the last night. I was working long days and nights while I was there, on the night of my gig, I went back into the studio and finished recording thru the night until I had to go to the airport the next day. I stayed up all night so that the whole song was recorded on that trip.”
“Make You Mine”
“There were some new hotels that sprouted up in Williamsburg [Brooklyn], one of which has a really nice rooftop pool with a great view of the city. I got to play up there a handful of times and I would try to make something new to play, before each one. I was really feeling that disco pool party vibe so I went for just that, on this record.
I was definitely influenced by some classic disco house records but agin, making my own sample to re-sample and then pitching an acapella sample for the vocal line. There is definitely a nod to the high formant vocal sample which stems from some of the classic house records which were pitching/speeding up whole recordings of songs to sample.”
“Every Time” feat. Spencer Ludwig
“I really wanted there to be one song on this EP that was more of a vocal forward single but still fit with everything else. Spencer Ludwig had reached out at the perfect time to collaborate. I took a song he had already written/mostly recorded and totally dismantled it into a new structure with an all original music bed. Basically, like a remix.
The song was originally called “Earth, Wind & Fire” (the now bridge section of Every Time). I really wanted to play on the “Na, na” part so I sampled that to use as my main vocal hook from it’s original melody.
The horns were actually the very last thing we added. Spencer is an incredible trumpet player and we both agreed that we should add that in the mix. Spencer was really great to collaborate with.”
