Photo: Jordan Lee, Full Circle Media
Electronic music producer Lavier recently kicked off 2024 with the release of “END ALL BE ALL // F**K OFF,” a pair of tracks available for streaming on all DSPs as well as a one-time-only, limited edition cassette tape.
At times, music production doesn’t have to be so profound, and Lavier manages to convey that message with “END ALL BE ALL // F**K OFF,” while simultaneously maintaining the quality of production that he’s renowned for.
Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2023 proved to be a breakout year for Lavier. He released a series of killer dubstep tracks on labels such as The Widdfam, Wubaholics, More Creativity Records, Wormhole Music Group, and Sweet Sounds, in addition to a myriad of self-releases via his SoundCloud and monthly Bandcamp subscription group where supporters are delivered an unreleased track every month.
Lavier experienced an action-packed 2023 summer with several debut festival appearances at The Untz, Sound Haven, and Elements Music Festival.
“END ALL BE ALL // F**K OFF” demonstrate Lavier’s sui generis creativity, featuring potent beats topped by compelling synths, blending elements of bass music, dubstep, trap, and lo-fi.
Tattoo.com caught up with Lavier to discover more about the inspiration for “END ALL BE ALL // F**K OFF,” his creative process, and his tattoos.
Hey Lavier, thanks for joining us for this interview. Let’s start things off with a pretty simple and straightforward question so our readers can learn about you. What three things can’t you live without?
Thanks for having me! Hmm ok – #1. My cat, “Baby.” #2. My laptop – for obvious reasons but also, I’m a graphic designer so I can’t really make money without it. #3. Nature. I enjoy going out to the city to have some fun here and there, but I mostly prefer my home out in the cut. I think the quiet environment is good for me and nature’s solitude is always a sweet thing to come home to.
Congrats on the new track(s). Can you share the inspiration behind your two-track release, “END ALL BE ALL // F**K OFF”?
Thanks! Yeah, these tunes are some of my most ‘unhinged’ tunes yet because I wrote them specifically for the dance floor. They’re a lot less contemplative than a lot of my other songs because my focus was more on just communicating pure intensity. I wrote them back in early 2023 when I was going through some emotional turmoil, and I think I used the writing process as a means to turn my frustration into something more useful i.e. pissed-off dancefloor bangers.
Much of your work tends to emphasize the darker, brooding end of the emotional spectrum. Is this a reflection of your personality or simply the way your sound evolved?
Definitely a personality thing. I think being positive is great and I generally keep a positive mindset, but for some reason, I find it easier to turn negative emotions into music. I think ‘toxic positivity’ is kind of bullshit and that it’s better to be honest with yourself about your issues and really stare them in the face, rather than acting like they don’t exist.
Any specific artists/producers that influenced your sound in the beginning? And has that changed over time?
Some artists that were my gateway to enjoying electronic music/early influences include Flying Lotus, Lapalux, Long Arm, and Floex. I still enjoy those artists a ton, but I’ve gone down the rabbit hole a bit more as my interests have developed. Some big influences for me now are Ternion Sound, Kercha, Ourman, Player Dave, and a lot of my friends and peers who are really pushing the genre forward.
For a casual listener of music, describe your sound and style. What would you say?
Late-night music for dark rooms with big ol’ sound systems in ‘em. Heavy focus on the low end and the overall groove.
Tell us about your production/creative process.
It varies a lot. I get in the studio as frequently as time allows and always try to leave with at least something, whether I think it’s any ‘good’ or not. I then take the good stuff and finish it and set the not-so-good stuff aside on a hard drive for later in case I ever want to re-work it. Other times, I’ll just have a little riff or idea that randomly pops into my head, and I turn that into something. There are also times where I just hear something cool in a song and feel the urge to write something from that place of inspiration but in my own style.
Lavier | END ALL BE ALL // FUCK OFF
Any of your peers who are currently crushing it right now that you’d like to shout out?
Absolutely. Murkury, who I am working on a collab EP and tour with right now. Flex Ariani who co-founded my collective, Less Than Family is gearing up for a really solid year of releases and shows. My North Carolina buddies Tunic and Criso consistently kill it. ArkZen, Torcha, Dicey, Chef Boyarbeatz, Die By The Sword, Oxossi, I could go on – there are so many folks pushing great sounds right now. It’s hard to list them all but the folks I mentioned are all great artists and friends worth checking out.
The question our readers have probably been looking for… we see you have some ink. How many and which one is your favorite? (feel free to shout out your artists as well).
Ten currently (11 if you count all the little dots on my fingers that have been fading for years ha-ha). My favorite tattoo is the first one I got – it’s a bouquet-ish group of flowers on my left forearm laid on top of this deep red rectangle. The flowers are just black outlines filled with negative space and the red rectangle peeks out from behind them. It was something I drew a long time ago and my tattoo artist (Justin Norton) reworked it to fit his style and make it more tattooable. Definitely check out Justin Norton at Speakeasy Tattoo in Boone, NC, Logan Isaacson at Kings Avenue in Durham, NC, and Will Graham at Iron Orchid Studio in Boone. Logan did another favorite of mine, which is a Buck knife on my ribcage and Will did a kind of dark/whimsical blackwork flower thing that I love on my left bicep.
Any plans to get more? If so, how do you choose the style? Spontaneous or planned?
Definitely! Not really in the budget right now, but always itching for more. Usually relatively planned just for the sake of my bank account. The style varies a lot – right now I have a patchwork of various things, but once I fill out more of my skin, I’d like to connect it all either with floral stuff or just solid black, depending on how many little one-offs I squeeze on there.
Give us some hints at what you have coming up this year.
Lots of stuff! Four shows in four cities across the US between now and the end of February, new collab EP with Murkury called ‘Worlds Collide’ coming out in February, a limited edition vinyl release of some unreleased tracks in late winter/early spring this year, *hopefully* some more festival bookings this summer, a few tracks coming out with my collective Less Than Family, etc., etc. The plan is and always has been just to consistently do a bit more and consistently do it a bit better than the time before. And to have a great time doing it of course.
