Name: L.Dre
Nationality: American
Occupation: Producer
Current release: L.Dre's Lofi Symphony is out via Deutsche Grammophon. Get the vinyl here.

If you enjoyed this interview with L.Dre and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, and Soundcloud.



When did you first start getting into getting interested in musical interpretation?

Interpretation seems very specific to classical. So I was kind of just interpreting it through sampling.

With that in mind, I'd say my first taste of musical interpretation was when I was new to producing music. One thing I like to practice was attempting to fully recreate some of my favourite instrumentals from scratch. It was difficult, but it was super rewarding.

And it actually like helped me become the producer I am today by just seeing what's already good and trying to make it myself.

Which artists approaches albums or performance performances captured your imagination in the beginning, when it comes to the art of interpretation?

I'd say J Dilla was a big inspiration.

The way he sampled the most complex songs but made them into really simple beats. That was really, really fascinating to me - his style of doing that. And that's really what got me into interpretation and just into sampling in general.

What would you say are the key ideas behind your approach to interpretation? Do you see yourself as a part of a tradition or historical lineage?

I'd say one key idea behind my approach to interpretation is mainly just conveying the same emotions and sense of nostalgia to whatever it is that I'm taking inspiration from.

Sometimes I like to do is sample TV show theme songs and stuff like that from my favourite shows, which made me feel a certain way.

Could you describe your approach to interpretation on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you?

Lofi Symphony, I guess, is like my masterclass of interpretation. For example, the track “Lonely dance” is based on or interpretated from a song by Ravel called “Pavane pour une infante défunte”.



One thing that was very special to me and very interesting was that in a lot of classical music, it's not the same as hip hop, where you have sections which are looped and which you can keep going on and on and sections of the piano, which will go on and on forever.

But I was able to take sample a piece and break it down to just a few sections that I really liked. And then loop those over and over. And then on top of that, I added all these different elements that really made it into a beautiful song. We added a saxophone we added more strings, and a bunch of other material.

It just made it much more special and just a more wide sounding track for me.

What was your own learning curve / creative development? When it comes to interpretation, what were challenges and breakthroughs?

There are a lot of challenges when it comes to complex sounding music. Lofi Symphony is a great example.

I make lofi hip hop, which is usually in a four four time signature, around 80 BPM. So it was difficult to take the songs and all these different time signatures and try to figure out a way to either bring my style into that time signature, or break that time signature down to four four and add my beats on it like I did with Satie's “Gymnopedies”, for example.



One of the key phrases often used with regards to interpretation are the composer's intentions. What is your own perspective on this topic and its relevance for your own interpretations?

For the most part, it depends on the kind of vibe I'm going for. And I've actually never read a score. It's just straight from my ears, whatever I like.

That said, for me, I think I do take the composer's intentions into account when I am sampling or interpretating something.

If the piece is already a very emotional piece, and that's what the original composer was trying to convey, I like to also take whatever emotions are originally attached to that, and convey them in my own interpretation as well.

What role does improvisation play for your interpretations?

Improvisation is definitely a huge part of what I do. When I interprete things, on the one hand, I like to keep the essence of what it is. But also I like to switch it up a lot.

So any track on Lofi symphony, not only is it interpreting these iconic classical songs, but I'm also adding a bunch of different elements and turning them into my own sound while I do it.

Live interpretations can be wildly different life compared to the studio. What is this like for you?

I'd say for my medium, electronic music, there isn't usually that much of a difference live.

But recently, I did do a live show with Deutsche Grammophon for this album and worked with a quintet for the occasion. Having the quintet up there on stage definitely pulled out a lot more emotions than just hearing it through speakers.

So I'd say the emotional factor is much higher when it's live.

What role do the audience and the performance space play for your interpretation?

The audience and the performing space can really change the vibe of things. So with something like Lofi Symphony, or any kind of music that I do, that's chill. I feel like it is really best in an intimate setting, as opposed to like some large mega stadium type of situation.

If there's more of like an intimate circle of people, listeners are able to connect easier and the motion spread easier throughout the crowd.

With regards to the studio situation, what role do sound editing possibilities and other production factors play for your interpretations?

I make all my music in Ableton. And there's just a bunch of techniques that I can do to really take it to the next level or take an interpretation and make it sound like me - whether it be like adding vinyl crackle, or using different plugins to make it more lofi sounding and stuff like that.

So I'd say it plays a huge role in in my signature sound when I'm interpreting things.

Some work seem to attract more artists than to add their interpretation to it than others. Some seem to even encourage wildly different interpretations. From your experience. What is it about these works, that gives them this magnetic pool?

It's true, certain songs in history get interpretated or sampled a lot. I'd say it's because their sound can't be replicated in today's time. A lot of musicians can get attached to that specific sound, and there's no way to recreate it.

So the best thing to do is just try to interpret or sample it, and just mix it up and make it their own sound, while also capturing that essence of whatever it is that makes that sound so important to them.

Artists can return to a word several times throughout the course of their career with different results. Tell me about a work where this has been the case for you.

As far as going back inside of a project and changing things, I don't think I've ever done that. Once I release a song, it's usually just released.

But when it comes to marketing, I've definitely gone back and randomly started promoting an old track. Or with tiktok today, any old song from several years ago can resurface. So marketing wise, I definitely do.

Part of the intrigue of interpretations is that the process is usually endless. Are there nonetheless interpretations that feel definitive to you?

I wouldn't say that. It just depends on what I feel like I'm capable of doing to this particular sound.

You can take one piece of music and interpret it in so many different ways. There will never be a definitive version.