Controlling the Masses - Catching up with Leon Lour

Leon Lour hits Tough Love’s Get Twisted Records with a fresh new Bass House E.P. ‘Control The Masses’. We caught up with the Londoner to find out a bit more about him and the record.




So the topic for today is your fresh ‘Control The Masses’ EP out now on Traxsource via Get Twisted Records. Can you tell us in your words a little bit about it.

With this EP I really wanted to keep things simplistic after experimenting with a lot of styles. I wanted to create some really dark, underground club bangers that make peoples Bass Faces come out. Especially with ‘Best Around’, that track was a throw back to the music that Benson and I used to spin back in the day in the clubs in Shoreditch, before it got all glammed up. That said i can never help my self but include big breaks going back to my Trance roots, so you can hear in ‘Control The Masses’ it really opens up to a festival / stadium style break and then drops in a much more housey vibe that just a sub hitter like in the first drop.


What is the one piece of kit that you simply cannot do without?

I’d say even though its ridiculously simplistic, I love Kickstart. I used that on everything instead of or as well as a side chain. I find that often the normal process of sidechaining creates glitches and noises sometimes, using an LGO shaper instead i find is cleaner.


Who has been your biggest inspiration?

Definitely my grandpa, he was a music composer and writer and massively gave me the music bug from a very early age. He used to play the piano when the family was together and also the organ for his church. He used very early music software like Cakewalk and was always very supportive of everything i was doing and guided me in any way he could.


The most inspiring moment from your life?

I was working in Ibiza in a studio back in 2012 for just over a month and waking up every day to being in the hub of an intense club land was incredible. Hearing all sorts of styles of electronic music really opened my mind. From hearing deep/tech house in Sankeys to huge EDM bangers in Amnesia. Matching that up with the views across the island living in the countryside, I had the time of my life.


How much of a perfectionist are you? When do you decide your work is top notch?

I’m massively a perfectionist, constantly listening back to releases thinking what I could of done to change it/make it better. I love learning new techniques of production but it’s frustrating thinking, “damn, I wish I’d known that when i made that track”


Nightclubs or Festivals? Why?

Nightclubs for me for sure, i love playing intimate clubs where the decks are the same level as the crowd and everyone is all surrounding you. The smaller the better! I used to go to clubs like Plastic People back in the day and the system was sick and there was only two lights, the one on the DJ booth and the fire exit.




Leon Lour ‘Control The Masses’ is available on Traxsource: HERE.


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