We caught up with Las Von who just released one of his most personal ever releases on Somatic

Hi mate, good to catch up. Where are you based and how long have you been in the game?

I am now currently based in Vancouver, Canada. I moved here to pursue music full-time last August. I’m a relative newcomer to the game. I only started making music a year and a half ago, and have only been releasing under my alias, Las Von, for just over a year.

How would you describe your sound and philosophy toward the music you play, for those that are not aware of it? Are you seeing music differently to others?

I would describe my sound as deep, progressive, melodic house and techno that more often than not involves an emotional, cinematic journey. I like to focus on cinematic soundscapes and combine them with emotional chords and melodies to evoke feeling. Every track I have made evokes some sort of emotion in me, and it’s my hope that the listener feels it too.

I think the beauty of music is that it is very much subjective; every single person sees it differently. There’s no right or wrong, which is why the creation of music is so fun for me. For me, music gives me an escape, a way to evoke emotions and memories, that no other medium is capable of.

Talk to us about your latest release and the inspiration behind it.

My Breach EP is my most meaningful work yet. It is filled with pure emotion from start to finish due to the fact that I wrote these tracks in the weeks after the sudden passing of my Grandpa and Uncle late last year. It was devastating for me and my family, but music helped me through it all and I couldn’t be more thankful. The intro instrumental track on the EP, “For Them”, is based off of the first unreleased track I wrote after it happened, which was dedicated to them. Then came The Passing, and lastly Breach. The EP is full of emotion and written with my Grandpa and Uncle in my thoughts. Every time I listen or play the EP now I will remember them. And I’m grateful for that. That’s what makes music so beautiful… So, I hope everyone hears my Grandpa and Uncle within the emotion in these tracks. This EP is dedicated to them.

What made you decide to sign with Somatic? How important do you feel the imprint is becoming and what’s your view of where the label is heading?

Somatic was a target label of mine initially, and when the label owner, Steve Pegram, reached out to me it was a no brainer to send him my most recent work. As mentioned before, this EP meant a great deal to me so I made it clear that I wanted a good home, somewhere that believed in my work and appreciated where this EP came from. Somatic was that and more. They have gone above and beyond to make me feel at home on the label and opened many doors for me. They have been working extremely hard behind the scenes to put this EP together in the best way possible, and I can confidently say that they have achieved exactly what I wanted from it. I can’t wait to share it with everyone.

I think Somatic is going to grow rapidly. It deserves to. The amount of hard work that has been put in to achieve the talent ridden roster they now have is amazing, and they’ve done it in such short time. It’s very inspiring to see them chase after their dream as hard as I am chasing mine. That’s rare nowadays and I applaud Somatic for that! Plus, as I said, they treat their artists with absolute respect and get them the exposure and opportunities they deserve. This next year is going to be huge for them I feel. I am just grateful to be a part of the Somatic family!

What’s been your biggest achievement so far?

As my career is just blossoming I don’t look back on any one achievement and think that it is bigger than any other. I made sure to celebrate every achievement along the way (my first release, my first remix, my first Top 10, etc). It’s a good way to appreciate the whole journey. But if I had to pick something, I’d say receiving support and plays from the artists I admire is what I am most proud of. Some big names have backed and played out my tracks and I’m super grateful of that!

Talk to us about the music scene like where you’re based. Where’s hot, who are the big names locally and how often are you playing?

The music scene here is quite untapped. It’s already good, but it has so much potential to be amazing, and I think that’s what I love about it. In the end, along with the pioneers who are already doing so in Canada, I’d also love to help grow the scene alongside them.

I think the international DJ, Siavash, is probably the biggest name in Vancouver. His collective is titled “You+One” and he puts on tons of underground events throughout the year, always bringing in big names. These parties are phenomenal. If you’re ever in Vancouver definitely look it up! Also, Gorg-O-mish is quite fun too!

Currently I am in school, and it eats a lot of my time, but I am playing events when they come, in order to get my name out there in preparation for when I graduate. Once school is done this September I will really be able to put myself out there and play more.

Tell us about your DJ setup when you’re performing.

I keep it simple for the most part and stick to the classic CDJ club setup. Once I graduate school and start playing more (hopefully throwing my own events too) I will definitely be implementing some live elements such as the Roland SPD-SX Drum Pad alongside whatever sort of MIDI and analogue gear I can get my hands on! Really looking forward to expanding my live performance in the future.

What are you goals for the future and do you have any other things planned that you want to share?

My main goal is to just keep making music and releasing it in ways that help get me more exposure and lead me to further opportunities to further my producer/DJ career. In saying that, in the future I would like to be able to do music full-time, ultimately just producing and DJing. I believe that I am aligned with the right people to do just that, so it’s just a matter of showing up every day in the studio or DJ booth and putting in the work for as long as it takes! I have a clear vision of my future, and I fully believe I will get there through time and hard work. I just need to pursue that vision relentlessly!

A lot of things are happening this year as I have many releases, remixes, and collaborations upcoming! I also am excited to see where my new radio show, “Contrast Sessions” goes this year. I recently started it with my friend, Hoopski, and so far the feedback from our mixes has been great. I’m excited to use it as a way to showcase my sound and maybe even drop some unreleased IDs, so stay tuned!