Biscits

“A lot of artists were worried about releasing. For me, all I was doing was making music. I know people are still listening to music, maybe certain sounds in tech house are suited to club times but there are other sounds and styles you can release that people will want. You have to be in people’s faces reminding them that you exist all the time. For me, releasing music is the best way to do that. You have to be consistent with it.”

For Luke Jones, aka Biscits, the global pandemic shutdown represented an opportunity to hone in on the sounds and styles of house music that he is passionate about. Growing up in Southampton, electronic music and DJing has been in Luke’s life for a long time. It was not always about tech house though, with forays into dubstep and long periods of experimentation and self-reflection. 

“When I went to University, me and all my friends were into Electro. Daft Punk, Justice, everything French. We put on our own gig in the student union. We just had a tiny mixer. Complete shambles, we had no idea what we were doing but it was a good time... We all got into dubstep when that kicked off as well as trap music. My first proper gig doing that [dubstep] music was actually in Russia. I can’t believe that even happened. I just flew to Russia by myself and was just hoping someone was there.”

Although his early days were marked by experimentation in the world of dubstep, growing up in the UK inherently put Luke at the center of the world of house music. Coming up as a DJ in the UK means loads of opportunities, but also an equal amount of competition. Not only do you need to be skilled in order to stand out amongst your peers, you have to impress a knowledgeable fan base.

“Some of the crowds can be quite critical. You have to know what you’re doing, know who’s songs are who’s. Play the right song or the crowd will know you don't know what you're doing. It’s nerve-wracking in that sense but if you do well, people have a ton of respect for you and it can help get your name out early.”

Luke is now one of the hottest names in tech house, releasing with major labels like Solotoko, Black Book, and Higher Ground to name a few. He recently signed a publishing deal with the legendary Ultra Records, a true sign that his future is bright. That being said, his recent success came out of dark times.

Stuck in an office job for years, Luke’s life hit a turning point when he had a near-death experience. 

“We went to Vegas for a bachelor party for my friend. On the way home, as the plane was taking off the engine exploded. I can laugh now but at the time it was crazy scary. The whole thing was on fire, we had to evacuate. After that, I was feeling off for a few weeks and knew I had to evaluate what I was doing. I loved music and hated my job. When I started doing music again, the bass house sound was popping up and was pretty new. I thought what Jauz and Night Bass was doing was amazing and with my dub background it just made sense.”

After a few years of experimenting in this style, Luke had another life-changing moment during a night out in Southampton. He went to a local club called Switch to see Solardo play.

“Seeing the crowd and the way they reacted, I felt like I finally understood what tech house was about. It inspired me to go deeper and more housey. I quit my job and moved in with my brother, sleeping on his sofa. I had some money saved up and knew that I just had to try and go for it.”

In 2018, as the money was running out for Luke and his hopes of a music career were dwindling, he booked the gig of a lifetime, sharing the decks with the hottest rising name in house music at the time, Fisher. The gig gave Luke a spark both internally and commercially, and soon after, Sonny Fodera supported and released one of his tracks. embed

Everything seemed to kick off from that point. He has become a mainstay on Sonny’s label, and has gone on to become one of the most sought-after rising DJs in the world of tech house. Although he has now taken the leap into legitimacy, Luke’s journey has really just begun. 

“I know that in tech house you can’t be one dimensional. Having the opportunity to try out other sounds during the pandemic helped me a lot and subsequently gave me the catalogue for a label like Ultra to see that I can make more vocal tracks.” 

Luke will be bringing his unique blend of big room tech house stateside in October. With a slate of massive shows ready, and unreleased tracks up his sleeve, he is one to watch.