Gawd damn, that DJ Made My Day: No Luck Club Spins Turntablist Gold

You've been consistently compared to the likes of Kid Koala, Cut Chemist, and DJ Shadow. Who do you cite as your biggest musical influences?

When we first started making music, we modelled our sound on the electronic, sample-based music that was coming out of the late 80s.
Basically, we mimicked the dense, multi-layered productions of our
heroes: the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy) and Coldcut. However, we've learned a few tricks or two over the years so now I think we're slowly developing our own sound. These days, I like to study the work of people like Bill Laswell, David Axelrod, Steve Reich, Can and Miles Davis' jazz-rock fusion era - I just hope we get good enough so we can at least attempt to play or create this kind of music!

It's been a couple of years since you've expanded the original NLC duo to include Paul Belen, DJ Pluskratch. Do you feel like your approach has changed with a three-person dynamic?

Well, our goal has always been to form a big band with lots of
different musicians - sort of a modern day fusion orchestra! However,
that's an expensive dream to realize so I think we're going to be a
small combo for many years to come. When Paul became part of the group, I just felt we were moving closer to forming our "orchestra".

Let's talk about the album, Happiness. It's the first of a trilogy based on Chinese deities who represent luck and good fortune. Does the name "No Luck Club" set out to challenge or honour conventional Chinese superstition?

None of the above. NLC is simply a cheeky reference to Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club. We didn't put much effort or thought into the name of our project - it was more like a joke in the studio. However, we got a record deal right after that so now we're stuck with the name! But I will say this about superstition - there are thousands of great Chinese folk tales, parables and legends. However it seems like the old stories that resonate the most with Chinese people today all involve luck, fortune and prosperity. As opposed to say, love stories. So perhaps in a subliminal, ironic way we are commenting on this aspect of our culture. I figure we'll let the audience decide on the meanings.

Happiness tracks like "Beatnik Communism" and "Hong Kong Swinger" seem to deal most directly with questions of race, identity, and politics. How would you describe the function of humour or irony in your work?

I like funny songs so that's the type of music I want to make! Besides, I figure if you're going to comment on our society you might
as well use humour. After all, what's going to make you feel better - a good joke or another statistic?

The last time I saw you live was opening for DJ Z-Trip in the summer, and you're first on deck for the Mike Relm show in a few weeks. You've been scratching alongside some of the most influential heavyweights of your genre: can you name any standout acts or collaborators who you've worked with over the years?

All our best collaboration experiences have come outside the hip hop
world. Oddly enough, they have all occurred at folk festivals! A few
years ago we jammed at the ICA Folk Festival in Victoria with some
seasoned jazz musicians. This was organized by Ian Menzies who used to be the band leader of a local "acid-jazz" outfit called the 'Mo Funk Collective. This was the funkiest session with which we've been
involved! It was also a crash course in band dynamics and we learned a lot about how to handle ourselves on the band stand with other
musicians.

Last year, we were part of the Vancouver Folk Festival's Collaboratory sessions. Basically, the group was split up and we were all paired with other musicians. We jammed for a few days and presented our crazy work to an unsuspecting crowd on Jericho Beach. It was a lot of fun and we all learned so much from each other. These were some my favorite musical experiences.

As brothers growing up in Burnaby, BC, did you ever envision
yourself opening for the likes of Z-Trip? What first motivated you to bust out the turntables?

(Trevor): I can't speak for Matt because I don't have any technical DJ skills. However, we both got into hip hop in our pre-teens and it was the whole sampling thing that reeled us in. We heard early songs from LL Cool J, Fat Boys and of course Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit' but in hindsight, I'd say it was how Run DMC had flipped Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' that really did it for us. At that point we were more into rock & top 40 music but we thought it was so cool how Run DMC claimed that classic song. So that's what motivated us to buy all the rap records we could find and learn about the history of the music. This was the mid-late 80s, what many people consider to be hip hop's creative golden era. All the scratching and sampling on these records is what really inspired us to DJ and make our own music.

I've heard that Trevor and Matt went to SFU. What do you study?

(Trevor): I have a Bachelors degree in Business Administration (Marketing and Accounting). Matt has a Bachelors in Communications.

What occupation does your mom wish you were doing?

Anything but the arts!!! Like most mothers, I think she'd rather see us involved in some secure, white collar profession. However, both our parents had dreams of doing something more creative (they're both
artisans of some sort) with their lives but they had to sacrifice their dreams for the family. These days, we don't get hassled too much about finding a real job so I guess that's as close an approval as we're going to get in a traditional Asian family.

Any word on the progress of the second and third parts of the
Happiness triology?

We're nearing completion of our second album, Prosperity. However, our record label has gone bankrupt and since we're unsigned at the moment, we don't know when the record will come out. So if anyone reading this right now has some connections to a reputable, relatively well-financed record label, please let them know that NLC has some heat for the street! Guaranteed club bangers! Haha!

If Matt, Trevor, and Paul were comic book characters, who would they be, and why?

Well, Paul isn't into comics but for the sake of the article, I'll say he's like Wolverine because he's short, vicious and likes to smoke. Matt would be Green Lantern because he can relate to Hal Jordan's personal life. As for me, I'd like to be Sandman, the Lord of Dreams (as depicted by Neil Gaiman) because I'm a sappy dude who believes in the power of the dream world. However, I'm probably more like Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law: an obscure Hana Barbara cartoon who traded in his super powers for a desk job.

Check back for Jackie Wong's review of their upcoming performance.