Laure Croft and Her Sexiest Recs

Laure Croft is the princess of elusive, sensual techno beats – and her newly launched record label, Sexyrecs, is her queendom. Techno, especially the kind mixed by Laure, is transcendental and empowering, having an innate potential of soothing the ones that heed its tune. Sexyrecs has an eye for this ineffable, risqué surge endemic to clubbing – and not only does Laure recognize its flair, but redeems it by turning it into her record label’s spearhead. Serving the noble art of electronic music in the world’s techno republic (where else than Berlin?), the Dutch-born pundit is expanding her craft in order to give back to the culture that launched her to international acclaim.  In preparation for her upcoming episode on Glamcult TV, we were delighted to catch up (for a second time!) through a quick chat – sexy mysticism, synesthesia and vinyls being unmistakably on the agenda for our convo.

Hi Laure! It’s been a while since we last spoke. How has your past year looked like?

Hey hey! True that, it’s good to be in touch again. My past year has been filled with lots of full-circle moments, new experiences and challenges that came with my life as an artist. I started my label Sexyrecs, of which the first release was on July 12th last year. Also I had my first event, on August 30th in Berlin. I changed agencies to Triangle Agency and am super happy with my new booker and colleagues. Never not working on myself, so I found some new personal lows and also new highs (literally and figuratively speaking). I became a mom again as I adopted a street cat from Spain, Donnie, so there’s a sister for my rescue husky Roxy now. One tiny family in Berlin! Overall it’s been a very moving year and when looking back at it I feel content. Am ready for the next!

Sounds quite wholesome! What are some of your tips for surviving Berlin winter (or Dutch winter for the same matter)?

It’s a mindset and a vibe I guess? Haha. To be honest winter may be over for me, i’m ready to go out in teeny tiny outfits again, outside of club walls. Pro winter tip: order candles in bulk for the entire winter at the beginning so all winter long it looks and feels cosy inside your home.

Can you tell us more about the emergence of Sexyrecs?

Of course, Sexyrecs kind of formed herself naturally after screaming from rooftops we all have to ‘keep it sexy’. I don’t own the word sexy but I sure do know how to make it mine. It has been an aspiration to start a music label for a while and I was never too sure when it would happen. In previous years, before becoming a DJ, I ran my own business in clothing and jewellery and at heart I ultimately enjoy creating something of my own; something that will outlive us all. How intriguing is it that tangible things will at some point outlive us all? When I am DJ-ing old school records from the 90s or the 00s I can’t help but wonder where the record has been before I bought it. Some of the records have stickers or handwriting of the previous DJ(s) on it and naturally I realised I also want to achieve this for future generations, by creating my own vinyl releases. The music of Sexyrecs is also available for digital DJ’s as I figured myself to be a vinyl DJ doesn’t mean everybody else is interested in it, and I did not want to exclude anyone from enjoying the releases. The overall feeling behind Sexyrecs is my own wish to have more quality techno available on vinyl, and also in general I felt that more people should have access to sexy club music. Sexyrecs always includes a FLINTA artist on the various artist releases, and I try to always combine more established producers with beginning or even debuting producers. There is so much talent out there and I can’t wait to show you the upcoming releases! Also to link it all back to my past as a clothing and jewelry designer, I started a clothingline with Sexyrecs. Making sure to use fair materials and make use of vintage clothing. A limited amount of pieces will be for sale in the Glamcult Store, all hand printed and made with love!

You mention mysticism and sex appeal in the making of Sexyrecs, our favorite ingredients for any cocktail. The techno scene also has a taste for both of these. What is your personal take on this mix?🙂

Well, it’s actually quite simple. Sexy doesn’t have to mean a body type or the way someone acts. It means for me an energy, this eternal flame everybody has somewhere. For some people it’s buried a bit deeper than for others, but ultimately everybody has these internal tingles of excitement. Playing with this mysterious energy is so interesting for me. Leaving room for interpretation. With some people you might never know they feel this internal sexiness, with others it’s highly visible. We never know where it comes from, I do hope Sexyrecs is one of them, tickling the right part in your body to feel its best sense of self.

What colour do you envision your music as?

Funny that you ask this as I happen to feel colours when I hear sound. This might not be logical to you at all, but it is to me. My music is mostly coded in blue, red/orangey, green and white. Where blue means more darker and heavier sounds of machinery, red/orangey is a vibey vibe I can’t possibly explain but its percussion and melodies that just vibe over a bouncy baseline, green is tribalistic wormhole sounds, white is just more empty and tool-like in a track where air plays the key role. All of the tracks on Sexyrecs, as well as what I play can be targeted into these categories, or have a mix of them per track. Some are more of a dark-vibey, and some are bubbly-percussive.

I love that you have it so well and synesthetically settled! What is your favourite track or vinyl (or both) at the moment? That’s definitely UFO95 on Mord – Brutalist Society. This double album is so emotional, I think he captures the intensity releases of a dancefloor so well in each track, so I play this in every set. 

What’s something you wish for from your Glamcult TV moment?

Ein Sekt auf eis bitte. <3

What is on your radar for this year? Just so many great things happening right now. To begin with, this Saturday (February 22nd) I’m doing a klubnacht in Levenslang with Sexyrecs and there’s 2 releases coming out on vinyl this year. In spring I’m going on an Asia-Australia tour, so being excited is an understatement. Summer is looking great with many festival bookings all over Europe. I have a streamed Boiler Room planned, and the list with amazing moments is a lot longer but I’ll cut it short now. Overall I’m really just trying to humble myself over this crazy but wonderful life I get to live, and hope we see each other on some wild dancefloor soon! 

Yes, definitely! We’re rooting for you <3 See you very soon!