For the next episode of our little mix series, we are very pleased to be hosting an excellent contribution from Bluhol, a new project from the artist you may otherwise know as Loïcc. Bluhol/Loïcc has been plugging away for some time now, turning out excellent releases on noted labels such as Mind Controlled Rectifier and Cult Trip. Earlier this year he launched new label Inner Theft through which he promptly released the extremely good Inner Thieves Vol. 1 V/A. The V/A. featured contributions from RBI, LOIF and Eastern Distributor (among others), and is set to be followed by a Vol 2. later this year.
The mix we're blessed with is as wide-ranging as it is well-crafted, sounding equally suited to late-night festival hours as it is sitting on your bedroom floor staring up at that one weird spot on your ceiling.
"I tried to chronicle my experiences of the last year and a half in this mix so it covers a lot of ground
and reflects the stop/start nature of life at the moment. I hope people can take some positive
energy from it!
Hey thanks for being part of this humble little mix seres, how’s it going?
Pretty good all things considered! Thanks for having me!
Early this year you launched new label Inner Theft, starting things off with the excellent,
V/A Inner Thieves Vol 1. which was released in April of this year. What’s the
idea behind what you’re trying to do with the label, and how has it all gone so far?
I really wanted to contribute more to the amazing scene we have in Australia at the moment and
build a platform to support other emerging artists. The idea behind Inner Theft came from my
personal experience of releasing music, battling creativity I wanted to express against what I
thought was expected of my music and trying to shut out that conservative voice.
I wanted to create a label that would give artists full confidence and freedom to make whatever they wanted to and to explore some stuff that wasn’t all aimed at the dance floor. It’s still very early days but I’m super excited for future plans.
The release of Inner Thieves Vol. 1 also marked the official debut of your new alias,
Bluhol. What led you to create another alias to release under, after a fair few successful
years of releases under Loicc.
The Loïcc stuff is fairly club focused and I’m finding that style has such a quick consumption
turnover at the moment because there is so much amazing new music coming out every day. I
wanted to make something that lends itself more to home listening. The name Bluhol is inspired by
a swimming hole back where I grew up in Armidale (NSW). The projects purpose is to explore my
relationship with the Gara Gorge area in the Northern Tablelands and how I’ve felt since relocating
to both Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the regenerative effects I feel when I return to those
pockets of nature.
Could you share a few tracks that have inspired the Bluhol sound
Esem - Bleece (Serial Human, 2003)
The sound design in Esem’s tracks has been a huge inspiration, this whole album makes me feel
like I’m wandering around in nature.
upsammy - It Drips (Zoom, 2020)
I love the way upsammy blends electronic music with field recordings and vocal work. This track
occupies the same emotions that I’m trying to capture with Bluhol.
Obviously last year's lockdown was a tumultuous time for almost everything, did you
find that it changed your relationship with music at all?
Absolutely! Everything has slowed down a lot and given me some time to fall in love with making
music for my own satisfaction again. This time also given me the chance to fully immerse myself in
and connect with whole albums. I was lucky enough to pick up some modular gear at the beginning of the whole Covid thing too so that has really changed the way I think about creating music now. You can spend a whole day listening to a single patch and just fully geek out on the process and it’s so beneficial for me to have something physical to play with.
What do you find most rewarding about creating/releasing music
Honestly it’s just such a nice feeling when someone else can get something out of what you’ve
created. That’s always the best part about finishing and releasing music for me.
What (if any) changes have you noticed in your sound/overall taste in music since you
first started out producing and DJing
I feel like I’ve been into everything at some point in my life so these days I’m finding I can connect
the dots from all the different music I've consumed and link tracks from all over the place style wise
in my DJ sets. Previously I’d be way more comfortable sticking to a single genre and definitely
when I started producing I was more focused solely on Electro and EBM.
Could you share with us a track that takes you back to a specific time/place.
Malelstrom - Tank Diving (Discord, 2014)
This track from Maelstrom never fails to take me somewhere. I've loved it forever so there are too
many memories to name but one that does stand out was seeing Maelstrom drop it in Sydney at a
Motorik party on the last weekend before the infamous lockout laws came in. A pretty special night
to experience.
Finally, spill the beans on any exciting plans you have on the horizon
I’ve got a bunch of Loïcc stuff due out before the end of the year, an EP on a new label called Fan Club from Sydney which I'm really happy about, and couple of VA’s due out soon as well. I’m working on a couple of projects with some amazing dancers in Newcastle too! There’ll be another VA for Inner Theft and the first Bluhol release coming up later this year as well! Very grateful to still be so involved with music at the moment!
Art by Ivy Rose
Words by Josh Pryor
https://soundcloud.com/bluhol
https://soundcloud.com/innertheft