Multidimensional artist Lost In Orbit shares a stunning audiovisual mix and gives us insight into his background, the evolution of his sound, and more.
Paris-based artist Lost In Orbit has been steadily making his come-up in the scene, and he’s doing it with heaps of authenticity and uniqueness in tow. From a young age, the multifaceted artist discovered his love for electronic music, digging into the sounds emerging from his hometown of Paris and getting acquainted with some of the remarkable names in the house scene at the time. After years of dedication, hard work, and honing his passions, the Lost In Orbit project has blossomed into something big and beautiful – the rest is history.
Initially, Lost In Orbit started creating under the Hugø alias, creating bass-oriented music, cooking exciting flips and remixes, and providing live support for artists like Flux Pavilion, NITTI, and Ace Aura. After redefining his vision for his artistic journey, the producer pivoted to the moniker Lost In Orbit, and it’s been a treat to see what direction he’s taking the project in. From bass house to drum and bass to dubstep tracks like “Another Chance,” he’s dabbling in a little bit of everything, making for a well-rounded and diverse repertoire.
Everything Lost In Orbit touches seems to turn to gold, and the exclusive audiovisual mix he’s provided for us today is the prime example of that. It features a plethora of different genres and sounds, in addition to a visual component that provides a closer look into his creative process while mixing. Lost In Orbit also sat down with us for an in-depth chat about his goals, upcoming releases, and more, so check out the mix on YouTube, listen on SoundCloud, and read on for the full interview!
Stream EDMID Guest Mix 383 || Lost In Orbit [Audiovisual Mix] on YouTube:
Hey Lost in Orbit, thanks so much for taking some time to talk to us! First things first, let’s take a look at your background. What were some of your first experiences with electronic music, and what made you gravitate toward becoming a producer yourself?
Thank you for having me! It’s an absolute honor to be doing this interview with you guys. A bit about myself, I grew up moving around a lot and in a very multicultural environment. I was born in France but lived most of my life in the US and just recently moved back. My oldest memory of electronic music was my dad showing me The Prodigy when I was around 10 or 11 years old and then going to my first-ever music festival at 13.
The first set I saw that day was a French electronic duo called “Da Octopusss” who had just made the soundtrack for this movie called District 13 (a French parkour movie). This made me fall in love with electronic music and made me want to pick up DJing. From that point on, I watched every single Ultra and Tomorrowland set on YouTube that I could find and would re-create the sets/mashups until I could play them perfectly. I bought a DDJ-SB controller at 15 and fell in love with the craft, the culture behind disc jockeys, sampling, scratching, and all that good stuff. I would listen to electronic music day in and day out with the original Monstercat compilations as early as the Monstercat 014 – Discovery compilation, OWSLA compilation, and Spinnin’ Records compilations on loop in high school.
Right before graduating high school, I purchased Ableton and slowly started to learn music production with the “You Suck at Producing” videos, How-To tutorials, and simply messing around. In college, I met some awesome people by working at music venues, including one of my best friends and current manager, who has been with me every step of the way. It wasn’t until I moved back to France a year ago that I started to take production seriously and discovered the styles of music that I enjoy the most, which is what I showcased in this guest mix!
You’re based out of Paris, France. How do you think that living in Paris and being surrounded by the music scene there has shaped your sound, if at all?
I think being in Paris showed me a whole different aspect of electronic music that I did not experience while I was living in the US and helped me connect back to my roots, as cheesy as that may sound. Art and music are core aspects of French culture and who I am as an individual/artist. Having an orchestral background, I’ve always loved big cinematic, emotional, beautiful music, which I think can best describe a lot of traditional French music I listened to growing up.
House and its history in France with Ed Banger Records, Justice, Daft Punk, David Guetta, and the PMF collective, amongst so many other influential artists, have always had a strong influence on the electronic scene as a whole. A legacy in our country that I intend to keep showcasing and put forward myself. That is something you can feel right away when you get to France, the pride people have for their culture/artists and always putting out some of my favorite music every year. I’ve always been a huge fan of bass house, and of late, breakbeat (mostly due to Nitepunk, which, if you haven’t listened to, please do so), and France has only strengthened that feeling.
For years you made music under the Hugø alias, but last year you announced that you would be entering a new chapter of your artistry as Lost In Orbit. Now that you’re several months into the Lost In Orbit project, are you finding that your artistic vision has undergone any sort of significant changes?
I think the Hugø project was a great way for me to experiment, try out new things, and start honing on what would eventually become the Lost in Orbit project. The last few months have all been about making the most music possible, tweaking the last couple of things, and creating an audio-visual experience to provide something unique for people to experience with the Lost in Orbit project. The LIO character is an extension of me, and every track is meant to tell a story of something I’ve experienced in my life. It serves as an outlet for me to express my feelings and people’s different aspects of myself. I want the visuals to reflect those emotions I feel but also to be something people have not seen before.
I’m lucky to have a great friend of mine who is an unbelievably talented visual artist who understands my vision perfectly and consistently creates the coolest content I’ve ever seen. Being able to work with friends, pushing each other to improve every project, constantly motivating one another, and most importantly, having fun with this has been one of the most rewarding aspects of this project so far.
You got your footing making bass music with tracks like “Another Chance,” but lately, you’ve been moving toward more house-oriented sounds – you’ve even got some killer unreleased house heaters up your sleeve. What inspired you to switch things up and start exploring this new genre?
I think being back in France and Europe, in general, made me discover a new love for house music. There’s been some unreal talent coming out of the scene lately, especially in France, with Sans Merci, Confession, and Noir Sur Blanc, to name a few, showcasing the unbelievable talent in the French scene. Artists like Knock2, Nitepunk, and Habstrakt have also been pushing boundaries with house music lately and creating some of the dopest stuff I’ve heard in a while, making me want to innovate and create cool stuff too.
With that said, house is not the only genre that I’ve been falling in love with lately. I got the opportunity to go to the legendary Printworks in London during its closing season, and this made me discover a whole new world. I’ve been making so much DnB lately and having the most fun ever with sound design and writing my favorite music to date. The culture is so rich behind Drum and Bass, and being able to experience it firsthand was unreal. I’ve been particularly influenced by Hedex, Sota, Fox Stevenson, Reaper, Bou, and Primate. My goal is to give my own spin on the genre while also paying homage to the legends in the scene by experimenting with the countless sub-genres that exist, such as Jump-Up, Neurofunk, Liquid DnB, and Breakcore.
Digging into the mix you made for us today, there’s a little bit of everything here – you tap into house, bass, trap, and even some hip-hop stylings. Would you say the diversity in sounds and genres throughout this mix accurately represents you and your tastes as an artist?
I think the mix and the diversity in it reflect who I am as a person and artist. I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world, meet people from countless different countries/backgrounds and cultures. All of those experiences have influenced me over the years with the different places I’ve lived, the sounds that were popular where I lived at the time, and this mix is a way to represent that.
Bass music is huge in the US, house in Europe, and hip-hop is something that I grew up listening to. For me, it was important to showcase all those genres and influences in this mix. Over time, the more I’ve learned to produce I’ve realized the importance of hip-hop in EDM, resampling culture through artists like A-Trak, and its presence in genres like bass house and g-house with Malaa being a master at this, especially with his track “Notorious” paying homage to legend Notorious B.I.G. I want to be a multi-faceted musician, never feel stuck making one genre, always experiment with this project while also acknowledging the history of these various genres.
I genuinely believe that there are no limits to EDM, and that’s what I love the most about it, especially from a production standpoint. It’s impossible (for me personally) to get sick of it because I’m always excited to find the next crazy track, underground artists, and the continuous innovation associated with this culture/music.
What’s been the most exciting thing you’ve done so far as Lost In Orbit, and what’s something that you hope to achieve in the future with this project?
While the project is still very young, some of the highlights so far have been seeing some idols of mine supporting my music, with Hekler as of late featuring an unreleased DnB track of mine on Insomniac Radio. I never thought someone would play a song I made, even less on the radio. I remember waking up at 3am and seeing a flurry of tweets that my song had been featured and played on Insomniac Radio. It was an unreal and emotional moment for me. I called my mom right away and my team to share the good news. It was a moment I’ll never forget, did not take for granted, and will cherish my whole life.
Doing this project with you guys has also been a huge milestone for me. I’ve discovered some of my favorite artists like Papa Khan across your mix series so to be featured on it really means a lot to me, on top of the opportunity for this interview to allow people to get to know about my project on a more personal level. We wanted to do something unique to stand out from your showcase series and create a visual mix. Putting together this visual mix was nothing short of mission impossible, and I think we spent at least 100 hours putting it all together between planning, production, and editing before getting to the final product. I’m immensely proud of how it turned out. We got really personal with it and wanted people to get completely immersed in this Lost in Orbit project. I’m looking forward to seeing what people think of it!
Looking forward, my goal within the next two to three years is to release a couple of EPs through labels and self-releases, start playing some shows in Europe (maybe even some smaller festivals), and find a distinctive sound. Down the line, I dream of playing EDC Orlando/Las Vegas/Mexico, Tomorrowland, and Lolla Paris, and creating my own production similar to what we’ve seen with Eptic, BTSM, Illenium, and Excision. Having a custom production and show would be the pinnacle of my career as an artist, so I’m going to keep working hard to hopefully make it happen one day.
Between cranking out new tunes, playing live shows, and living the artist’s life day-to-day, things can surely get pretty hectic. What are some things you do to ground yourself? In other words, how do you stay down to earth and keep yourself from getting too lost in orbit?
I see what you did there. Love the pun. I have one word for you: face masks. Face masks have become my new best friend this year and part of my weekly routine. They’ve helped me relax so much and create a moment where I just do nothing for a while each week.
But in all seriousness, to answer your question, it’s been a learning curve. As I said earlier, I moved around a lot and have had to make many sacrifices over the years. Music, whether it be producing it, mixing, or playing shows, has always brought me joy. I moved back to France a year ago, leaving my life in the US behind to pursue a master’s degree, which was a huge leap for me leaving my family and friends behind. I didn’t know anyone moving to Paris, I genuinely started from zero music-wise and socially. Without music, I honestly don’t know how I would have made it through many of those changes, and that’s the reason why EDM, in general, holds a special place in my heart.
I’ve been working since I was young, and being a first-generation immigrant; you learn to adapt and survive no matter the circumstance you’re put in. I think that’s how I’ve been able to maintain a balanced lifestyle between work, school, music, my social life, and my personal health/well-being. It’s not easy by any means, and like everyone else, I go through my ups and downs, but I’ve learned to prioritize what’s most important to me, my values, and take each day as it comes. I make sure to take time for myself, relax and give myself breaks.
I’d like to think I have a strong work ethic, and that’s also played a crucial role in being able not to get “lost in orbit.” I’ve learned to cherish those little moments around me, take nothing for granted, and take everything as a learning experience. I’m obsessed with learning new things, challenging myself, and always going out of my comfort zone. The biggest mindset that has continued to carry me over the years with music is that I’m doing it for fun, and it should always be about that above anything else. The moment it’s not fun anymore, it means I’m doing something wrong. With all that, I’m still very young and early in my career, but I’m an ambitious person, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Finally, can you hint us to what else you’ve got in the pipeline in 2023 and beyond?
Right now, I’m putting the final touches on my DnB EP, which is my best body of work to date. I won’t spoil much, but it’s a very personal project; every song has a story/meaning behind it, and I genuinely poured my all into it. The whole EP is one big story and adventure, and I can’t wait for people to hear it. On top of that, we’re working on some unreal visuals with my team, and I’m honestly so lucky to have some of my friends working with me on this project; it makes it just that much better.
Additionally, I’m working on a “Lost Files” project which is a collection of bootlegs, flips, and edits of a bunch of tracks, some of which I’ve been teasing on my Instagram and TikTok for a while now. Some of those tracks include a liquid DnB flip of “Say Yes To Heaven” by Lana Del Rey, a bass house flip of “Attention” by Doja Cat, and a bass flip of “R.I.P.” by Playboi Carti, to name a few. These flips and bootlegs are a way for me to try out new things and go beyond what I would usually make, which has been so much fun to do. Beyond that, I’ve started working on an ID showcase, a melodic EP, and I continue cranking out new tunes daily.
Merci beaucoup et à bientôt!
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