Voodoo Music and Arts Festival is amazing. Halloween is a blur of the unexpected, but down here on the Bayou, people are dressed like every other day. Half naked, half crazy, the men are women and the women are creatures of the night. Our first interview of the weekend was with Luis Dubuc, the man behind Mystery Skulls, and we couldn’t be more stoked. Dubuc was in Las Vegas prepping for his huge Halloween show before heading over to the Big Easy for day one of the debauchery.
“I decided to drive to Vegas, because I’m weird like that. (Laughing) I’m probably making harder on myself than it should be. I’m playing tonight at a place called “Insert Coins.” It’s like a dance club, but it’s also filled with old, vintage, arcade machines. (Laughing) It’s definitely my kind of nightclub. They booked me to do a Halloween show and I was like “That’s amazing.” I’m pretty excited about that.”
Red Bull is becoming more and more heavily involved with the world of music. They are constantly helping bands, through sponsorship and promotions, to get themselves out there. For Mystery Skulls, they are offering a festival day pass and backstage passes. This is a copy of the Tweet.
Mystery Skulls @MysterySkulls
Get in to @VoodooNOLA & hang back stage! Just share the @RBSoundSelect link to one of my tracks you dig & tag
#breakmusic to enter.
Shortly after our interview, the winner was announced. Christian Babin @thegreatbabino will be having a blast with the rest of us.
“I wish I could take full credit. It is part of a thing that Red Bull asked me to do and I was happy to do it. I am going to pick the winner right after the call. In LA, they put on a show where they were trying to support local music, so they had me as one of the openers. They bring in a headliner and charge two bucks to get in and give all the money to the local bands. I do a ton of them now. I’m doing one for Voodoo. I’m playing at three for the actual festival and then at six, I’m doing a thing called Soundwave, and then I do a thing for Red bull at The House of Blues. It’s a Voodoo after party. They have all these really cool events that they do and it’s great.”
Conceptually speaking, artist construct their art in numerous ways. Every one finds an internal rhythm and learns to listen to it. “It’s weird to quantify. I don’t know that I try to hard to dissect it, (laughing) I’m just happy it happens.I listen a lot of old soul records, to Japanese pop music. I used to work at a record store, so I am just a music junky. I listen to the music and map the beats out and somewhere in there a line forms. I think there has to be an idea of what the songs is before it makes sense. It’s weird to write music without really knowing why. And once that idea is set, it makes for a really good song.”
“I’m working on a new record that should be out next year. It’s going to be the first full length for Mystery Skulls. I have been working on it forever, it feels like. To date, I’ve only had an EP that is all mine. I think it’s going to be a great record.”
Every city claims to have the best electronic scene. Dubuc is from Texas and now resides in LA. Stellar arguments can be made for both. “For me personally, I think the craziest show that I have played in the last few months was in San Francisco. I went up there and did a show and it was sold out. People up there were off their minds. It was amazing. I think so far San Francisco is the leader. LA does it well and Texas supports it.”
“My version of electronic music is slightly different, because I sing live. So, instead of a DJ back there, I’m singing, so there is a proper song. It’s a little different and tends to catch people off guard.When people are down for something a little bit extra, that is when they get a good show.”
Looking back, Dubuc is still in awe of the things he has done. “I did a show in San Francisco last year the was so wild, so absolutely wild, that the crowd got up on stage. The people were going so crazy that they unplugged my gear. The unplugged everything! I was like, this is fucking insane. I just remember thinking this is ridiculous.
For all things Mystery Skulls, check out www.mysteryskulls.com.
