Luke Hess

Detroit native Luke Hess produces deep, immersive minimal techno with a heavy dub influence, inspired by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:37um1uxI92g4ll61LzrtB5">Basic Channel</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5ipQlfnpRCtyOuhYqvPvQ8">Robert Hood</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3AhwIUus3pIaA3CvYBEtpy">Richie Hawtin</a>. A perfectionist in the studio and on-stage, he has performed hardware-based sets at revered techno clubs and festivals such as Berghain, Fabric, and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. He owns and operates the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DeepLabs%22">DeepLabs</a> imprint, and either on his own or with Brian Kage as the duo <a href="spotify:artist:39hpW5JQilyT9nQp2S2nFa">Reference</a>, his records have been released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echocord%22">Echocord</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22FXHE%22">FXHE</a>, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+E%22">Planet E</a>, and other labels. His acclaimed debut album Light in the Dark appeared in 2009, with Keep On following in 2012, and he's continued delivering pristinely engineered EPs such as 2021's Epibenthos Mbira (with <a href="spotify:artist:2iQKRNfvItA2TYDUjfaxDN">Joshua Harrison</a>).

Luke Hess was born in the Detroit metro area in 1980 and started going to warehouse techno parties in the mid-'90s, where he witnessed DJs like <a href="spotify:artist:2eIDAcLKnWc4D350YyzvgS">Jeff Mills</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3AhwIUus3pIaA3CvYBEtpy">Richie Hawtin</a>, and Daniel Bell. He began collecting records in 1997, and sporadically DJ'ed at local events for several years before he started making music around 2006. His first demo received no interest from the European labels he sent it to, but he played it for <a href="spotify:artist:3JkLFcTej6tdwZoQT6Nx4B">Seth Troxler</a>, who then brought it to the attention of <a href="spotify:artist:3BvWiyLcyLMoOIm2U8HepI">Omar-S</a>. Hess' first two EPs appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22FXHE%22">FXHE</a> (run by <a href="spotify:artist:3BvWiyLcyLMoOIm2U8HepI">Omar-S</a>) and Brian Kage's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Berettamusic%22">Berettamusic</a> in 2007; Hess and Kage additionally formed the duo <a href="spotify:artist:39hpW5JQilyT9nQp2S2nFa">Reference</a>, and began releasing material in 2008. Before long, Hess's music attracted attention from overseas, and he released records on labels like <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Kontra-Musik%22">Kontra-Musik</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echocord%22">Echocord</a>. The latter issued his full-length debut, Light in the Dark, in 2009. He founded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22DeepLabs%22">DeepLabs</a> in 2010, and <a href="spotify:artist:17dbJyUCrxh4I7iyUrjaHU">Carl Craig</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+E%22">Planet E</a> issued <a href="spotify:artist:39hpW5JQilyT9nQp2S2nFa">Reference</a>'s Aeonian EP the same year.

Hess's second album, Keep On, appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22FXHE%22">FXHE</a> in 2012. Hess collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:3BvWiyLcyLMoOIm2U8HepI">Omar-S</a> on 2014's Motown Methods EP, and Into the Abyss, a <a href="spotify:artist:4xSSlzl6vHXCXN2uJBgYsm">Sascha Dive</a> co-production featuring remixes by cv313 (aka <a href="spotify:artist:1FJlepTxHmPA5QVEwoFplL">Echospace</a>), appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22minimood+extra%22">minimood extra</a> in 2014. Taking his music in a more cosmic direction, Hess released Star Gazing (with <a href="spotify:artist:67dhAF6a7gv2xHCwF8Y6Ng">O B Ignitt</a>) and Adventures in Deep Space in 2015. A second EP with <a href="spotify:artist:4xSSlzl6vHXCXN2uJBgYsm">Dive</a>, Polyphonic Minds, appeared in 2017, and solo releases were issued by labels like <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Visionquest%22">Visionquest</a> and Supercinema. Along with his brother Jeff Hess, Luke released The Sea Was No More, featuring cover art by legendary Detroit illustrator Abdul Qadim Haqq, in 2020. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Echocord+Colour%22">Echocord Colour</a> issued Epibenthos Mbira, with <a href="spotify:artist:2iQKRNfvItA2TYDUjfaxDN">Joshua Harrison</a>, in 2021. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi