Though he'd already been making music for about a decade, the rest of the world came to meet Galcher Lustwerk in 2013, upon the release of his pivotal all-originals mix, 100% Galcher. The New York-based producer's hour-length project arrived enveloped in bourbon-scented haze, and connected the dots between sweeping ambient music, understated hip-hop and minimalist deep house. The mystery evoked through the production could fit into the backdrop of late nights, dinner parties and film noirs. The mix became a cult favourite, and when the year-end lists came rolling in, 100% Galcher landed at the top, ultimately becoming one of Resident Advisor's Mixes Of The Decade. In late 2022, the mix celebrated its ten-year anniversary with a first official release as a double-LP on Ghostly International.

The pandemic era has proved an interesting period for Galcher Lustwerk. He released a Christmas album under his Road Hog alias, produced a surprise track with controversial rapper Azealia Banks and dropped his muted kick drums to produce an ambient soundtrack titled Adaptation.

This year, he moved from his Queens home to a chic apartment in the Lower East Side, just a short walk from Tompkins Square Park. His studio moved with him, which is where we met one afternoon in October. From our time together, it was clear that Galcher Lustwerk has his mind on the next chapter of his work. The Waldorf and Tempest synths heard on 100% Galcher have been sold, replaced for more compact gear, and he described his new music as being on a "Balearic tip." As he sat in his studio chair, a tapestry of his Lustwerk Music label logo hanging above him, he littered our conversation with film references and constant reminders that the gear in the room matters less than the melodies and concepts within them. To prove this point, ahead of our interview, he'd strategically placed stickers over the brand logos on his equipment.

For an hour, Galcher Lustwerk talked about how his setup has evolved over the years, the influence of film and hip-hop on his production and, after a decade at work, the new direction he aims to take his most beloved alias.

Galcher Lustwerk had been making music for a decade when his pivotal all-originals mix, 100% Galcher, arrived in 2013.

Hip-hop feels like a cool place to start, because you've mentioned being influenced by rappers like Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa. I'm wondering what records you're listening to that are influencing the more hip-hop and jazzy end of your sound?

I try to keep track of hip-hop in general, because growing up I was sort of late to it. It's relatively newer to me than electronic music. So it always felt to me like the most futuristic stuff. Maybe it's also being proud to be a Black American. I feel like it's the music that is pushing the forefront. House and techno were pushing the boundaries a bit more in the '90s—that was an exciting time. But now there's so much stuff coming out that I have to really keep track of everything, seeking not necessarily inspiration, but to be informed of what's going on and how certain sounds are developing. I keep trying to find what separates myself from everything else.

When you're listening to those tracks, what exactly in the production are you listening out for?

I think a lot of it is harmony, musical clarity and simplicity. But also rhythm and usage of time. I think with hip-hop, in general, there's so much output, and that necessitates the need for evolution. In a way, it's like keeping up with technology. You're seeing some of the smartest solutions to using electronic equipment. I have all this [gestures toward equipment], but some of my favourite producers just use Fruity Loops. So I know it's not all about this stuff; I'm just kind of a nerd. Everything is custom to how I want to work and it's not influenced by other producers' sounds. It's all based on trial and error.

So can you explain your setup?

I wanted to make it like a cocoon. There are two references I was thinking about when I was working on it. In the very first scene of Invisible Man, he's underground in a cave full of lights and he's controlling everything from there. And in the first Alien movie, there's one room in the spaceship that's really warm and has lights everywhere. It's where the mother computer lives and there's only one person who has access to the room.

Here, everything's within arm's reach and able to be turned on really quickly. I also have a PC, so that's why there's two Stream Decks. And they load up plug-ins. Everything's also very visually oriented, so I don't have to type and think about a synth or plug-in, which I used to find super annoying. It's all easy to grab real quick and I don't have to think about it. I just have to know what the plug-in looks like.

Very tactile. Can you tell me more about Stream Deck?

Yeah, it's mostly for Twitch streamers. Lots of people hook it up so that they can have cameras change, sound effects go off or video game shortcuts. But I customised the whole thing myself. So sub menus with every plug-in that I've tried, or even demos that I have show up too. And I can quickly go to compression and find all my compressors, or go to synths and all my synthesisers are there. Every time I work on something, I have the whole palette of colours available. For me, it used to be about paring down, but now that computers have gotten so crazy and there are so many options, I would rather just try them all, go for all the new stuff. Every track has a different plug-in, a different drum machine. I'm really letting things happen naturally, in real time.

"So there's the one track "In My Bed" on [No Trip]. And that's recorded with a laptop microphone, because I was actually in bed, lying on my stomach."

It seems like you enjoy exploring, but do you have any staple plug-ins and drum machines that you tend to return to?

There's a few I have in rotation right now. I sort it by how much CPU each plug-in takes up. I have a favourite plug-in for every situation. If there's a situation where I have lots of files and tracks running and I need a gate or something, I have a whole section of really low CPU plug-ins. For those I like the Matric Halo plug-ins, they're pretty simple.

I use Matric Halo (Character) for emulating different input and output devices. It's really subtle—it's almost how it would sound if you ran it through another device, so it's good for distortion. [Plays distorted kick drum.] That's a super extreme example. I like Metric Halo because it's fast, but then if I want a real bougie sound, I'll use Acustica plug-ins. I have one called Brown, which is based on some military equipment from the '30s. I like Acustica for when there's not much processing power. I can make a two-track or a mix sound a little nicer. And I've just been geeking over hardware emulations. It's almost like cosplaying an old studio.

How much of the instrumentation you're using is live?

Most of it's pretty live. I usually programme the drums, but if I'm doing chords, I'll jam on my keyboard. Usually I'm improvising, then I'll get the kick going. [Fiddles around the keyboard to demonstrate] And then do rudimentary improvisation [laughs].

Did you ever take piano lessons?

No, but I played the saxophone for nine years. I also have a MIDI wind controller. So for a lot of tracks, where there's saxophone sounds, it comes from that.

"[I'm using] a lot of jazz instruments. I like movie soundtracks. It's ironic because I'm in this lo-fi house category, but I've always kind of wanted the music to be as clear and crispy as it could."

Interesting. Does it completely mimic the feel of a saxophone or are there any key differences?

There are a lot of controls that I'm still trying to figure out. I mean, I've had this for five years but there's plenty of weird little extra controls. So you can tweak it to how you play. [Plays several notes.]

I wanted to talk a bit about the bougie sounds we mentioned earlier, because Galcher Lustwerk is about this fantasy of luxury. The music sounds very classy, very sultry. What kind of instruments or equipment are you using to achieve that luxurious feel?

A lot of jazz instruments, obviously. I like movie soundtracks. It's ironic because I'm in this lo-fi house category, but I've always wanted the music to be as clear and crispy as it could. Almost as if you're watching a high-budget movie. So I'm always making sure the sound is clean coming in. I guess they use a lot of plug-ins, but lately I've been running it at like 96 kHz and using higher quality recordings that have more of a frequency spectrum. I have a little preset bank on the Motif that has chords, pads, muted trumpet. I can do any movie soundtrack real quick [laughs]. Some of these are pretty new, but the Motif for instance, that's Y2K. All the pop hits had these going on in the background. Nostalgia-wise, I look for cinematic and muted sounds, nothing super harsh. I never want to wear my ears out. I want to achieve a softness that allows me to keep working for more than half an hour so that my ears don't get tired. I work really quietly.

The New York-based producer's studio on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, just a short walk from Tompkins Square Park.

I'm gathering that you're a film head. What movies are influencing your work?

I like a wide range, and not really specific to highbrow or lowbrow. I like crime, mystery and psychological thrillers. One of the big influences for the Information album was The Long Goodbye. It's a Robert Altman film from the '70s, a sort of stereotypical private eye film noir and he's kind of a doofus. It's a postmodern take on this character who's trying to solve a celebrity murder in LA with a bunch of weirdos around. I like detective stuff, like Poirot and Agatha Christie mysteries. But then I also fuck with a show like Law And Order.

I was thinking the other day that I really liked The French Connection, which was on Netflix. We just watched Scream and that was sick. I don't know, it's hard to relate it back to music when the music's a very specific mood. If it were a movie, it would be a mystery or a Mission Impossible or something.

I think it all goes back to world-building, because your music is very transportive. I know you've also mentioned before that the album format is ideal for immersing oneself in a world. So that all definitely adds up for me.

Yeah, I still think of albums as objects. It's missing a lot without the jewel cases and inserts and stuff, but I still feel like I'm being immersed in that world via the artwork and the music coming together at the same time. So, yeah, there's always been a visual complement.

As you have a background in visual art, when you're making music do you see scenes play out? Are you a visual person in that sense?

No, but I like thinking about that later when I'm selecting stuff. A lot of the time I'll just have a Twitch stream going on. Or I'll have an RPG playing in the corner. I want to zone out while putting stuff together and get into flow state. And then it's less about what I'm trying to make, more following my gut.

Also, when I arrange music, it's never nitpicky. If you see these little jagged points, [gestures to screen], I'm muting those individually in real time. So whenever there's an arrangement, it's almost a single take. When I do the arranging, I think about it because I've already heard the loop for two hours and I then want to narrativise it. So whether it starts with a kick or something else, I get into it real quick–I'm immersed immediately. But then some tracks I'll start out however I'm feeling, super spontaneously.

"I've just been geeking over hardware emulations. It's almost like cosplaying an old studio."

When you're listening to that loop for two hours, would you say that melody comes first? When you're inspired to start making a track, what is driving you?

Yeah, melody. When I start a track I have a default drum loop going, so if I'm lazy, I'll just leave it and improvise over it [plays notes on synth]. This is a digital synth. It's really plastic-sounding. I just got it actually, I traded it for a Waldorf Blofeld that I had for a while. A lot of the time I'll be fucking around with no beat playing at all. And then do the capture MIDI button, then if I like that I can loop or copy and paste it. So yeah, a lot of the time it starts with a couple of chords that I'm playing. I don't like to prescribe chords. I like to make sure that there are some imperfections, some weird off-notes. That's still super important to me, that jazzy, noodly sound.

You had the Waldorf since the 100% Galcher era, right? How often are you switching gear out?

Since the pandemic, I've been switching a lot but I don't think I'm going to anymore. I had a Tempest and that was the other big thing on 100%. I sold that too, because I wanted to have a more compact situation. But I swapped it for something comparable. It's more about efficiency and getting the most efficient, nicest sounding thing for me. And also just geeking out on eBay. Most of this was under $500. Nothing crazy expensive.

When you're going in for a session, how long does it typically take for a track to come together?

Less than an hour. Within an hour I'll probably have a melody or rhythm that I've locked in. And then I'm just tweaking it. [Turns to computer] I can load up something that I just started that hasn't been finished.

Basically I'll have the loops hanging out at the top. Then I'll export the loop, and if it's a five-minute track, I'll listen to it for a month or two while walking in the subway. Then I'll come back and arrange it. It's a two-part process. [Plays track] This is just a drum tool. This came together in less than an hour. It's not much, pretty basic.

"I try to keep track of hip-hop music, because … it's relatively newer to me than electronic music. So it always felt to me like the most futuristic stuff."

I want to talk about No Trip. You mentioned it was on more of a Balearic tip. Has Galcher gone to Ibiza?

[Laughs] When I was listening to Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa, I was also listening to a lot of John Beltran and melodic ambient techno stuff, like Gigi Masin, and just really good acid trip music. So there's that beautiful, dreamy side of my taste. It's also a question of tempo–a lot of my slower stuff is a little more Balearic. For example—two tracks which were made on March 20th, 2012 and May 25th, 2012—that's when I was making 100% Galcher. [Plays music] This track was made with the Tempest and Blofeld. I might use it some day. I'm trying to find some dumb shit… One day there'll be a time for some of that. A lot of this is stuff that wouldn't fit under the Galcher Lustwerk category. They're new projects waiting to be unearthed.

So is this how you decide if something is going to go under, say, Road Hog, or Macchiatto?

Yeah, I make little playlists. I have a lot of Macchiatto stuff waiting to come out. It's basically post-rock, like Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

How often are you going into the studio to make music for these specific aliases? Or is the music kind of, well, leftovers doesn't sound very appealing, but—

A byproduct of just jamming. Everything starts with me wanting to make music.

It must be cool to have all these different monikers. I was thinking about the Christmas album you made under Road Hog. I heard that you were partly inspired by Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album.

Yeah, from a business point of view.

How did that work out for you?

All right. I still go back to it.

Making an electronic Christmas album… it's kind of silly. But I think it's a prime example of how beneficial it is to have several monikers so that you can keep Galcher super sultry and classy and then goof around on other projects. Is that how you approach the different aliases?

Yeah. In a way, it goes back to the liking the CD as an object thing. I think of releases like an artist views paintings. Each one is a new painting that gets put out. Primarily it's me making music for fun, for the enjoyment of it. That's the number one goal. And then it's getting it off my chest, out of myself and packaging it. That's always been special to me. It keeps the music sacred in a way.

There is a playful nature to your songwriting. For example, and you can tell me if I've got the lyrics wrong here but on "Black Power Electronics," there's definitely a line that goes "Smoking like a Rasta / Watch you cooking pasta."

Yeah.

Your production is very serious and well thought out but you kind of let loose in the lyrics.

For sure, lately it hasn't even been coherent. I like the more free association type of writing. I like rappers with a sense of humour, like Cam'ron and Mac Dre. I can't help myself, being serious is not what music is about for me. With the lyrics, I'm almost making it known that I like funny rappers. That's what it's about, it's about being absurd. Absurdity is important.

"The AKG C3000, I learned from an interview with Tricky's engineer that he used this mic for Maxinquaye, which is one of my favourite vocal performance albums."

That also goes back to world building. You know, putting on different personalities through Galcher Lustwerk. You've built this mysterious but also silly character. So on Lustwerk II, we hear Galcher sing on "Outside The Club," which you don't do often. And I'm wondering if expanding your vocals has been a goal you've been working towards for a while, in that particular way.

It's funny that you mention that because that song, the autotune version, it's even older than the other version of "Outside The Club." The original version that made it to the mix has a vocoder on it. So it's the same audio, but the autotune version. It might have been before I even decided on the name. I have a lot of old autotune-type singing indie stuff that I did in 2009 or 2010, so I'd already kind of been doing that. But yeah, I was doing more autotune stuff before. Now I'm doing less. I'm raising my voice less, I'm almost trying to be as nonchalant as I can.

You have a super distinctive flow. Every word arrives clipped, there's a lot of repetition, and as we've discussed, you've had an appreciation for rappers for a while. I'm wondering if, when you started your musical practice, rapping was something that you knew was always going to be a part of it? Or did it feel like another rhythmic or melodic tool that could accompany your production?

I think I always wanted to rap, even when I was first making stuff on Fruity Loops or ACID Music. I was in middle school, it was just me and my friends like, "We'll be like Ludacris!" I'd always wanted to rap on my music, but I never wanted to be a rapper. It was always production first, and then the vocals complement the production. That's how I always felt about it, I never tried to step into the character of a rapper. It's more on a musical level.

"I can't help myself, being serious is not what music is about for me… It's about being absurd. Absurdity is important."

Since it's always been production first, how did you come to find your flow?

Honestly, that's a good question. I may have been more animated and I've grown more and more muted with my voice. I think that's partly because I know that's what works in the frequencies I work in and it's nice to have these high-energy drums complementing my voice. In terms of writing, it's like Cam'ron again, like MF DOOM, and then more basic shit, like '80s stuff. When 100% came out I was obsessed with the EPMD Strictly Business album, which isn't really related to it. But it's stripped down, and you can really hear their spit on the mic. I thought, "this shit is raw but it's recorded so plainly." I was inspired by that a lot too, just the way certain records sound.

You have a few microphones in the studio, can you talk a bit about them?

So I have this telephone mic that I used when I first started doing live stuff a couple years ago. Then I have two Audix OM7 dynamic mics which are really good at isolating background noise, so I'll often leave the music on the recording out loud. You don't hear any background. There's this Sterling Audio ST51 mic from Guitar Center that I recorded 100% on. It only cost $50. I actually sold it to James K., and then years later, I got it again. Something about it worked. I honestly don't even know if it's a good mic. Maybe I just learned how to sing into it well. And then the AKG C3000, I learned from an interview with Tricky's engineer that he used this mic for Maxinquaye, which is one of my favourite vocal performance albums. I'm super influenced by Tricky, so once I saw that I was like, "I'm getting this shit."

On No Trip you played a lot with vocal effects. I'm interested in hearing a bit more about the vocal processing choices you're making.

There's one track, "In My Bed," on that EP, which was recorded with a laptop microphone, because I was actually in bed, lying on my stomach. So that's funny because I was almost trying to process it to hide the fact that it was a shitty recording. There was a lot of noise in the background, so I put a gate on it, filtered it and put a bandpass filter on it, so there's no high end or low end at all. A lot of it is trying to make it nestle in the track which sometimes requires more processing than other times. But I have been pitching up my voice and stuff.

"When I hear hip house, I like to get real specific. Like Jungle Brothers and Twin Hype from New Jersey. To me, it’s just real retro '90s hip-hop house."

Aside from pitching up and autotune, how else are you altering your voice?

Well, I just got a modelling microphone, which has an array of microphones you can replicate the polar patterns of. It's very subtle, the way the voice changes, but you can lock in a really good sound this way. I mostly just fuck around. I might add this Soundtoys thing and load up a phaser. I do a lot of panning stuff, actually, and if you use the auto pan for vocals in a subtle way, it makes it move around everything else. It's a good way of separating stuff. And super simple–if you did it quickly it almost creates another effect, like a flutter effect. But I don't do a whole lot besides pitching it and then the usual stuff like gate, compression, EQ, delay and reverb.

What do you listen to, aside from hip-hop, when you feel stuck and need inspiration? Or are you the kind of producer that can't listen to anything at all when you're in production mode?

I used to try and not listen to other music, but then, early on, I kind of still listened to everything. When I have my DJ hat on, I'll be very specific about what I listen to, because I'm looking for a set criteria. If I'm not as far as I should be, I'll just take a nap or do something besides music until I feel like doing music again. I never have writer's block. If I don't feel like making something I'll just listen to what I've got and organise it, or sort stuff or do some really basic or managerial stuff.

When you first came onto the scene, writers started using the label hip house to describe your music. How much do you resonate with that?

When I hear hip house, I like to get real specific. Like Jungle Brothers and Twin Hype from New Jersey. To me, it's just real retro '90s hip-hop house. I was too young to really experience it happening in real time, but by the time I was going to parties and the roller rink, it had been rinsed through Europe and back again. It's Eurotrash. It's sort of embarrassing because it reminds me a little bit of the corny stuff. Coming up in Cleveland, when you heard someone say techno, they assumed you were talking about Eiffel 65 or Venga Boys. I don't like it. Honestly, I can't really use it. Unless it's in a bio or something.

"I'm in a tricky situation now where I've put out a retrospective… I want to find a new world. I want to rebuild it a little bit."

Well, if you don't like it, then why would you use it for your bio?

It saves words. I'm putting my marketing hat on there, trying to make it a thing again. I don't know. People said it was coming back, like when Drake and Beyoncé were doing their things. But it kind of came and went.

When I think about your music, I would label it as deep house.

That's what I prefer.

Okay. But hip house just feels easier for people to wrap their heads around because you're also rapping?

I'm in a tricky situation now where I've put out a retrospective. That closed the chapter on that situation. And so now I'm wondering, what am I now? How do I talk about my own music? It hasn't gotten easier, because now that story is over. I want to find a new world. I want to rebuild it a little bit. Or rearrange it. The hip house… I don't know, I'm just trying to get booked and shit [laughs].

"When 100% came out I was obsessed with this EPMD album. It's stripped down, and you can really hear their spit on the mic."

I'll drop the hip house thing. But you just released this retrospective, and you've been making music publicly for a decade. So I'm wondering if you're at a stage now where you're thinking about how to stay true to your sound, while also ensuring, now that this chapter is closed, that you're progressing forward.

Yeah. I think it's hard, because it's also difficult to talk about it without talking about the trends of how musicians are remaining successful. But in terms of making the music, I'm always refining the sound. It's always the same sound; I think if I were to bring the painting analogy back, it would still be landscapes. For me, it's infinitely interesting to keep trying to evoke these same emotions over and over again, turning it into an object. I think I always strive to crystallise whatever I'm already doing. It would be cool to make a track that supersedes "Put On" or "Never Seen" in terms of how it pushes that sound into this decade. It might be a subtle thing, like how I'm definitely still switching up a lot of my gear. I think it'll be more and more about the melodies and the arrangement and less and less about the gear. Pretty soon, gear will become just a hobby. It's already like a hobby because I don't need it all. But it makes me happy.

I can't believe I'm only just getting to this. Could it also mean another collaboration with Azealia Banks?

Oh shit, if she decides to message me. How that whole "Fuck Him All Night" thing happened is a completely separate story almost, because I'd already made the beat. She made the track, rapping on it and then sent it to me on Instagram. I was like, "This is fucking sick! Put it out!" And she said, "OK," and put it out. I was like, "Oh shit. What now?" That's a track I made on my laptop, with no special gear.

I wanted to end on a positive, uplifting note.

With Azealia?

[Laughs] Well, I wanted to know, since this is now ten years of you being Galcher Lustwerk, what have you learned, or wish you'd known when you were first starting out?

Maybe don't delete your Instagram. I didn't really have social media until 2018. I was on Snapchat a little bit and Twitter, but that's it. I guess that's less related to production and more my career.

It's all related.

It's tough love shit. But let's see. I would say don't feel like you have to take lessons or read tutorials or anything like that, because I think everyone has a pre-built level of practice that they need to put in. I've done this for so long and it started off so shitty-sounding. Listening back to stuff I made when I was 13, it sounds terrible. It took me this long to get to this point. If one person blows up all of a sudden, they might just have the golden ear. Use your ear and your taste, and go from there. There's no need to improve anything. Someone told me I should take singing lessons. I don't try to practise the piano. What gets recorded gets put in and that's like the extension of my brain.

It works.

Yeah, I know it works.