Through the storefront window: An interview with Lane 8

Daniel Goldstein, better known by his stage name Lane 8, is a San Fran-bred, Germany-based producer operating under the warm wing of the Anjunadeep music label. Many things about Lane 8 are epiphanies, his name for instance is a reference to lane 8 in swim races, his introduction to electronic music is another, but that will come later on in the conversation.

Goldstein has been in and around music since childhood, playing in bands and whatnot, but when Lane 8 formed as a music concept the industry noticed. His music is melodic electronic, often layered with vivid vocals and over the last year or so he’s been taking on the world one step at a time. Being a fan of Lane 8 music, his most recent release Rise and pretty much everything that preceded, Quip decided to spend some time getting to know Goldstein through an informal interview.

Kateryna Topol: You’ve had a fairly close relationship with music since the age of 6, do you feel like you’ve found your voice and style with Lane 8?

Daniel Goldstein: I think music has always been my outlet to show my voice and style – while my music became technically more advanced over the years and reached more people, my need to create music and show it to people is still coming from the same place.

KT: Your new album, Rise, just dropped this month, how did it come together? 

DG:  It was done all over the place, as all my music is done these days. Ideas were generally started at home or on the road on my laptop, refined into instrumental demos, and then brought to the studio for vocal recording. Then I would finish the songs at my home studio.

KT: Do you have a favorite track on the album?

DG: “Rise” is my favorite – it’s why we named the album Rise, in fact. I find it to be the most complete track that I’ve done to date, an accurate summary of where I’ve been and a hint at where I’m going. It was also a huge labor of love, probably the most time I’ve ever spent on a single track.

KT: You’ve said before that one of your biggest influences are Pet Shop Boys and Pete Rock, was one of those the first record (tape?) you ever owned or was it something else?

DG: My first CD was Backstreet Boys – a story which I wrote about here. However, I had already been listening to PSB heavily at that point, as they were a favorite of my father’s. I can remember reading Where’s Waldo? books when I was in elementary school while listening to Behaviour – so, in fact, I did get exposed to electronic music pretty early.

KT: Your North American headline tour kicks off on September 10th, but you are hitting up a few festivals over the summer, what are you looking most forward to on this tour?

DG: I’m in Australia right now about to begin my first tour over here, which is extremely exciting. Beyond that I’m really excited to come back to America, which, for me, is the most exciting place to play shows at the moment!

KT: What can the audience expect from a live show, will the tour consist of mostly live sets or DJ sets?

DG: While a live show is something that I’m actively working on all the time, my current tours are all DJ sets – I’ve spent the last 3 years developing the Lane 8 DJ set and am really enjoying that aspect of the project at the moment.

KT:  What was the first ever show you played as a DJ/producer, and how did it go?

DG: Besides a basement party here and there in college, my first gig I got purely off the back of my music was an absolute shitstorm. I got “hired” for no money to play in the storefront window of a club called Temple in San Francisco. They literally put me up there like a mannequin. I did about an hour’s set to people who happened to be walking by the club on their way to lunch and whatnot. My sister and a friend even turned up to laugh at me for a few minutes. It was embarrassing, but a funny story to tell now!

KT: That’s kind of priceless. Will you share with us something about yourself no one knows as a parting note?

DG: Well, we’ve only just met so it’s a bit early for secrets – but not many people know that I worked as a Geologist before I started the Lane 8 project. Rock on!

Cover image by Daniel Zetterstrom