Luke Million Is Kinda Obsessed With The '80s And His Keytar

Synth master and keyboard enthusiast Luke Million has disco-popped his way onto the electronic music scene, but his budding fan base, triple j support and big name collaborations are a far cry from his musical beginnings.  

"I had classical lessons from when I was like, seven years old to about 20. All your Beethoven and Chopin and that sort of stuff," he laughs. 

So how did the Adelaide producer (aka Luke Godson) go from classical piano to tearing up dancefloors around the world? "I was drawn more to interesting sounds. I mean, the piano is like the master instrument because it has a sound that can't be reproduced on anything else. I just liked these electronic sounds from films — big '80s films, stuff like Blade Runner that has this great synthesised soundtrack — and I thought 'How can I make that?'" says Godson.

"I’ve got 25 keyboards in one studio. They range from like 1984 I’d say."

Godson has been touring around Australia and the UK, but he landed in Sydney on Tuesday in order to get some downtime in the city before his headline performance at The Plot. "It's got a massive line-up. I'm super keen to catch Asta, she's got an amazing voice; Tkay Maidza; Young Franco. There's this whole thing about community that they're vibing on, it sounds great."

He recently did a remix of Maidza's stomper U-Huh, and when asked if she might make an appearance for the track on Saturday, he pauses. "I should definitely send her a message and say 'Hey, come up!' That's a really good idea actually, I don't know why I didn't think of that! Ok I'm going to connect to management right now." (If he can swing it by the weekend, he owes this writer a beer).

For those who haven't seen Godson perform live before, he sums up his stage presence pretty well: "People can expect me running around like a headless chicken on stage with a whole heap of synths, drum pads and most importantly the keytar, so it's going to bit of a dance party..."

Did he just say keytar? "It's like a synthesiser but it's in the shape of a guitar, so you strap it on and you play it... Haven't you seen those? They're from, like, the '80s! It's just fun for live; it's nice being able to move around instead of being just stuck there with a keyboard in front of you, you can have a bit of a boogie."

The '80s play an obvious role in his musical inspiration, and he's something of a fanatic about vintage instruments. "I’ve got 25 keyboards in one studio. They range from like 1984 I’d say. I had to set up a little studio at home because I couldn’t fit ‘em all in. It’s actually not that big, it can get pretty crowded!"

Riding fast on the heels of the hype surrounding his November drop Archetype, he's working on a new EP for March. "I'm really focusing on this collaborating nature, where you have people in the room really feeding off each other and the music goes in the direction that you couldn't really do if you were just by yourself," says Godson. "Music is a very personal thing, but it can get kind of lonely if you just stand in the studio for so long by yourself, so it's nice to be able to feed off people."