Seamlessly weaving together the pulsing rhythms of house with the atmospheric textures of electronic jazz, Highway Project unfolds like a cinematic score for nocturnal wanderers—a sonic companion crafted for midnight drives and the open road’s quiet mysteries.
I’m tinkering
Highway Project is a 7-track digital odyssey by Lefto Early Bird, the artist once known simply as Lefto. Seamlessly weaving together the pulsing rhythms of house with the atmospheric textures of electronic jazz, the album unfolds like a cinematic score for nocturnal wanderers—a sonic companion crafted for midnight drives and the open road’s quiet mysteries.
Igloo :: Do you see Highway Project as a concept album? How did you come up with the idea?
Stéphane Lallemand / Lefto Early Bird :: Highway Project actually came about by chance by testing a number of new plug-ins in Ableton. That’s how I got into a creative mood and made a number of tracks. The sounds I got from the plug-ins put me in a kind of trance, something I usually look for when I drive back on the highway with friends at night. I wanted something that wasn’t too heavy, but also rhythmic and deep that made you dream away, without falling asleep of course. So the idea came by starting on it.
Highway Project only contains 7 tracks. Do you see this as a full album or as an EP? Or does this not matter for a digital release? Is thinking in terms of an EP or a full album something that is dated?
Lefto Early Bird :: I don’t know if you should still use terms for a collection of tracks, but I am someone who likes to keep it traditional, and who, just like on my album Motherless Father, likes to put everything in order so that it all makes sense when you listen to the record in its entirety, from beginning to end. It has to tell a story.
You are releasing Highway Project yourself, as a digital release on Bandcamp. Why? Again, I mean: is it still relevant in this day and age to approach a label and ask them to release your music, when you can actually just do it yourself?
Lefto Early Bird :: I think this release is fun to share on Bandcamp and ask a ridiculous price for it. This is a fun side project while I am actually already working on a new album in the studio.
A final question in line with the previous two: at some point you gave up your job at Studio Brussel to start DJing for KIOSK. Why? Is the role of traditional radio stations over? Is what KIOSK does more relevant than what Studio Brussel does?
Lefto Early Bird :: A good interview about this came out via Listen Festival.
At some point the name Lefto became Lefto Early Bird. Why? Where does that early bird come from?
Lefto Early Bird :: After the pandemic I thought it would be fun to expand my name, actually just add the English translation because ultimately lefto means early bird in French and early bird is that in English too. Abroad, people often asked what my name lefto meant. They thought it had something to do with being left-handed or had something to do with politics, so I wanted to clarify.
There are several short songs of around 1 minute on this album. Why? Why did you choose to keep the songs short?
Lefto Early Bird :: Because many of those songs were posted with a nice video on my Instagram stories and that’s why I kept them to one minute.
This music reminds me of Paharell Williams, Herbie Hancock, Off The Wall, Michael Jackson, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thundercat and Money Mark. Are these references that you can do something with?
Lefto Early Bird :: Those are all legendary names but for this release I see it more as a kind of soundtrack for a film like Drive, so: the music of Kavinsky.
Do you play a musical instrument yourself in the traditional sense of the word, or do you see yourself as a producer instead of a musician, or do you not want to make that distinction?
Lefto Early Bird :: I tinker a bit but I can’t call myself a musician, that’s why I work with people who are multi-instrumentalists. So much respect for musicians who can play all instruments, that’s a special gift, I think.
What role does music play in your daily life? Do you listen to new music every day? Do you work on music every day?
Lefto Early Bird :: I listen to music every day and work on music regularly, yes, although that is in periods. Producers will recognize themselves in that, you can work very productively and then suddenly nothing for a few months.
Is your studio a home studio? Do you work digitally or analogously, or a combination of both?
Lefto Early Bird :: At home I work in my own studio, good speakers, loud and mainly digitally. And then I go to the studio to refine everything and there is usually a lot with analog material.
Did you do everything yourself on Highway Project, or did you also get help from other people?
Lefto Early Bird :: On this project I did everything myself, yes.
What are you listening to at the moment, when you are at home?
Lefto Early Bird :: That depends a bit on the mood or time of day, often jazz in the morning to build up the day calmly but then I continue my emails and I get to listen to a lot of music, the latest news, songs that have yet to be released, demos from musicians. Enough to fill my day. I always take that with me to my Sunday show on KIOSK Radio.
You are always associated with Brussels, but aren’t you actually from the outskirts of Brussels?
Lefto Early Bird :: I was born and raised in Anderlecht, grew up in Molenbeek, and then moved to the countryside for a while. I just followed my father, I wasn’t even 18 yet.
On Endtroducing by DJ Shadow, there is a sample in which it says: you will never be a teacher, you will always be a student. Do you believe that this is true: that, no matter how much music you know, that the category of music you don’t know will always remain larger?
Lefto Early Bird :: It is a beautiful sentence that is also true, you can’t possibly know everything, even if you are mega specialized in one genre, there is still a big chance that you have missed something here and there and that can’t do any harm. The only thing you can do is to pass on the knowledge you have acquired over the years to the next generation. That makes you a teacher, but a teacher can always have another teacher.
From the heart of Brussels, Lefto Early Bird blends genres with unparalleled finesse over a dazzling three-decade career. His unique sound signature merges the complex rhythms of jazz, beats of electronica, the dynamic energy of techno, the soulful essence of house and the narrative depth of hip-hop into a singular, harmonious experience. ~Bandcamp
Highway Project is available on Bandcamp.
