Glarus, Escapism: "Inviting People into Memory"

I recently talked with Luke Lombardelli (Glarus) about his debut album, Escapism. The producer hails from La Quinta in the Coachella Valley and has a unique electronic style that's a breath of fresh air for current dance music. We sat down to discuss Escapism, his approach to music, and where his music is headed next...

Mac: Well, I just wanted to start off by talking about 2025. I know that you just released Escapism. Tell me about your experience releasing your debut album. How was it?

Luke: Yeah, so releasing Escapism was… really crazy because I've been working on it since 2021. It's just a big chunk of my life -kind of an all-in-one project. It took a long time to finish, even though some of the tracks themselves took a really short amount of time; tracks like Swan, for example, took two sessions. But, Alice was the first song I ever created... Um, back in 2021, that was the first-ever Glarus track. That took the entirety of the album-making process, because I just couldn't mix it the way I wanted. Yeah, it's just pretty crazy how each song is just so different, and… they're, like, different worlds that are all part of the same cohesive story that I'm trying to tell.

Mac: Yeah, I really enjoyed the album. I have to say that my favorite track was definitely Katla, can you tell me about the creative process behind it? How did it come to fruition?

Luke: Yeah, that was a track I made in San Diego at my uncle's house. I was just kind of slapping stuff together. I remember I did the drums first, and then the texture you hear in the beginning.

Mac: The rhythmic elements were one of my favorite details for sure.

Luke: Thank you. Yeah, I did the texture first -that you hear in the beginning- and then slowly introduced the rhythm of it. Then I was like, okay, this needs some emotion, some chords, and before you know it, I was just going crazy with the sound design and the sample and everything, so… it really took a short amount of time.

Mac: Yeah, I mean, that's how it is sometimes. I feel like some of the catchiest songs are made in a day.

Luke: True, and it was inspired by Iceland, that's why it's called Katla. I took a trip to Iceland last year...

Mac: Did Iceland contribute a lot to the album? Did you take a lot of inspiration from there?

Luke: The natural beauty was so inspiring... going to Europe and visiting different places really makes my music more alive and organic-sounding. And… yeah, I love getting inspiration from different places, and that's why all the names are different. Yeah... different places have inspired the whole album.

Mac: Hmm, okay. What particular emotions were you trying to convey through that song?

Luke: The whole theme of the album is that I want to invite people, whoever listens to this, to the world I've created. The world is purely inspired by memories, my time in Iceland, Switzerland, and Paris, and all of this is just inviting people into those memories.

Switching gears a little ... what would you say was the most interesting piece of gear that you used on the album? Plug-ins, analog, anything like that?

That's a really good question because I made this whole album with stock Ableton plugins and Xpand2. I really just worked quickly with minimal gear. I don't have a MIDI keyboard, analogs, or anything. It's just my computer and my headphones. For this (Album), I was really happy with just the minimalism of it.

Mac: So, tell me a little about how you got into making music?

Luke: Yeah, I started making music at the end of high school in 2019. There was a guy in my business class, his name was Asael, and he was making Trap Beats or something, I don't even remember ... but we were all messing around since it was the end of senior year. I was like, what are you doing? What's that? And he was like, yeah, this is how you make music. (I said) Oh, that's how you make music? That looks kind of… weird, and then he was like, yeah, … You should try it. So I went home, and me, being the creative person I am, was just super obsessed with it from the very beginning. But it wasn't until 2021 that I really got the hang of everything, and then 2022, when I actually could write a song. It was definitely a journey, it's a journey still.

Mac: I know you said many of your influences are from Australia and various forms of electronica. What were some of your biggest influences? Are there any artists or bands listeners wouldn't expect you to be influenced by?

Luke: Yeah, that's a good question. Well, my biggest influences out of Australia would be, uh… Flume, (which) is a really monumental one. From the very beginning of music production, I was just mesmerized by how he was able to turn weird-sounding stuff… like abnormal sounds, into musical instruments and make it sound emotional. There's also… Hayden James, of course... Rufus Du Sol... and um… so many other Australians that I should name. But in the UK, there's Disclosure and Tourist, those are huge for me... Icarus is absolutely huge, too, and then ODESZA, but they're from the States, um, Seattle.But I would say another band or … someone that people maybe wouldn't expect me to gain inspiration from would be alternative bands. I really love Motorama… I love sounds that are just… natural and organic-sounding, with a folk kind of essence to it. So, like, Bon Iver… He's a little experimental too, and I love that, but there are many others... Melody's Echo Chamber is a pretty good influence, but yeah...

Mac: Yeah, I wouldn't expect those. Those are some good picks.

Mac: I'm kind of just wrapping things up. Looking to the future, where do you see your music and yourself as an artist in, say, the next five years?

Luke: That's a good thought to have, especially as a new artist, um… I think it could change at any point, you know … you get noticed and then you're touring, and then your sound changes from there, and you become more into dance. But if you don't get noticed for a bit, then you're doing your own thing and building this kind of collection of interesting-sounding work. Which is what I've been doing. I've been… not really focusing on the marketing or what's currently going on, I kind of have tried to remove myself from what's popular.

Luke: Um, I have an upcoming project I've been working on besides Escapism, called Sanctuary.

Mac: Yeah, feel free to dive into that. Do you have any inspirations? Is it going to be different from Escapism? What are you thinking about that one?

Luke: Yeah, it's definitely gonna be different than Escapism. I kind of… closed… that chapter of sound. I want to reach into different areas of what I'm capable of... I want to create my own sound, that's the goal. But there are also songs I've made -that are potential singles- that are a little more… pop'y, or something like that.

Mac: Is there a word that you could use to describe it?

Luke: I would say… energetic. It's hard because I'm the kind of person who wants to dissect all my favorite artists' work, and put together all my favorite things into my own sound. We'll see what the next chapter is. I think it'll evolve.