Stranger Things has been a sensation of late, the new Netflix series that’s pretty much universally adored by fans of sci fi, the ’80s, or just great television.
One such fan is Adelaide producer Luke Million, who’s seen a similar rise to prominence off the back of his remixes of the series’ perfectly-weighted throwback of an opening theme.
Allowing him to showcase his impressive collection of synths, not to mention his musicianship, it’s shot him into the collective consciousness with the sort of exposure he never expected to receive – and the sort of reception that could perhaps see him making a soundtrack of his own one day.
“When I first created the video of me jamming on the original theme by Survive, I had no idea it would get so much attention,” he tells us. “I was just putting up a vid of me playing synths, which is basically what I do day-to-day.
“The response was overwhelming but exciting. There were loads of requests for an extended version, so I went back in the studio and turned it into a full-length remix.”
So, what is it about the Stranger Things theme that grabbed people’s attention, and made it ideal for the remix treatment?
“I think a lot of people connected with the nostalgia of ’80s sci fi, which the show and soundtrack were full of,” Luke says. The theme brought back feelings of John Carpenter’s soundtracks and all those great ’80s movies. There is such power in the theme, and it begged to be expanded on.”
Like most of us, Luke is as much a fan of the show as he is its perfectly-matched music, so he’s not upset to be associated with it whatsoever.
“I loved the show and the music! Everything was on point. I don’t watch much in the way of TV shows, but this one I watched from start to finish and I think I might have to go back and watch it again. From the graphics in the titles to the casting of characters, it’s just so well done.”
In fact, when asked if he’d be keen to get into composing music for any particular TV show, Luke didn’t skip a beat.
“Well, I would love to compose the music for a future series of Stranger Things,” he says. “I think I’m drawn to sci fi and action genres, and would love to create something with tension and power.”
He’s certainly demonstrated that he’s more than capable of doing just that, armed with the enormous arsenal of keyboards an synths seen in his now-famous video. Are there any that he’d rescue first from a fire – or alien abduction?
“I need all of them! (laughs) I would have to break it into two categories, so for polysynths it would be the Oberheim OB-8, and for monosynths it would be the Moog Minimoog.”
Hey, we’ve actually heard of those, surprisingly! Luke will be busting a few of them out this weekend at The Workers Club for his return to Melbourne – and yes, he’ll be playing that song.
“There’s gonna be synths, lot’s of energy and a booty shaking,” he says. “I haven’t played in Melbourne for a while, so I’m really looking forward to reacquainting myself with some awesome crew. I will be playing tracks like ‘Fear The Night’, ‘Midnight’ and ‘Arnold’ – and there will be a live version of the Stranger Things remix too.”
The success of the remix has also been a great help in launching Luke into his first ever U.S. tour, and he’s understandably stoked to be able to lug his huge number of instruments across the States.
“I’m so pumped to tour the US – it’s always awesome to be able to introduce music to new people, and twice as awesome to be doing it overseas. I’ll be doing my live show with synths, drum pads, FX units, vocoders and, most importantly, the keytar. I hope everyone will be having as much fun on the dancefloor as I’ll be having onstage.”
Luke Million will be playing at The Worker’s Club in Melbourne this Friday night for Rolling Stone’s Live Lodge series, with a host of talented supports in Lastlings, Nico Ghost, Sarah Connor and Juñor – tickets available here.
