Milkman is the stage alias of Electronic & Dance music producer Gregg Luskin from San Diego, CA. Milkman began his career as a mashup producer/DJ in 2007. From 2008 – 2011, Milkman toured the country extensively while simultaneously pursuing a degree in Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Milkman is the stage alias of Electronic & Dance music producer Gregg Luskin from San Diego, CA. Milkman began his career as a mashup producer/DJ in 2007. From 2008 – 2011, Milkman toured the country extensively while simultaneously pursuing a degree in Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
After releasing three mashup albums throughout his college years (downloads reaching the millions) and playing countless mashup shows, Milkman released his first original dance track, “Breaking Free.”
He followed up the success of “Breaking Free” with a four-song EDM EP, “Fragments”, which itself debuted at #2 on the iTunes electronic chart. He has performed alongside artists such as Dada Life, Diplo/Major Lazer, LA Riots, Crystal Castles, Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco, Lil’ John and many more.
Milkman is headed to the RVA Theater on 3/11 Via Flat5 Productions
(Formerly the Hat factory – yea, they are doing shows there again) You can snag tickets here.
Use the promo code “Milkit” and save $3!
We caught up with Milkman via email and he answered a few questions for us. He seems like a good guy and this show should be pretty pumping. We hope to see you all there.
So you go by Milkman? What made you choose this name and how does it fit you?
The origins of my name is a question I get a lot, and it is actually one of the only questions I don’t answer. It’s really fun hearing people’s interpretations of the name, how I got it, what it means… etc. I can tell you this much though, I got the name my freshman year of college at UCSB doing some pretty ridiculous stuff!
How did you to go into making music? And what other producers influenced you in the beginning?
I have been involved with music my entire life. Since I was 5 I have been playing the piano, guitar, bass, drums & ukulele. I was lead guitarist in a pop-punk band in high school that did pretty well, I would say that was the beginning of my music career. Once I got to college, I had to leave the band for obvious reasons, and found it difficult to find people to jam with, so, I turned to my computer to start producing music by myself.
In the beginning I was primarily mashup, so my main influences were the likes of Danger Mouse & Girl Talk, but found it most fun to mashup electronic music, which eventually turned into me producing my own electronic/dance music.
What type of programing do you use to create your tunes? And what new technology are you into?
I am a HUGE tech nerd. I love the technology aspect of making music and always have to have the latest gizmo or gadget. I use a combination of Ableton Live and Cubase in my studio (alongside a sizable array of plugins and rewire software). I was a computer science major in college, so naturally anything that I can code/hack/build upon I am into.
Whats a Milkman show like?
A workout! I have never gotten off stage without being absolutely drenched in sweat. I love dancing with the crowd, getting in the crowd, messing around, having fun, pulling people on stage with me… etc. There are no rules to a Milkman show, anything goes!
Tell us more about your live show & lighting rig and how it working into your show?
So we developed a system for controlling our lasers so that they are an actual visual representation of the music. What we have done is written software that analyzes the music that is being played as well as what I am doing physically on my controllers in real-time. The result is a laser show that is unlike any you have ever seen before. Whenever the kick hits, the lasers pulsated to the beat, when I filter sweep with a knob on my controller, the lasers react in a way that mimics the filter sweep… etc. It’s just totally bad ass.
You have traveled all over playing some huge shows. What places have been your favorite’s? And what show stands out as your favorite ever?
My favorite shows in general are probably festival shows. There is just always such good energy in the atmosphere and everyone is just there to have a good time. That being said, I love playing headlining shows where I know the people who came out are true fans of mine, and there is nothing better for me than to connect with my fans and have fun with them. I’m super appreciative of every person that supports me, so I feel that my shows are a way for me to give back to them in someway.
I’m sure with all the travel and late nights you have some good stories from the road. Can you give us some crazy moment or wild story you don’t mind sharing? We want the juicy stuff!
Haha, there have been a lot of crazy things that have happened on the road that I would love to share but just wouldn’t be appropriate. Lets see, on this last tour we did with my friends Timeflies, Rob from Timeflies was late to bus call, so the next night (which was the last show of the tour), we bought a HUGE octopus from the local fish market and hung it above him on stage. he had no idea. when the time was right we dropped this nasty sea creature on him in front of everybody. I’d say there was about 3 or 4 thousand people at that show!
What do you know about Richmond Va – (RVA)? What would you like to know?
I haven’t been to Virginia in a little while, but last time I was here was a great show and everyone showed up HARD. I am expecting nothing less from Richmond this time around, as from my experience and from what I’ve heard Richmond knows how to party (even if it’s a Tuesday!)
