LUARR has always been involved in music. He started playing guitar at age 9 and  joined a band at 14, beginning to take interest in writing his own riffs. A turning point came at 17 after moving from Sao Paula, Brazil, to Vienna, after getting his first laptop and beginning to tinker with music production software. The move also influenced his musical style, exposing him to new genres. Brazil has a thriving rock scene and focus on instrument-based genres. When he moved to Vienna, most young people listened to DnB, Techno, and Trap, a dramatic departure from Brazil’s mainstream. Although he was playing in bands, playing live for other arts, and producing music, his latest endeavor is LUARR. 

“I started LUARR– a personal project where I have the freedom to do exactly what I want the way I want.”

He describes his first EP as “modern dark wave sound with influences of the genres I’m inspired by, like shoegaze (in ‘drown’), grunge (in ‘two’) and rage (in ‘moshpit’).”

(The ‘’ are song titles)

Drown, the outro of the EP, is the oldest song out of the record, taking him 2 years to finish.

“It’s a song I wrote when I felt like I just couldn’t get the words out to express the feelings I had towards a person at the time.”

His favorite elements of the track are the line, “Can’t you see I can’t swim out of me” and the main guitar riff, which he’d written in 2022. 

“It (the riff) kept coming back to me because it felt special in a way– calm yet intense.”

He feels it’s also the most personal song on the EP and embodies him the most, while the rest of the EP reflects snapshots of him at certain points. He also mentioned it’s his favorite.

Music videos will accompany the release, with the video for ‘drown’ coming out next week and videos for ‘two’ already released. The intro ‘scxrs’ has a video that will come out with the EP at the end of October.

On how he visualizes and interprets his music through his videos, he says:

“I usually have images in my head, never a full story. I have the luck to work with talented videographers who help me make something that fits my vision but also expands on it.”

For the ‘drown’ music video, he focused on imagery more than a story, using the setting of The Danube in Vienna to reflect the ‘drown’ metaphor.

“Who are your biggest musical influences, and can listeners hear any of that in your new music?”

Some of LUARR’s biggest musical influences are Deftones and Jean Dawson. With the EP mainly being composed of music from 2023, it reflects his earlier love for artists like Provoker, Lebanon Hangover, and Slowdive.

Transitioning from being a guitarist and supporting other bands to stepping into the spotlight as LUARR with his own distinct sound has brought its own challenges and positives. 

 “It’s scary at first because it’s so personal. But doing this allows me to 100% express what I want through the music, which is something I can’t do when I collaborate or produce for other people (which isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different).”

He doesn’t have a main message or story he wants to tell his listeners with the EP, stating bluntly

“It’s more of a depiction of myself and my mental state in a past period.”

Looking ahead, LUARR has 3 new EPs ready. One has a “post punk, dawk wave essence to it, but a little lighter”, with another going in a grungier direction. 

“That’s why ‘drown’ is the outro of the EP. It’s almost a transition towards the newer sounds. It’ll all be released next year.”

Listen to LUARR’s newest single, drown, out now on all streaming platforms.

Interview by Alana Ash

Transcribed by Isadora Ardizzoni