Lucas Med Talks Baile Funk In iEDM Exclusive Interview

Brazil is known for its wild parties and having a diverse music culture, which is why major brands like Lollapolooza and Ultra have hosted music festivals there year after year. Brazilian dance music has its own twist called Baile Funk, which genre bends electro, hip-hop and bass beats. 

Lucas Med has helped curate the Baile Funk parties in at his home venue Temple Nightclub located in the heart of San Francisco. He is bringing his Brazilian influences to his newest residencies in Denver and Las Vegas. 

Passionate for expanding the scene and his love for dance music, he has been curating Lucas Med & Friends events with his closest DJ friends. Marketing director by day and DJ by night, he stays busy participating in events like SF's How Weird and now his latest residency in Las Vegas at Stereo Hyde. 

iEDM got the chance to talk with Lucas Med about his influences and involvement with his latest projects. 

iEDM: What sparked your passion for music?

Lucas Med: Music has been a huge part of my life since my early days. Due to religion, my mom's parents would not let her listen to music when she was growing up. So, when she had us (me and my 2 sisters) she will listen to music all the time and she would encourage us to listen to music. We always had great stereo systems at home, which made really fun.

When I was a teenager I used to create mixtapes for family and friends and that evolved to be the guy/kid responsible to set up the stereo and be in charge of the music on all parties related to me.

Then high school, I used to sell bootleg CDs and Compilations for friends. Fun fact: I was one of the first people to have a CD-Burner in my hometown. I guess this evolved to a point that I wanted to be in charge of the music program on all events we hosted in college. I remembered that I just rated to go to a party and having music that made no sense. So that inspired me. I

just want to make sure that people didn't even remember that was DJ because the music was soo good and everyone could just get lost having a good time. I did fitness/cycling classes for a long time, and the only thing will keep me inspired was to make my music compilations for the classes. That keeps me busy for a while.

When I moved to California in 2006, I had an opportunity to take to the next level. I went to SF State University for Audio Engineering and Music Business, which helped to boost my career. I just enjoy seeing peoples face when they get lost on the right sounds. It never gets old!

iEDM: How did growing up in Brazil influence your music taste?

Lucas Med: Brazil is wild musically. Good and bad at the same time. It is a place where the rules for performance and music rewriting are ignored. We have Bossa Nova which is so beautiful, clear and complex. Basically our version of Jazz. Then we have a guy who randomly bought a keyboard, play random notes as he thinks is suitable, mumble some words in another language (most of the times English) that makes absolutely no sense and a bunch of people show up and dance. Google this: "Roger Waters React to a Guy Playing His Songs."

What that did to me was unlock a door of unlimited possibilities in the taste of music. I like it all, but I have my preferences. And what I do is using my preferences when producing or performing but always keep in consideration who I am doing it for. For my fans or for a packed club on a Sunday night in Las Vegas, I can adapt without losing my essence. That is what Brazil did to me.

iEDM: What are the clubs in Brazil like compared to the US?

Lucas Med: The hours are different. People in Brazil party for long hours and they don't go from one place to another. We are talking about 6 to 12 hours of party at least. I miss that.

iEDM: How did you get involved with Temple?

Lucas Med: I was hired for a Brazilian promoter to play a "Carnaval" event at the club. I was booked to play the small room downstairs and she also asked me to help her pass flyers. I did it all. Helped with the promo, brought my peeps and during the night we started playing this Brazilian music called "Baile Funk" or "Funk Carioca."

We had about 200 people in this small room until 3:30 am. It was epic. After that, they invited me to be one of their residents and the rest history. I love every second of my journey with Temple. I think is beautiful and can motivate a lot of people in their careers. 

iEDM: You have been hosting Brazilian takeovers at the club in SF, tell me about that?

Lucas Med: Baile Funk. It started as a house party because I didn't want to play that genre in clubs. It was fun, raw and wild. Then on my first night performing at Temple we played and the room was on fire. Since then we evolved to big rooms, first we mixed with house music so the foreigners (non-Brazilians) could understand the style. Now we mix with Hip-Hop and Pop Hits.

I have been doing this event since 2010. From 2014 to 2017 I took a long break. Then, I started back in January 2017 and since then we have been killing it. It is the best event in SF at this moment and I want to take that to Denver and Las Vegas next. I believe people are ready for it.

iEDM: Recently you have been hosting Lucas Med & Friends events. How do you decide who to put on your roster?

Lucas Med: Lucas Med & Friends is a brand that it is growing fast. I started just booking my local Temple resident friends, then I booked really talented producers, then the next I booked an awesome performer that played violin and saxophone live. The next one I will use an MC and The Halloween version we will have Kim Lee and Lil Debbie performing. To answer your question, I want to bring something different fresh every single time. I want to amaze and surprise people.

iEDM: You’ve recently expanded your career to other markets including Denver and Las Vegas. Tell me about these residencies?

Lucas Med: Denver came naturally after the opening of our second location. Since I do bookings and marketing with our team, I always wait for the right moment to get booked for gigs. I never asked before we had built a solid foundation. So after 4 months of opening, I had my first gig in Denver. It was awesome. Then the second time/gig was better. Then the third was with Baauer and it was incredible. I talked to a lot of club goers on that night and they seem to love the music. I always try to improve and observe little details, like if people are not dancing.

Las Vegas is coming as big challenge and I am accepting. It is easy in its own ways but really challenging on some obstacles. I am adaptable so I will be fine and I have what they want. I believe you should never trust a DJ that doesn't dance or mix with the crowd. I do that constantly and it helps me to keep things under perspective. Real.

iEDM: What is your favorite city to party in?

Lucas Med: Las Vegas hands down. But it can kill you. *Laughs*

Lucas Med is direct support tonight for Slushii at Temple Denver and then is off to Las Vegas Sunday for his brand new residency at Stereo Hyde, a new weekly series at the Bellagio. 

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