Originally published at AXS.com on Oct 2, 2017. Archived here for portfolio.
With Groove Cruise Los Angeles set to sail in less than a week (Oct. 6-9) from Long Beach Harbor, fans and DJs are getting excited for all that will be on hand for the four-day party and EDM extravaganza. One of those DJs who is sure to ignite a fire in the souls of deckside shufflers will be Justin Blau, better known as 3lau.
3lau is the wunderkind who brings new music each week on his regular program, 3lau Haus. However, not many know that before his jet-setting ways as an internationally known DJ, he was set to become a different sort of wunderkind behind a different type of keyboard. He was offered a six-figure job on Wall Street that he decided to turn down last minute to explore the world of electronic music. Fans have been thanking him ever since. In return, he has thanked the fans as well because through their support he has been able to do what is truly in his heart: help others who are not in the most fortunate of situations around the world.
AXS caught up with 3lau at the end of last year right before his set at the Novo Theater in downtown Los Angeles. He was kind enough to share about his charitable record label, Blume, and helping people around the world through the educational charity, Pencils of Promise (which helps to educate children and build schools around the world). As Groover Cruisers get ready to dance the night away, take a moment to get to know one of GCLA’s DJs.
If you would like to contribute to Blume and its charitable endeavors, purchase “Is it Love” (feat. Yeah Boy) here. All proceeds go directly to Blume and will be used solely for further humanitarian efforts.
Check out the latest episode of Blau Haus below and if you’re still on the fence about Groove Cruise, don’t hesitate. Tickets are still available here for a one of a kind music and dance experience.
AXS: Tell us a little bit about Blume [3lau’s charitable record label] and its reception by fans and the music industry.
3lau: We’ve had so many people come out to support what we are doing. It’s mind-blowing to me to see that nobody has really done it before. I didn’t know that there hasn’t been that many dance-oriented charitable initiatives. It’s incredible to see how many people are getting behind it.
AXS: Where does Blume get its name from?
3lau: I wanted to do something that was close to Blau, but not necessarily exactly the same. I have a lot of brands that are associated with Blau. Of course, Blau is my podcast, but we wanted to create something that felt organic. Blume is obviously symbolic of growth, it’s also “flower” in German (“blau” is “bloom” in German). We wanted to create something that felt grassroots and “bloom” to me is something that feels very grassroots. All the artwork and all the branding follows that.
The inspiration around the branding and I think it’s a really good time to say it, there’s obviously so much crazy, political sh*t going on in the world now, and in my lifetime — I worked in Congress when I was 16 years old (that’s a whole different conversation) — I found that human beings have a whole lot more power to make change in the world than politicians do, in general. As long as humans recognize their ability to do so.
And that’s where Blume comes in. It’s just symbolic of growth and creating, inspiring fans to give back themselves not just with the music but with whatever they do in their life.
AXS: What led you to think about doing charitable work? Is there something about your past that led you to say, ‘I really want to be invested in the future’?
3lau: The truth and honest answer is that I felt so fortunate in my lifetime. I grew up in an extremely loving family who supported all of my hobbies and all of my interests. I went to an incredible college, I’ve met some incredible people in my life and I just feel obligated to give back from being so fortunate. I don’t have any sad story to tell. I don’t have any rags to riches [story]; I came out of a very fortunate situation. Growing up that way I have always felt compelled to give back to the community because I’ve been so lucky.
And that’s the honest answer. Now I have a platform to do so in a way that’s bigger than I ever could have done before. I almost feel a responsibility to do so, and that’s why I started the [Blume] label.
AXS: Talk to me a little bit about the track, “Is it Love.”
3lau: I actually made the song in Australia with the singer two years ago. It wasn’t ever originally supposed to be the first song of the charitable record label. There were two separate ideas: I had this music idea that I really liked and I always wanted to create a record label that was for charity. A lot of people told me I couldn’t do it. The mechanics of it are really difficult to explain, but people were asking, “How are you going to make money?” and I said, “I don’t care.” I’m fortunate enough to play shows and I have fans coming to the shows, so why do I need to sign the record to a major label and do the conventional path; why don’t I do something different? And that was the inspiration behind Blume.
“Is it love” is a song I’d been sitting on for a really long time that I really loved, but didn’t really know what to do with it, because it wasn’t really pop and it wasn’t really dance. So I thought, why not take two unconventional things and combine them and make “Is it Love” the first song on the record label? And between “Is it Love” and the remixes, we have already done about $80,000 that have been contributed just from that song. It’s crazy.
AXS: Does the song itself capture the heart of your charitable work and what you’re doing? Is it the thrust of it?
3lau: I think a lot of the music I write is generally positive, at least I would like to think so. I try to keep things very inspiring, euphoric and positive. I think that’s why a lot of the music that comes out of the record label has that similar message.
Of course, the philanthropy element of the label pushes that forward as well. The music has to vibe with that mentality in order for it to all work. It’s all about beautiful music that inspires.
AXS: With Pencils of Promise you have a specific educational thrust to your philanthropic efforts and Blume’s support. What other aspects or endeavors are you interested in developing.
3lau: I think anything that’s medical related, charities that work with cancer, or Alzheimer’s or whatever it is…I have had a lot of people in my life who have been impacted by really unfortunate situations, and giving back to the medical community is something that I have always been inspired to do. And of course, right now Pencils of Promise is focused on international charity, I think it’s really important to focus on domestic charities as well.
So, medical stuff is one way to target that. I think really simple activities aside from raising money — I would love to host different volunteer events in different cities. For example, let’s say I have a show in D.C. I want to get fans to come out and do volunteer work that same day and then we all celebrate at night together for the show. That’s something we’re working on for the future.
At the end of the day, the whole point of Blume is that it’s not just my project, it’s our project. It’s my project I have with the fans and with the people who are listening to the music. So, getting their opinion is going to be really important in figuring out where our efforts are going to go in the future.