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Adali Schell
Loukeman
Music
Toronto Producer Loukeman Talks 'Sd-3' and DJing the Biggest Stages of His Career: Interview
With a cult following album series, collaborations with PinkPantheress and A$AP Rocky and a co-sign from global star Fred again.. the genre-blurring DJ-producer is growing in scale while chasing a feeling. Tonight (June 26) he plays Montreal's Piknic Électronik festival alongside Four Tet.
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Loukeman's music is living on a feeling.
Back in April, the Toronto DJ/producer released his third album Sd-3, capping off a trilogy of albums that began in 2021 with his beat tape Sd-1 and has since earned him a cult fanbase. He has long operated in a unique lane bridging indie, alternative and dance textures into a unique sonic landscape full of pitched vocals, raw ambience and glitchy textures, a DIY approach that dates back to his beginnings making mash-ups on VirtualDJ as a kid.
“I've always been inclined to mash up two or three elements that aren't supposed to be together and see how to make them work," he says in an interview with Billboard Canada. "It’s a fun little challenge: take a country guitar and an R&B vocal and a house drum and see if there's a way they can all work together.”
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In the lead-up and aftermath of Sd-3, the Toronto musician has been playing the biggest stages of his career, including Primavera Sound in Spain earlier this month. He considers live performance to be the perfect counterpart to his hermitic creation process, as it takes him out of what is otherwise the backbone of his daily routine.
“I think a real good cure for burnout is DJing, or [performing] live," he explains. "Seeing people respond to your music is very inspiring. When you go out and you see it in real life, it's energizing.”
It's a sound that's resonating not just with audiences, but major artists.
Loukeman produced the title track "Don’t Be Dumb/Trip Baby" for A$AP Rocky, a two-part standout on his No. 1 2026 album Don't Be Dumb. He also produced an official remix alongside Leod of "Nice To Know You" for rising star PinkPantheress.
Back in Nov. 2025, Loukeman was personally tapped by British phenom Fred again.. to curate the lineup for his USB002 show at Hangar 5 in Toronto, where he played a set alongside friends like Frost Youth, Brat Star and ML that he describes as one-of-a-kind.
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"It’s just great to hear your music played that loud to that many people," he says. "Credit to Fred again.. He's built a fan base that's really into a wholesome music listening experience. I've never been to something that big for electronic music in Toronto. It's a very sweet thing to see at that scale. "
Sd-3 will be supported with a 12-stop global tour of DJ sets this Fall across North America, Europe and Australia. From Fred again..'s USB002 shows to Piknic Électronik festival in Montreal, which he plays tonight (June 26) alongside Four Tet, the DJ has been experimenting with his own style and process, from teasing unreleased material and venturing more into dance music, to working in his more unconventional, ambient music. He's using his sets as a testing ground on his way to his fall tour in which he will play sets with entirely his own material.
Outside of producing with his typical, feeling-driven approach, Loukeman spends his days nerding out over synth videos on YouTube right after eating breakfast, and chipping away at making the perfect dance record, citing the French house music era with artists like Daft Punk and Le Knight Club as his personal blueprint.
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"I see dance music as a recipe," he shares. A really good dance song is this perfect combination of elements. The mixing is a science. Getting kicks and basses right is a fun, nerdy challenge, like fitting every piece into a puzzle. It seems easy, but it's so difficult."
From hazy, indie-inspired soundscapes to curating groovier sets for sunset settings like Piknic Électronik, Loukeman is always on a mission to improve with every gig, trying new things without ever veering away from his fundamental goal: capturing the raw, warm feeling that resonates.
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"It's feelings-based and it's intuitive," he says. "I try to stick to music that feels close to my heart and feels like me, stuff that I want to listen to after I make it."
He's following a feeling, and it's paying off. It's the approach that put him on the radar with Sd-1, and it continues to grow his scale across the world.
See the dates for Loukeman's Sd-3 Fall 2026 tour below.
Loukeman — Sd-3 on Tour 2026 Dates
Oct. 1 — Chicago, IL — Smoke and Mirrors Festival
Oct. 3 — Brooklyn, NY — Market Hotel
Oct. 9 — Vancouver, BC — Fortune Sound Club
Oct. 10 — San Francisco, CA — Monarch
Oct. 29 — Berlin, DE — Lark
Oct. 30 — Paris, FR — Badaboum
Nov. 1 — Brussels, BE — TBA
Nov. 5 — London, UK — Fabric
Nov. 6 — Amsterdam, NL — TBA
Nov. 14 — Los Angeles, CA — Lights Down Low
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