About this artist
New York-based Galcher Lustwerk became one of the most hotly tipped names in the underground dance music scene during the mid-2010s. The Cleveland-born producer’s tracks combine deep house beats with his own subtle vocals often reminiscent of a more laid-back variation on late-’80s hip-house, creating a detached yet energetic take on the Midwest house sound. Lustwerk’s 2013 mix 100% Galcher became a breakout success, and several of its tracks were subsequently released on vinyl EPs. He then expanded his sound, incorporating live instrumentation on releases like the 2019 full-length Information. 100% Galcher was remastered and released in an unmixed album format for the first time in 2022.
Before moving to Brooklyn in 2011, Lustwerk was involved in Cleveland’s D.I.Y. punk scene and Providence, Rhode Island’s noise scene. He became part of the White Material collective founded by cohorts DJ Richard and Young Male in 2012. Lustwerk’s first vinyl release, Tape 22, appeared on the label in 2013, but it was his 100% Galcher mix of original material for podcast series Blowing Up the Workshop that put him on the map among house fans. The EPs Nu Day and Remixes followed on Tsuba Records in 2014. He then founded Lustwerk Music in 2015, kicking off the label with his EPs Parlay and I Neva Seen, featuring some of the most popular tracks from 100% Galcher. He also released a few digital EPs of “driving music” under the name Road Hog. In 2016, Lustwerk released Scenes (2012-2015), a double LP by Studio OST, his side project with fellow White Material member Alvin Aronson.
Lustwerk’s debut full-length, Dark Bliss, appeared in 2017, and 200% Galcher followed in 2018. His first release for Ghostly International, the jazz-influenced Information, was issued in 2019, with the Proof EP arriving one year later. Information Redacted, containing instrumental versions of songs from both releases, appeared in 2021. Vinyl releases by his Road Hog and 420 side projects appeared in 2022. Also that year, Ghostly issued 100% Galcher as an unmixed full-length. ~ Paul Simpson