Calling Lefto Early Bird a Brussels legend would be cutting it short. His cultural impact goes beyond reshaping the city’s clubbing and music scene; it’s all about the community he has been able to foster. Proving to be one of the most important tastemakers the scene has to offer, his unique sound and sonic storytelling blend infinite genres and connect with listeners worldwide. Early bird definitely gets the worm.
From the heart of the Belgian capital, Lefto’s unparalleled finesse and talent in flawlessly mixing genres like jazz, new beat, acid, house, and even rap has famed him in sound systems around the globe. Also curating his own nights in Belgium, he is an integral part of revered Kiosk Radio, an underground station that broadcasts from a wooden shack in the Parc de Bruxelles in front of the royal palace, constantly betting on and supporting new and local talents. We caught up with him backstage during the Horst Arts and Music festival’s last day to talk all things music, Brussel’s creative scene, community, and his career spanning over three-decades.
For readers who might not be familiar with you yet, how would you introduce yourself to them?
My name is Lefto, which means ‘early bird’ in French, and my name in full is Lefto Early Bird. I’ve been DJing for thirty years this year, so I'm celebrating. I’ve been involved in the scene, doing parties, events, supporting clubs and, especially, Kiosk Radio, through a weekly show.
I was going to ask you about your name. Is there a story behind it?
As I said, Lefto means ‘early bird’. Back in the day, in my graffiti time, I was always the first one up after a long night out and my friends called me Lefto. That’s how I kept the name. So, some DJs have their names from the graffiti era.
Do you still graffiti?
Not really.
Fair enough, you’re pretty busy.
Yeah, but I still support the art and am very interested in the culture of graffiti. And also skateboarding.
Horst is a very good place for that. Maybe not specifically graffiti, but, the combination of architecture, music, and other art installations.
Yeah, and I know these guys since a long time. I’ve been a Horst resident since the first edition. I also helped designing a stage.
How have you seen the festival evolve over the years?
It first started in the countryside, around the castle, which was also called Horst. It was a famous castle in Belgium for cartoons, it was very nice. You could walk in the forest and see some installations, and then you had the music. I remember we did a ten-hour set there, for example. It was pretty amazing.
But it has evolved from being a very small, local festival to something much bigger and international, especially since they made some moves towards the press as well, to make it more known internationally. It’s become more European or international, rather than just local and Belgian. It’s always growing, and in the next few years, it will grow again.
But it has evolved from being a very small, local festival to something much bigger and international, especially since they made some moves towards the press as well, to make it more known internationally. It’s become more European or international, rather than just local and Belgian. It’s always growing, and in the next few years, it will grow again.
Despite that, I think its essence has remained very unchanged, especially in its support for local artists. What do you think sets Brussels apart as a creative hub?
I think it’s a very solid and healthy scene where everyone, or at least a lot of people, support each other. We support the clubs. We talk to the mayor. We talk to official instances. We have a nightlife federation. That means people are talking to politicians to give the nightlife and clubs more importance and also give them the image that it is important to have in the city, because it also helps hotels, restaurants, and cafes.
A project like Horst, for example, or something like Tomorrowland, help book hotels. The restaurants are full. The cafes are full. The taxi drivers have amazing fees. So that culture, despite being counter-culture – as it’s not always going in the direction of politicians in general –, we try to have a very good connection with everyone up there to work together and find amazing places where we can party.
Listen Festival does the tunnels in the city: they block the tunnels and they do parties there. I don't think that would be possible anywhere else. We get those things thanks to people who talk about ideas on how to make the city grow, make it more interesting, and have people from around the globe come over.
A project like Horst, for example, or something like Tomorrowland, help book hotels. The restaurants are full. The cafes are full. The taxi drivers have amazing fees. So that culture, despite being counter-culture – as it’s not always going in the direction of politicians in general –, we try to have a very good connection with everyone up there to work together and find amazing places where we can party.
Listen Festival does the tunnels in the city: they block the tunnels and they do parties there. I don't think that would be possible anywhere else. We get those things thanks to people who talk about ideas on how to make the city grow, make it more interesting, and have people from around the globe come over.
Kiosk Radio marked a change in Brussels and the community, and you’re a very integral part of that radio. Tell me a little bit about its history and where you also see it going in the future.
The history starts with a bunch of friends, some of them lived in New York, and the one who stayed there started The Lot Radio, the one in Brooklyn. Then there was this idea to try to do that in Brussels as well. They found this place, which is a shack in a pretty crazy area in front of the King's Palace, which is called a neutral zone, where you are not supposed to protest or gather with people. There is this bar and a radio station, and people dance sometimes, but mostly they come sit down and listen to music.
They started that seven years ago, and they’ve been involving as many people from the scene as they could. Every now and then, we have people who come from somewhere else and we try to do a show on the station. I have lots of people around the world in the chat box during my show: Canadians, Americans, and Europeans mostly, because it’s a different time slot in Asia. But then it happens that someone comes by the kiosk and says, yo, I'm this guy in the chat box from Canada. That’s what makes it so unique.
It became a central point for people who come to the city for the first time, eventually, and want to party and feel the vibe. You will always find someone there who will tell you where to go out, where you should be careful, where to eat, where to drink, where to… It's a very nice place. I don't know what I would do without Kiosk Radio these days because I go once a day just to chill.
They started that seven years ago, and they’ve been involving as many people from the scene as they could. Every now and then, we have people who come from somewhere else and we try to do a show on the station. I have lots of people around the world in the chat box during my show: Canadians, Americans, and Europeans mostly, because it’s a different time slot in Asia. But then it happens that someone comes by the kiosk and says, yo, I'm this guy in the chat box from Canada. That’s what makes it so unique.
It became a central point for people who come to the city for the first time, eventually, and want to party and feel the vibe. You will always find someone there who will tell you where to go out, where you should be careful, where to eat, where to drink, where to… It's a very nice place. I don't know what I would do without Kiosk Radio these days because I go once a day just to chill.
Do you think community-based areas like Horst or Kiosk Radio act like incubators for young talent?
There are many players. Kiosk is definitely one, but Horst takes artists, young artists, but then also artists with a foot in the scene. I think collectives also have a paramount importance within the scene because they are getting carte blanche from different clubs to host nights, and it’s up to them to put whoever they want on their line-ups. If it's some stranger, who cares? If the collective decided to put them there, maybe they’re actually very talented.
Do you think other cities can learn from Brussels in that sense?
Maybe yes, because I think we have a very healthy scene where we support more than compete with each other. I know clubs sometimes talk to each other to share impressions: you had this guy last time, how was it? Do you want to have him now? We have a very healthy scene. We have great record shops, we have some nice clubs, we have some very interesting festivals. It's a bit of a hidden gem, Brussels, compared to the machines that you can find in Amsterdam, London or Paris, and of course, all these bigger organizations see a money aspect in everything, so they go to places where they know there's lots of tourism, so they usually go to bigger cities.
Would you say then that culture is behind the economic interest?
Yeah, I think there's a bit of that. I can’t blame them, I mean, they have to survive as well. But the healthy part of the Brussels scene is that we are taken lightly, and I like that. It makes us stay with two feet on the ground. A lot of cities should do that more often. We have fun in Brussels too, you know?
I’ve seen you like jazz, and you incorporate it into your sets, so I wanted to ask you some of your favourite contemporary jazz artists.
Makaya McCraven, from Chicago, he's an amazing drummer. I've been very good friends with Badbadnotgood, from Toronto, I've toured with them. I love Isaiah Collier, from Chicago as well. I think Chicago has a very healthy scene. Here in Belgium, we have great acts like Echd, who are very interesting, very electronic as well. We have the Kau Trio, also very interesting. So many, actually!
I'm very much involved in the Brussels jazz scene as well. What we don't really have lots of is house and techno producers, for some reason. We do have some, but if you compare it to Amsterdam, Paris or Berlin, it’s way less.
I'm very much involved in the Brussels jazz scene as well. What we don't really have lots of is house and techno producers, for some reason. We do have some, but if you compare it to Amsterdam, Paris or Berlin, it’s way less.
Why do you think so?
I think that there are actually a lot, but they don't take their stuff too seriously. I think the only issue that we really have is that we lack a platform that can take it further. Those bigger cities, they have the machine, they have the magazines, especially the UK. They have all these magazines that push the UK sound. I go to Asia, I'm playing there, and I hear the UK sound. I would love to go to China and hear more Chinese techno or Chinese house, or go to Japan and hear more of that. But to understand really where we come from, we have a very strong club culture in Belgium. And I always tell people, just watch the sound of Belgium.
What has been the highlight of Horst so far?
I've heard a lot of similar stuff the whole time, and then when they came on, it was just refreshing. Musclecars and Toribio, who are all from New York, and good friends. I could feel people be like, ah, shit, it's not only about kicks and bass. It's soulful music, hopeful music. I’m starting to say those two things: hopeless music and hopeful music. To me, hopeless music is what makes you angry, dark, and hopeful is the opposite. We live in very dark times now, so I think there is a reflection of our societies in the clubs that make them very dark. I'm a fighter of more soulful and hopeful music, something that makes us believe in the future.
Speaking of the future, what’s in store for you? What projects are you working on or looking forward to?
Last year I put out my album on Brownswood, on Peterson's label. Now I'm working on a new one for the next year. And then, this year, I’m working on an audio-visual show for my thirty year anniversary of my career. The visual in the back is footage of me when I was super young, DJing and stuff, and creating a kind of timeline. Then I have other stuff, like a series of sixteen seven-inch records that might come out during the next months or years.
