Great synthwave doesn’t just sound like a movie—it tells a story. When 57KOD set out to create their latest track, “Lucky Luke,” they didn’t just want to program a generic retro beat; they wanted to score the origin story of a modern cyberpunk vigilante.
The concept was born out of a chance meeting in March 2024 at an AC/DC concert, where Jorge (57KOD) met multi-instrumentalist Luke Plummer. Bonded by a shared frustration over systemic unfairness, they conceptualized a character who operates outside the law to fix a broken society—a neon-drenched Robin Hood for the digital age.
The result is a track that blends electronic rock, dark outrun energy, and surprisingly organic production techniques.
Capturing the Streets: The Real Mustang GT
While many producers rely heavily on sample libraries for cinematic sound effects, 57KOD took a radically different approach. The engine roar you hear at the beginning of the track is not a synthesized patch—it is a real Mustang GT recorded live in rural Washington State.
In a perfectly unscripted cyberpunk moment, while they were recording the exhaust notes outside a house, a local sheriff’s vehicle pulled into the driveway. The sheer adrenaline of accelerating a muscle car next to a police cruiser bled directly into the raw energy of the final mix.
The Gear: Blending Bedrooms with Big Consoles
The production of “Lucky Luke” is a masterclass in hybrid workflows. The foundation of the track was built in a modest home studio, utilizing a brilliant blend of hardware analog synthesizers and digital powerhouses.
The Synth & Software Foundation:
- Hardware Synths: Behringer DeepMind 12, Modal Cobalt8, and a Behringer Model D for massive analog basslines.
- Drum Machines: Arturia DrumBrute Impact for driving, physical percussion.
- Software Engines: Arturia Pigments and UVI Falcon for complex atmospheric layers.
To bring the track to life, the stems were taken to Sherret Studio, run by an analog tech guru. Here, the track was pushed through world-class outboard gear to achieve that warm, vintage 1980s punch.
The Sherret Studio Outboard Chain:
- Vocals: Recorded on a classic Neumann U87, processed through an Avalon VT-737sp and a Manley VOXBOX.
- Compression: The legendary Teletronix LA-2A and an SSL bus compressor to glue the mix together.
- Mastering: A hybrid approach using iZotope Ozone and Acoustica, finalizing the track on an authentic open-reel tape system for true analog saturation.
Adding a crucial human element to the grid, guitarist Matias Fraga (hailing from Argentina) layered explosive, AC/DC-inspired guitar phrases over the electronic backbone. Using a Fractal FM3 and a Mesa/Boogie Express 5:50 amplifier, his solos provided the unquantized freedom the track needed.
Visualizing the Vigilante
To match the massive audio production, 57KOD utilized DaVinci Resolve’s powerful node-based Fusion engine to create the visual world of “Lucky Luke.”
By combining traditional video editing with advanced VFX routing in Resolve (as well as 3D elements from Blender), the team crafted a gritty, neon-lit cinematic universe that perfectly mirrors the track’s narrative. While AI-assisted generation was used to conceptualize the vast cyberpunk environments, it was treated strictly as a visual tool—the music remains a triumph of human performance and analog gear.
Support the Artist
Dive into the world of the vigilante by streaming “Lucky Luke” on all major platforms:
- Spotify: Stream “Lucky Luke”
- YouTube: Watch the Official Video
- Apple Music: Listen on Apple Music