Soft Focus is a monthly series by Lana Miller.

This month’s episode featured guest is Luke Orlando, who collaborated with his friend Alsamo for his contribution.

Luke Orlando is a Canada-born, LA-based director and photographer specializing in music videos and visual development for artists. With over a decade in the industry, he has worked with artists across all genres, often crafting cinematic narratives that balance high-energy pop aesthetics with introspective, nostalgic themes. Beyond directing, he runs the design studio NEVER as well as OMG EVERYWHERE, a nonprofit focused on empowering young creatives.

"This mix was made with my good friend and incredible filmmaker / musician Mace Coronel, aka ALSAMO. I was putting together a simple playlist mix and looking through my record collection when I stumbled upon Drake’s “Take Care” on Vinyl and played it at 45 RPM by accident. Initially a troll, I was surprised that the sound was instantly iconic and decided to pivot to building a mix around the first sample I fell in love with. Mace was crashing with me and working on new music when this whole Drake thing went down, and we decided to make this mix together under the theme I chose ~Music to Emerge from Hibernation to~" - Luke

A true collaboration in the spirit of Soft Focus, dedicated to the beauty of the emerging springtime in Los Angeles - much love.