LARSa’s remix of Josh Butler’s “Take Control” has the kind of backstory that makes a record feel a little deeper than the usual remix package entry. The Southern California producer has been listening to Josh Butler for years, drawing from his music, DJing his tracks, and following the way ORIGINS RCRDS has built its catalog around house music that still feels rooted in taste and community.
That connection became real over time. LARSa and Butler became friends through shows in Southern California, and his first release on ORIGINS came in 2024 with “Tape Machine,” which appeared on the label’s House Heads Vol. 2 compilation. So when ORIGINS started opening up material around its 10-year anniversary, “Take Control” gave LARSa a chance to work with a track he already had a personal connection to.
The remix started through Butler’s Sooper community, where LARSa had been subscribed for a couple of years, following studio tips, industry notes, and monthly feedback sessions. Butler posted the stems for “Take Control,” a track LARSa had played out many times, and he pulled them into Ableton to try his own version.
A Remix That Started With Feedback
The best part of this story is that the remix did not come from a cold request or some random label assignment. LARSa built the core idea, arranged it, and submitted it to one of Butler’s monthly Sooper feedback sessions. Butler liked the idea, then gave him a few changes to make, which helped push the track into a better place.
Someone you respect hears the idea, spots the part that needs tightening, and gives the kind of note that saves the track from stopping at “pretty good.” LARSa made the changes, sent back a new version, and Butler signed it for ORIGINS RCRDS’ 10-year anniversary remix package.
The finished version leans into a laidback, melodic groove, giving the original vocal hooks plenty of space while keeping the track moving at 125 BPM. It has a smoother feel than the Ben Miller remix in the same package, which goes darker and later-night, and that contrast helps LARSa’s version find its own role on the release.
House Music With The Noise Turned Down
What I like about LARSa’s take is that it feels connected to the relationship behind it. There is a lot of noise around house music right now, from quick social cycles to promo pressure to everyone trying to push the next moment before the current one has settled. This remix feels like the opposite of that.
It came from listening. It came from supporting an artist who had already influenced him. It came from feedback, revision, and a label relationship that had already been built through earlier music. That is the kind of context that makes a remix feel less transactional.
LARSa’s background adds another layer too.
Before music became the center, he had a professional baseball career that included time with the Boston Red Sox, and now his music has appeared on labels such as ORIGINS RCRDS, klaus:elle, Ohral, Katchuli, Serrano’s Kitchen, and Venture Records. He has also remixed Josh Butler, Angelo Ferreri, Markus Homm, and Nici Faerber.
His “Take Control” remix fits that path well. It respects the original, keeps the vocal hooks intact, and gives the record a warmer, melodic shape that feels useful without trying to overpower the source material. For ORIGINS’ 10-year anniversary series, that feels right. The remix celebrates the label, the original track, and the kind of artist-to-artist connection that still makes house music feel worth paying attention to.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
