Quietly, but firmly influential, Leeds' NIGHTMARES ON WAX have been making fine, dub-enhanced dance music for well over a decade now. Their legendary 1995 album "Smoker's Delight" redefined THE KLF'S "Chill Out" to stunning effect and became THE hempheads' album of choice in the process, while 2002's magnificent "Mind Elevation" showed that N.O.W just get better and better. TIM PEACOCK catches up with creative mastermind GEORGE EVELYN as their excellent new single "70s/ 80s" comes out and talks about Two-Tone, how to get a Silver Disc by word of mouth and about putting something back into the environment...
George is the epitome of affability and friendliness, but he's too modest when talking about NIGHTMARES' new single, "70s/ 80s", not least when I suggest to him that he may have (however inadvertently) written an anthem for a Generation of sorts with the song.
"Well, we never sat down to do that," George emphasises.
"It all came about by accident, really. I bumped into LSK (Leigh Kenny, who co-wrote "70s/ 80s" and raps/ MCs on it) at a club and I played him some demos, beats I'd been getting together. He started rappin', rhymin' and...well, it was only later we realised we'd done something that really took us back to that time so graphically."
Yeah, I mean for those of us of a certain vintage the period when the 1970s turned into the 1980s was an exciting time for music with all the Two-Tone stuff. This writer vividly remembers The Specials' "Ghost Town" soundtracking school cricket matches and being 14 in general...
"Absolutely, " confirms George. "To be a teenager then was amazing. You had Ska, jazz-funk, new wave, early hip-hop coming through. It was very exciting to have grown up in those times...even though they were the early Thatcher years!"
Of course, but apart from touching on the economic/ social aspects, "70s/ 80s" also touches on things many of us had long forgotten - like toast toppas for instance...
"Yeah, " George laughs. "It's certainly as real as you can get about our experiences. Truly, though, the idea of it appealing to potentially millions of people only came in later. The 1980s might have been a bad time economically, but not entirely culturally, despite what hindsight says now."
Tell me more about LSK (Leigh Kenny), then George. How did you get involved working with him and also Roots Manuva, who features on the "Upbringing" mix of the single?
"LSK and I have the same management," divulges George. "I've been a fan for ages, before the last record I'd been fancying getting him in, so that was great. As for Rodney (Roots Manuva), he's another long-standing MC I go back years with. Actually, to go back to "70s/ 80s" for a moment, it's amazing the conversations and feelings from the time I've been having with them. We've been reminiscing so much about it."
To backtrack a bit, George, you seem to be pushing NIGHTMARES ON WAX forward in a very positive way with "Mind Elevation." Did you find the image of N.O.W as the 'ultimate smoker's band a bit limiting after "Smoker's Delight"?
"No, to be honest I can't really fault that tag," replies George, very reasonably.
"I mean, when you make a cult album you'll struggle to shake the tag that comes with it. It was always gonna be a challenge to follow it with the next few records. Certainly, though, I think we've moved on successfully with "Mind Elevation."
How do you feel about the "Smoker's Delight" album these days? It's amazing the way it took on a life of its' own isn't it?
"I think without doubt that it's the shrewdest album I've made," George considers.
"It wasn't premeditated at all. It was made over a period of 5 years and it's got a real range of emotions, some very sunny and some very dark."
"Looking back, " he continues, "it's mish-mash of emotions relate to the times. It was originally gonna be an EASE projet and it was borne out of the recession years of the early 1990s. It all came together out of sample tapes we travelled with to listen to. The most bizarre aspect is that it finally went Silver at Xmas 2002, simply through word of mouth. After eight years it's still growing, that album."
|
While we're on the subject, I recently spoke to Dan from FC KAHUNA and he told me your "Dextrous" record (early NOW anthem) was one of the reasons he got involved in music. Do you know them at all?
"Yeah, I did a 'Jockey Slut' interview with them," George replies.
"What goes around comes around, I guess...I mean, for us, "Voodoo Ray" (groundbreaking A GUY CALLED GERALD record) inspired us to make "Dextrous." That's amazing that they're into "Dextrous", though. I didn't know it had been an influence at all. I'm well pleased."
Meanwhile, George, you mostly still work from your basement studio in Leeds. How important has the local environment been in shaping the N.O.W sound? You seem to touch on it with the song "Environment" from "Mind Elevation"...
"Yeah, your immediate environment's massively important," George agrees.
"It's as important as what equipment you're using or your state of mind. I've always been influenced by it. I can't lock myself in a studio for 12 weeks or whatever, I need to get out and hang with people, you know."
"I'm almost self-sufficient now," George continues. "I've been building my own studio and I have my own vocal booth now. To go back to the song "Environment", though, that's more from the point of view of your deep roots as a person rather than the local environment."
One of the elements I enjoy about "Mind Elevation" is the way you've cross-fertilised musical influences. Like on the song "BBH" where a skankin' rhythm works under strings and what sounds like a harp...?
"Yeah, believe it or not, but the only sample on that track is the bongos," says George.
"The rest of it is live. I have a real need to cross-reference stuff by checking out old records and producers all the time and the aim was to get the nostalgia aspect across in that tune."
Talking of live performance, that aspect of N.O.W is really growing, isn't it? How close to getting the 13-piece band you want are you?
"We've already achieved that, " says George proudly. "The biggest line-up live is a 22-piece band, on the end of the last European dates we completed last November. Those shows featured a 10-piece string section. I can't afford that all the time, though...strings, horns, 2 guitarists..The current line up's got 8 members."
Finally, George, apart from "70s/ 80s" and the forthcoming British live dates, what's on your ever-growing agenda?
"I've got a mix album called "Late Night Tales" coming out in late April," George reveals.
"Plus I've been working on new material. I've been on a writing tip because since June last year I've been talking to the press, going on the road and now I really feel the need to work with local artists."
"We were talking about the Environment and I want to put something back into the Environment in Leeds. After all, it's where I grew up and I want to help new people with my new studio in a purely creative sense. That's what all this should be about, isn't it?"
Yes indeed. And, despite everything, somehow I think the Environment might just be safe in George Evelyn's capable hands.
|
