Lavery

Jungle Drum And Bass Interview - Lavery

Tom Lavery is making some brilliant jungle and as we are inspired by new and old artists keeping that sound alive, we took him aside for a quick interview on what's going on in his world.
 
Q1) Can you go back to growing up and what music you listened to?
I remember when I was young, my mum and dad used to ask me what songs I liked, and I remember saying I didn't like music. Thinking about it, I suppose what I actually meant was I don't like the music I hear on the radio... it was awful, and it still is. I have zero tolerance to commercial music. I hate it.
 
But then I got my first stereo in my room (fuck knows why) and it changed a lot of things. There was a station in Southend called Premier 88.6 - it was the bollocks!! They played all this stuff and I realised that, in fact, I did like music. I liked this stuff - hardcore!!!!! That got me into the breaks sound, I become hooked!
 
Q2) What was the first jungle track you heard?
First jungle track? Hmmm... I'd say it was probably Fire by Prizna & Demolition Man or Arsonist... again, that would have been on Premier FM. I'm like the 'second generation' junglist. I weren't there the first time around, so everything was discovered through the radio. All I know is when I heard 'Fire', I wanted to buy a set of decks so I could play it on Premier, that's what I knew I wanted to do.
 
Q3) Why jungle?
Because it was / is like nothing else. I gotta admit, I fucked off to techno for a few years but Jungle's got this vibe that you won't find nowhere else. The bass hits you differently. The crowd is one of a kind and there's no formula. It's whatever you want it to be.
 
Q4) How did you get into producing?
I got into producing through school. Basically, I used o just bunk off all the time and go down the record shop with my mate Terry. So, to keep me in school, my music teacher and head teacher phoned my mum and asked her to bring my decks down. I soon got bored playing the same records and fucked off back down the shop to buy more... so, they realised that was a bad move so they decided to sit me in front of Cubase. I had no idea what I was doing but eventually bought a copy of Fruity Loops and that was that. It was mad, sitting there layering funk breaks and realising how to make jungle!!!
 
Q4) You hate the term new school jungle. Can you expand on sub genres, why you dislike the terms?
I hate most terms to be honest, I can understand liquid, jump up etc but still, fuck sub genres. Play what you fuckin like. This mentality is killing raves. It's causing segregation. As far as I know, this scene was built on unity. 
More importantly, I'm not a fan of the term Nu Skool jungle for the simple fact jungle is what you want it to be. I make jungle that I like, using traditional techniques. It's not old skool jungle, it's just jungle. It's an experimental music, nobody is wrong. It's all just jungle.
 
Q5) Tell us about the link up with Hybid.
I was sending out promos for Sub Code and this particular time I was sending out the promos for my track 'Breezin'. Pretty much straight away, Hybrid come back asking if it was signed and said he was feeling it. Then it went from there,I sent him a few bits, and he signed one track to a compilation that came out on Audio Addict Records and then signed an E.P which he put out on Back To The Jungle Records.
 
I'm currently working on a load of remixed for him which will be coming out soon. I've never done an official remix and I was shitting myself as the first one was one of my favourite tracks of his. But he loved it so I was pretty happy with that. Then sent me a load more to do haha.
 
Q6) You have a weekly show on Cyndicut?
I love playing on radio. I play on Cyndicut every Thursday from 8pm-10pm.
 
The whole team is wicked and everyone supports each other. 
 
Pirate radio, unfortunately, ain't as big as it used to be. There's too many other platforms out there, plus anyone can plug their phone into their system, car etc and play what they like. But I do t think there's anything like it. It's the original platform to push your sounds and I do t thing anything beats the feeling of going to Music House, cutting a dub and driving straight to radio to play it and seeing the phone line blow up... it's just fuckin cool!!!
 
Q7) Why did you dream of a vinyl release?
I always remember walking in the record shops looking at all the different jungle labels and seeing all these different artists and thinking it would be really cool to have my own in there one day.
 
It's taken me a while to get round to it but I made it my aim this year to do so. I think I'm finally at a stage now where people like my style enough to want to physically own a copy. When I announced I was going to be releasing an E.P on a limited 12" my phone went mental. So that was a relief. 
 
Q8) Is that why you decided to do a 300 self release run?
I decided to self release 300 for a few reasons.
 
Mainly because of what I said in the last question, but also because every release I've put out digitally has been leaked and I'm getting fucked off with it. 
 
Also, I like to stay underground so 300 makes it a bit more exclusive. 
 
Q9) When is that out? 
There's no 'official' release date to be honest. I'm still learning how it works to be honest, I'm just going with whatever Leon at Music House says. He reckons it'll take 3-5 weeks to get the masters plates up, pressed and back to us. So basically, as soon as they're here I'll be driving up and down to various record shops and distributing them.
 
You can hear previews here:
 
Q10) What jungle producers inspire you?
Daz (Undercover Agent) massively inspires me. The whole Juice & Splash records thing was another kind of confidence boost in releasing vinyl. It went pretty well for him haha.
 
Other influences would be:
 
Remarc... he's a fuckin bad man!!!
Bizzy B - king of the amen chops.
Zinc - kills a bassline
M Beat - sample genius
Loads to be honest. They're all legends.
 
Q11) What are your top 3 jungle tunes?
It's hard to pick just 3 jungle tunes. It's almost impossible, but I always draw for:
 
Rude & Deadly - Mash Dem Down
DJ Rap - Intelligent Woman
Bukem - Atlantis
 
Q12) What defines jungle to you? 
Jungle is Drum & Bass's dad.
 
It has more soul, more life. It's a breaks based music with unlimited influences. It can be whatever you want it to be. It can bring you up, take you away, it hits you in so many different ways. I just love it!
 
Drum & Bass is cool, it's its own thing though. It's a completely different vibe to me. I don't like to compare the two. It annoys me.
 
Q13) If you could play in one club or festival anywhere where would it be and why?
I'd like to play in Canada, they seem to be right on the case at the moment. I'm going there next year so I'll definitely get to do that. I gotta big up DJ L, Nascent and Marcus Visionary on that. They're really pushing my music over there.
 
I'd really like to play at Boomtown. That looks mental. 
 
To be honest, I'm happy to play anywhere really. It's nice to k ow that people want to hear my music.
 
Q14) Tea or coffee?
Neither.
 
Hot Chocolate. I like to keep it underground.
 
Q15) If you were stranded, but you could only take one track on a desert island, what would it be and why?
I would take P Funk Era.
 
I'd get right involved, have a little swim. Chill out on the beach and have a dance. That tune would be perfect.
 
Q16) What is your favourite track you have made to date? 
There's a couple. I don't have a favourite but I really like how they worked out.
 
Firstly, Jungle Badness purely because I went mental with the Akai:
 
 
Secondly, 'Dreams' because i still jump about to it even tho I've played it a million times:
 
 
Q17) What are your goals for the next 5 years?
I don't really set goals because I'm lazy and just think yeah I'll do it tomorrow.
 
Saying that, my goal this year was to release a 12" E.P and I'm doing that.
 
Canada is the target next year. 
 
I don't know really. I'll just see what happens. I'm happy to do whatever. As long as I'm having fun doing it, I don't mind.
 
Q18) Are you a fan of MCs?
It's a bit if a weird one with MCs to be honest.
 
I used to listen to tape packs with people like IC3, GQ, Stevie Hyper D etc and they had their own unique style. I'm not seeing that at the moment. There a lot of imitators and it gets really boring really quick.
 
Saying that, there's some wicked talent out there. People like Jesse Writes, Kruze, Banton, Fury. I've played out and on radio with these and they ride the rhythm, let the music breathe and compliment the sounds perfectly. They just need a break. 
 
Q19) What do you think of the jungledrumandbass.co.uk website?
I like the website, it's nice to have another platform to push new artists and also discover people you wouldn't otherwise have heard of. Thanks for doing this. It's a wicked idea.
 
Q20) Any shouts and thanks?
I gotta send a shout to my wife Ash for letting me do what I do, she's really supportive and always pushing me. I think I've actually caused her to hate jungle now tho. She literally hears the same loops and samples over and over and over...
 
Daz has got to get a shout out. He called me up and asked me to join the Cyndicut team and it's blown up since.
 
Hybrid has really put me out there. Since linking up, I've had loads of people come to me telling me he's showed them my music and they're feeling it.
 
Thanks for your time and all the best for 2017!