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THE LAYABOUTS: HIGH STEPPIN’…
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No need havin’ a university diploma to be aware of England’s worldwide reputation as a leading country in terms of diversity, exposure and avant-garde. Music being no exception with a whole bunch of peeps who would push the boundaries from CJ (M/A/R/R/S) Mackintosh to Liam Howlett (Prodigy), from Mark Moore (S-Express) to Joey Negro, not to mention Soul II Soul, Coldcut, Roni Size or MJ Cole, to name but a few. As a direct consequence, no need to say how makin’ oneself a name can be a pain in the ass in this boiling environment where the competition is high. You can either try to rise as fast as you can, sometimes burinng yourself out in that quest for fame, or, in a more pragmatic, down to earth reflection, climb the grades one by one, building up from solid ground. This is where are to be found North-London based threesome The Layabouts. People who’ve slowly but surely building up their profile, polishing every productions and remixes, carefully choosing who they work with since we’ve first of them a few years ago. No doubt how they should shortly make a (strong) name themselves…
Words: Olivier Velay
First of all lads, can you please tell us a bit more about who are The Layabouts and where do you come from ?
The Layabouts are Leigh Darlow, Ben Logan and Alex Paschali. We have been working together as The Layabouts for around 3 ½ years, but have worked together under different names for 3 years before that, so around 6 ½ years in total. We met working on a project called the Hustle Brothers, where Ben worked as a producer with two other guys and released four tracks. Leigh was the engineer and Alex would come in and play session bass and guitar. The three of them got on really well and were generally into the same sound so we started The Layabouts!
How did you come to produce house music ?
Really for Leigh and Ben it started as means to play out and get more DJ work, but as we have got more into the production over the years the DJ side has become more secondary. Alex came from a more musical background through playing the guitar and spent some time sessioning on our tracks, what he bought along to the team really lifted the productions. House music has always been what we feel most along with soul, disco, funk and gospel…. all these elements together.
What does house music mean to you ?
House music is what we listen to, what we feel and It is a big driving force in our lives. Getting in to the studio rigging up a 4/4 beat and creating different sounds, down to the finalizing and chuncking it out a system. It’s a real buzz and I’m not sure that's ever gonna change. You know when you have hit on something as it just comes together and there is a vibe!
How did you find your band name and what is its signification ?
Really, it’s down to the fact we had so many ideas laying about on the system and never doing anything with them. We’ve always got a feeling that the one idea we left behind could have been the big one etc. That's where the name came from The Layabouts!
How would you define your sound and who are your icons ?
We were straight up chord progressions and live instruments, crunchy drums etc. That's what originally bought us together and defined our sound but for the last year we have changed a lot. The sound has become more groove based tighter and cleaner drums darker pads, but still adding the odd change. We do focus on full vocal tracks. We have most recently put out more instrumental / clubby tracks, as a kind of experiment to see if people except something like that from us without having to use a pseudonym. It has seemed to be going down well and all our forthcoming productions and mixes should ride off that because they sound really different to the stuff we are more well known for.
We like to change it up and not get too comfy with one sound, so in some respects its hard to define one exact sounds. We will do a couple of tracks that sound similar because we are feeling the sound at the time then we change it up again, it just keeps things different, but maybe as a result people got confused with the sound we are pushing. The track we did with Colonel Abrams was a lot more groove based and it was really well received, that kick started our sound change and we have followed from that.
A lot of the Rhodes, guitar, sax tracks are sounding a bit stale. It’s a follow through some of the stuff that was doing it in 2001/2002 from which some people don’t seem to be moving on, Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back and check where you are at, experiment with different sounds and don’t get stuck in a rut. We felt we were slightly in danger of this ourselves and needed to move on. Producers such as Yass, Dennis Ferrer, Jamie Lewis, Geoffrey C, DJ Fudge, Osunlade, Jovonn, Jimpster and The Liquid People are guys we are really feeling but also people like Staffen Thorsell, Deep Josh, Franco de Mulero and Ferry B. Some of the new wave " Soulfuric " sound we are feeling as well.
Apart from the releases on your own Healthy Records imprint, how do you choose the labels you are working with ?
We have always looked to work with labels that are consistent and credible, that put out music we actually listen to and buy stuff from. Quite a few labels have come in with remix requests and if we really don't think we can add to the package we don't accept the work. It’s not a case of just having a track out there on a different label, it’s got to be working and we have to be able to get a buzz off it and play it out. We also have remixed some work where we have just loved the original track and asked the label if we can have a go on the vocal for them.
What to expect from you in the near future?
First up, a mix for Stalwart, a label we are really pleased to be associated with and one of our all time favourite vocals of recent years by the likes of DJ Fudge featuring Mani Hoffman "Keep On". Actually, on the same kind of tip as "Never Be" the track we did with Colonel Abrams. We are totally buzzed on this mix which has had great feedback from the dancefloor. Then we have a remix of Moses Mclean’s "Peaceful Journey" on Swank Records. We took this down a darker route with cleaner drums and darker chords, the vocal worked real well in this vain, we even managed to pull out the M1 organ sound on it and it just sounded rough. This track has definitely been influenced by producers such as Yass, and also the Southport Weekender. It was such a treat to be presented with a well written vocal.
At the moment we have just started work on a project for a new label called Homebred from Germany, the tracks are the works of some guys called Classic 7 and it features a spoken word vocal by Roland Clark. The original is slammin, so hopefully this should be a strong package. New labels need to come with something strong these days to survive in the download market.
Last but not least, We have just completed a new track featuring two vocalists, male lead and female backing, again cleaner drums and darker chords. It has definitely got a dark main room feel about it. We are really chuffed with it and wanted to put it out ourselves but we have had interest in it from a small promo run and are in the process of signing it off to one of our all time favorite producers/DJ’ss... Whatch this space!
Which studio equipment do you use ?
Main kit is Pro-tools HD2 with all the Focusright gear and a Logic Pro front end so we use all the soft synths. The Main stuff we use is stylus / trilogy / access virus/. We also have a TL audio valve console that we send a lot of our stems through. It has a valve on every channel in and out and a classic Neve designed eq.
Do you spin out regularly ? If yes do you have a residency and where? Any favorite place for spinning (country, club, etc.) ?
We need to increase the bookings on the DJ side as we have kind of let this slip, so will be looking to get a busier diary over the next year. We would like to spin more abroad and check out the different food on offer!
Belonging to the younger generation of producers, how do you see house music evolving ?
Things change and things evolve – you either go with it, or you don’t. There will no doubt be new sub genres and new names for types of music, but it doesn’t matter so long as you feel it. This said, you mention younger (generation), but we have been producing individually under different names seriously since 1998. It’s just that The Layabouts are fairly young in terms of releases although we are on our 11th original production and 7th remix!
How do you see the dematerialisation of the product in regards to the economy? (decrease of vinyls and CD sales, free mp3s, P2P, etc.).
There is no doubt that the net has both helped and hindered dance music at the same time. It’s easier and quicker for DJ’s and Producers to be heard, share their music and set up a label, but we think there is a gap for almost the kind of online tailored service you used to get when you got friendly with a record store and they would filter the duff records for you and give you a pile of juicey ones! What we miss most is the packaged product with artwork. There is something a bit cheap about downloading a file and writing on a white label the name of the artists and track. It feels a bit throwaway.
How do you see yourselves, say in a 10 years time?
Not really sure on this one – Probably a bit fatter, some more facial hair, and hopefully having just as much fun ;)
Anything you wish to add and tell our readers ?
Keep it krunk!
THE LAYABOUTS featuring SIAM – ‘Alright’ (Vocal Mix/Healthy Dub) (Reelhouse Records)
THE LAYABOUTS featuringt JAY HENRY - Be Yourself (Word of Mouth Mix) -
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