How do you feel about being labeled everything from progressive to ambient to jazz?
Well, I don't like being labeled at all, even if it's stuff I like, like jazz. Labels
make you feel like you have to do that style, if not for the rest of your life, at least for a while. I wanna do whatever I want, it pissed me off, but I can see the
necessity for them. It makes it easier to categorize for the record company and the media.
I was reading a thread on an Internet newsgroup where someone praised
your album, then someone else said, "I'm not impressed, it sounds like something done on a 4-track with a sampler." What's your reaction to that?
Well, I sort of agree with both of them a bit! Often when I've done a track, there's a real fine line between it being really good or really shit. I think it's because I do a lot of
cheeky, cheesy, slightly-off stuff and sometimes it works and sometimes it's a bit dodgy.
What do you think of the dance music scene? What kind of state are we in
now?
I think it's a great time to be doing music. Loads more people are experimenting. Where I live in north London, we have eight or nine jungle pirate stations, all
playing really good stuff. And no-one's doing it to make money, it's just for the fun of it on that level, and it's progressing really quickly. Hopefully mainstream music
can pick up on the innovation in jungle right now. I'm doing some jungle tracks now under the Plug name.
What's your background?
I come from a live music
background. I used to be in bands when I was younger. Starting off just being stupid, my first group was around '87 and it was a Beastie Boys-inspired thing; we
were called the Hate Brothers. I didn't do anything serious until around '91 when I realized I could put stuff out from my bedroom without going into a studio, that
was when I did an LP for Rephlex Records.
What influences you?
Everything I hear in some way influences me, but it definitely doesn't come into play on specific
tracks. It's more in a general way. I was into hip hop, and house, of course, and then a friend played me some rare groove from the late '80s and I was much more
impressed with that than some of the contemporary stuff coming out.
What else have you been working on lately?
I've been doing a lot of remix stuff of late. I like
doing mixes; it seems I've been getting work from the UK indie band scene. I've just done some stuff for a band called Witch Man, and a band on Creation called
Ruby. And I do a lot of techno stuff for Rising High, as well.
Have you got a call from James Lavelle [Mo'Wax guru] yet?
Yeah, I have, actually. I've just given him
an EP of some stuff I did a while back; it's coming out real soon. And then I'm gonna do an album for the end of the year for him.
Do you have a master plan for
your career?
No, not really, except that when I'm 40 I wanna move out to the countryside and get a big mansion with a studio in it. I'm quite happy to hang on, just
living day to day. I'm having a great time at the moment!
Luke's Top 5 Records
Nautilus | Bob James
Harlem Buck Dance | Les McCann
E.V.A. | Jean-Jaques Perry
Give it Up Turn it Lose | Dick Hyman
Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door | Prunes
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