by phil meadley
The man of a thousand pseudonyms, such as Plug
and WagonChrist, is back with perhaps one of the
most musically challenging and brilliantly original
albums of '97. 'Big Soup' (recorded for Mo'Wax)
carries on where his EP 'A polished Solid' left off
and where WagonChrist was always threatening to
go. The Fly went in search of the cheesy sampling,
weirdly wired up world of Luke Vibert.
luke on the elusive vibert sound:
"I really don't know where it comes from! I
just make stuff I like, but I think a lot
of it comes down to the beats I like, the
arrangement I do, the chord changes + the
melody I enjoy, and also the stupid
samples!" what about da funk?
"I suppose I first discovered it in '89
when I first started drumming 'properly',
but that didn't translate into my tracks
until '91-'92. However, I always liked rap,
soul, and Prince shit, so I think the
people influenced by funk influenced me
before I realised it."
have your production techniques changed over time?
"Yes. The production takes me a lot longer
now - I re-sample things a few times to
make them spicy, and I pay a lot more
attention to the arrangement now, rather
than dropping the same few bits in and out.
I now tend to create lots of different bits
and segue between them as smoothly as I
can."
are you a workaholic?
"Absolutely. I stay in my bedroom (studio)
and work as often as possible. That's where
I love to be... my favourite place."
luke on 'big soup'
"My mum used to make what she always called
'big soup' - throwing loads of leftover
stuff together to make a tasty item. That's
how I feel about the LP - a big mix of lots
of old shit put together feistily.
"I was trying to make the album feel more
'solid', with each track sounding more like
a whole piece of music rather than loads of
bits glued together dodgily. However, James
(Lavelle) chose the tracks, so it's kind of
his vision of my shit!"
a favourite track?
"'Space Race', cuz it's 2 years old and I
still love it. It's like a template of
exactly what I liked then, but I still
enjoy now."
how do you decide on the names for your tracks?
"I always name tracks just when I've
finished them. Usually there's some cheesy
pun waiting to happen, if not I just listen
and imagine one!"
luke on inspirations:
"Friends, TV, records, walking around
London, good weed, my older music, nice
food etc. - anything really. Positive and
negative things inspire me. I get equally
inspired by terrible music - it makes me
think 'Christ, I wouldn't do that!'."
whose opinions do you value most musically?
"Generally, my friends: Ovalheads, Voafose,
Boymerang, and Aphex Twin."
3 most prized records?
"I love all of them, but 3 that I'm most into
at the moment are:
Dale Jacobs - 'Cobra' (Epic)
Arthur Harrison/ Rupert Chapelle - 'Jobs for
America' (Thermidor)
White Noise - 'An electric storm' (Island) -
my all time fave."
the dream luke vibert penned soundtrack:
"I'd like it to be very moody and weird
sci-fi, so I could do an entirely electronic
soundtrack of deep noises. Or maybe some kind
of music history film, where I could do
pastiches of cheesy old styles - that'd be
fun."
the ultimate live gig:
"Wembley Stadium - a huge festival of the
history of popular music, with every record
ever made being played! I reckon it'd take a
few years, but people could come along when
they liked!"
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