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Trevor Loveys: Putting the Fun Back Into House
by Tom Jenneman
 Trevor Loveys, a multi-tasking veteran of the London underground, thinks that electronic dance music, globally and in the States, is on the verge of a movement. Club-goers, he says, no longer want to strut like peacocks to the same cookie-cutter, priggish six minute tracks, but rather want records that get in quickly, do something fantastic and surprise.
Loveys recently took some time out of his busy recording schedule to talk with GBH.tv. In the wide-ranging interview, he talked about what is happening with his band and label Speaker Junk, which he formed with Josh Harvey (Herve), his solo and remix work, the soon-to-be-released Machines Don't Care (Speaker Junk Records) compilation, as well as his collaborations and friendships with Dave Taylor (Switch), Jesse Rose, Graeme Sinden, Detboi, Drop the Lime, Fake Blood, and Affie Yusuf.
"Simply put, people want to throw their hands up in the air again," Loveys said. "Producers aren't as afraid to use mad sounds again. For a little bit there, that became frowned upon in house. We'd gotten into a cycle where everything had to be cool. But now, I think the attitude is that if it sounds good and works on the dance floor then you should just go for it without being scared."
Loveys, a favorite among in-the-know bloggers, is most closely associated with Fidget House, a sub-genre for the ADD generation that is marked by its cut up, glitchy style with wobbly baselines and hip-hop inspired sampled vocals. But Loveys' roots in house music goes back more than two decades. In 1996, he formed the seminal House of 909 label with of Nigel Casey and Affie Yussuf. There he released deep house productions such as "Deep Inside/Voices From Beyond", and "Future Soul Orchestra/Up and Above".
In 2002, Loveys signed to Freerange Records, where he released singles such as "Elevate Your Mind", "Feel the Horns", "Lotta Livin'" and "The Bounce" as well his debut album for Freerange entitled "Intastella" in summer 2004. While at Freerange, Lovely and Dave Taylor created the first incarnation of Switch, which recorded clubland classics "Get Ya Dub On" and "Just Bounce 2 This" – two songs that were precursors of what has become Fidget House.
Loveys then went on release a number of tracks on Taylor's Dubsided Records. In 2007, he teamed up with Sinden for a massive reworking of"Organ Grinder", a tune that has devastated more than one dance floor. Loveys also has also become known for his remixes and has recently remixed tracks for the likes of Pink Skull, the Crookers, and Roisin Murphy.
Loveys told GBH.tv that his friendship with Taylor has been a key component in his growth as an artist. Taylor, who now tours as Switch, has moved to Los Angeles and has successfully broken into the musical mainstream. Switch has produced songs for M.I.A., Santogold and Tricky. He is highly sought after for his remix work and has remixed tracks for Basement Jaxx, Lily Allen, X-Press 2 and Bugz in the Attic.
"He's an incredibly talented guy and a wicked producer," Loveys said about Switch. "I'm really happy that he has had that success and has been able to crossover from just house and dance music to work with all of these different people."
Loveys added his early collaborations with Taylor have given him a Nostradamus-like insight into future of house music. A future where rigid adherence to prim and proper genres is not nearly as important as injecting different sounds, such as breaks, hip-hop, drum n bass and even hardcore, for a more interesting and complex aural experience.
"When Dave and I first started working together we were doing a lot of house stuff, but on the side we were doing more experimental and hip-hop, and that is what was getting us really excited," Loveys said.
"He had a lot of tracks, even then, with vocalists but, at the time, we didn't really have a home for so they would end up as b-sides or instrumentals. I think that he always wanted to do more than just house."
 Loveys added that it's time that club music takes its next evolutionary leap. One project that he hopes does that is the soon-to-be-released Machines Don't Care (Speaker Junk Records) compilation which will feature an all-star lineup of seasoned veterans and energetic up-and-comers. In addition to Loveys, the album will feature Herve, Sinden, Detboi, Drop the Lime Fake Blood, Toddla T, and Affie Yusuf.
"Me, Josh Harvey and Graeme (Sinden) have long talked about doing collaborations with people like Detboi from Ireland, and Drop the Lime from the U.S. and Fake Blood from the U.K," Loveys said. "We just really wanted to keep it fresh by melding music from different people with different sounds."
Loveys also talked about how this distinctive collaboration with so many different artists from all over the word worked so well. "It is next to impossible to get everyone in the same studio because people
are away DJing or are living in different places," Loveys said. "So instead we worked out this unique system. Someone would send a bit through and then I will put my arrangement and elements into it and then I will pass it on. I think it worked out brilliantly."
He added that the record is complete and should make it into music-lovers' collections in the near future. "I just got the artwork back, so we are ready to go," he said. "We're looking at July because
of promotion time, but we really want to keep it quite underground. We don't want to over-expose it, so I think we are just going to let it leak by doing some mini-mixes and things like that."
In addition to Machines Don't Care, Loveys is also focusing on building up Speaker Junk, the band and record label that Loveys founded with Josh Harvey. "We have the 12" pretty much sorted, which is going to be our trademark Speaker Junk sound," Loveys said. Speaker Junk has gained a reputation for its twisted house, highlighted by fidgety vocal hooks, outrageous basslines and frenzied breakdowns.
But Loveys added that they are working on a full length Speaker Junk album that should hopefully bring even more to the table. "We have kind of changed and started using other influences as well. We are kind of moving away from the wobbly bass lines a bit and we have some other little tricks up our sleeve, like a couple of down-tempo bits, but, don't worry, there will still be plenty of stuff for the clubs."
So when this full length album might be gracing record store shelves?
"Josh and I have both been busy with our own things so we're not putting any pressure on ourselves to set any deadlines," Loveys said."But I would love to do a Speaker Junk album. That was our original plan when we first started the label and started working together."
In addition to their work on Speaker Junk, Loveys is also busy in the studio producing a number of solo tracks. "Because I have done a lot of remixes, I haven't had anything original in a while, so that's what I'm really focusing on now," he said.
Lovely added that he is adding some new and different styles to his music. "There will still be plenty of real twisted up dance floor stuff, which fuses hip-hop ideas and breaks, but I want to put more
musical elements in there," he said. "That is something that I stopped doing for awhile. I was so concentrated on the bassline and programming that I neglected some of those important musical elements. I'm really focused on achieving that balance where I can fuse these new melodies with the things that I've been doing all along. I think there will be something for everyone on the next EP."
And if that isn't enough, Loveys and Yusuf are working on a Tragic Magic album that should be released on Spin Out records later this year.
So, with American appetites for Loveys's brand of house growing all the time, the question has to be asked: When will he come here next?
"I'm hopefully doing a tour sometime this year with around 14 dates, starting in New York and working my way across," he said. "I'm really looking for to that. I came over once and it was the only time I've been to New York. And it's funny, I've always been heavily into hip-hop and influenced by graffiti, and, in general, everything that came out of New York. I have never really gotten over that. I only played one night [in New York] but I stayed on for five or six days because I wanted to hangout and check the place out. I would love to come over more often."
Loveys added that he believes that there is a lot of excitement happening when it comes to club music in the States. He said that because traditional house and electro elements are being mixed with hip-hop, rock, and pop music there is more of a chance that electronic dance music will catch on with a larger segment of the American population.
"My friend Aquasky, who does breaks, was saying that people like Justice are now just getting big over [in the States]. They have been big over here for a while, but it looks like they are breaking through over there," Loveys said. "[Music] is really starting to cover a lot of different bases. It's also becoming more radio friendly with some of the more vocal stuff."
To close out the interview, Loveys discussed what role that the internet will pay in the future promotion of club music. Google Loveys name and his music pops up on dozens of different music blogs. "Like it, love it or hate it – it's something that you really have to embrace," he said about the blog world. "I think it's good because it gets your music to a bigger audience but, obviously, stuff can get leaked so you have to be quite careful in how you put your stuff out promo wise."
He added that artists sometimes handout a couple of promos that end up in all these blogs. Then they don't ship the number of units they need to when the officially release the record.
"The real key is to use it in your favor. I think one key is to do a lot of mini-mixes so people can hear the track, but it's not something they can play out," he said. "In fact, for Machines Don't Care we have a young guy working for us who is on the internet and knows all of the blogs. He takes care of all of [our] blog promotion. To be honest, I do go on them but I'm still old school when it comes to stuff like that. I'm still trying to play catch-up." |
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