Hi Joe how are you and what have you been up to recently?
Tired! We did a Livity all night thing in Geneva last night and at Berghain the night before. They’re a lot of fun but intense!
Livity Sound is the label you are running with Pev (aka Peverelist) & Asusu. Please tell us a little bit about how you met each other and the development of the label?
I think i met Tom at Rooted records, the shop in Bristol he used to manage. We had a lot in common in terms of what we wanted from music and eventually collaborated on a track called ‚Beneath Radar‘ which became the first Livity plate.
Getting Asusu involved came about in a similar fashion – myself and Tom were both very into Craig’s productions and perspective on things and when he presented the track ‚Sister‘ it just made sense to put it out on Livity.
From there the three of us developed a live show over the course of a year and thats become a big part of what we do. Tom started the Dnous Ytivil sister label too to give an outlet for tunes by others that suit the labels aesthetic. That’s kind of where we’re at.
How is the label going now and what’s coming up? Everything is great thanks – we’re just doing a lot of these label nights where we play from beginning to end and people seem really into what we’re doing. We’ve got a bunch of high profile remixes coming up this year. Its mostly under wraps but the first 12″ is by Pangaea and MMM and should be out early March. Its been amazing getting a bunch of people I’ve looked up to for years involved in what we do. We’ve got some killer new artwork for the series too, after that shite with the Maoris last year we got a new artist in to do a bit of rebrand and it looks great. You are from Bristol. How would you describe the city and what do you think about the scene there? Bristol’s like any other spot i think. It can be amazing – there’s a great scene based around things like the Idle Hands shop and what Pev and Pinch have done over the years, and lots of heads and nights putting on quality acts. There’s a real community spirit and its a great place to get established as there’s so much support for new talent. At the same time its quite small and insular and it can get a bit on top! I lived there for 5 years and in the end just had to move to London cos i felt trapped by the place. I still go back loads – my girlfriend lives there and I’ve a lot of mates that are still great to hang with but i’m quite glad not to be there everyday anymore. If you could collaborate with any artist, who would you choose and why? Ooh thats tricky. One of the Uk Funky guys – Lil Silva or Apple maybe. That sound is exactly what i want right now – heavy, rhythmic and everyone goes off to it.
What annoys you or has pissed you off lately? In music – crowds that don’t vibe. Not even crowds that aren’t going mental but just crowds that look limp and pathetic: don’t bother coming to the club if you don’t like being out there. Its a waste of everyones time. I did a b2b with Ben UFO in the Hague last week and it was like playing to a fucking school disco. Depressing. What excites you besides music? Haha I’m struggling to think – the past 6 months has just been a loop of DJing and trying to write tracks and drinking. Ideas! I like ideas and patterns of thought. In movies, books, art, whatever I like seeing ideas realised as an item others can enjoy and appreciate. You can choose two or more people to compete in a Wrestling match. Who would you choose and why? Zomby vs anyone. He’s great on twitter but the amount of crap he gives out i’m sure there’d be someone up for fighting him.
How is the label going now and what’s coming up? Everything is great thanks – we’re just doing a lot of these label nights where we play from beginning to end and people seem really into what we’re doing. We’ve got a bunch of high profile remixes coming up this year. Its mostly under wraps but the first 12″ is by Pangaea and MMM and should be out early March. Its been amazing getting a bunch of people I’ve looked up to for years involved in what we do. We’ve got some killer new artwork for the series too, after that shite with the Maoris last year we got a new artist in to do a bit of rebrand and it looks great. You are from Bristol. How would you describe the city and what do you think about the scene there? Bristol’s like any other spot i think. It can be amazing – there’s a great scene based around things like the Idle Hands shop and what Pev and Pinch have done over the years, and lots of heads and nights putting on quality acts. There’s a real community spirit and its a great place to get established as there’s so much support for new talent. At the same time its quite small and insular and it can get a bit on top! I lived there for 5 years and in the end just had to move to London cos i felt trapped by the place. I still go back loads – my girlfriend lives there and I’ve a lot of mates that are still great to hang with but i’m quite glad not to be there everyday anymore. If you could collaborate with any artist, who would you choose and why? Ooh thats tricky. One of the Uk Funky guys – Lil Silva or Apple maybe. That sound is exactly what i want right now – heavy, rhythmic and everyone goes off to it.
What annoys you or has pissed you off lately? In music – crowds that don’t vibe. Not even crowds that aren’t going mental but just crowds that look limp and pathetic: don’t bother coming to the club if you don’t like being out there. Its a waste of everyones time. I did a b2b with Ben UFO in the Hague last week and it was like playing to a fucking school disco. Depressing. What excites you besides music? Haha I’m struggling to think – the past 6 months has just been a loop of DJing and trying to write tracks and drinking. Ideas! I like ideas and patterns of thought. In movies, books, art, whatever I like seeing ideas realised as an item others can enjoy and appreciate. You can choose two or more people to compete in a Wrestling match. Who would you choose and why? Zomby vs anyone. He’s great on twitter but the amount of crap he gives out i’m sure there’d be someone up for fighting him.