London Fields

No stranger to the dance music scene, Joel Edwards has had plenty of success in the past with his band Deepest Blue and has worked with names such as Planet Funk, Chicane, Joey Negro, MJ Cole and many more. He’s back with a new sound under the guise ‘London Fields’ which has received the thumbs up from the mighty Don Diablo no less, DMCWORLD checks in…

 

 

Interview by Ratha Gud

 

Hi Joel, how has 2018 been treating you so far, have you managed to break all your New Year’s resolutions yet?

Really good thank you, my dry January lasted all of 3 days!

You’re largely known for your very successful releases with your band Deepest Blue back in the early 2000’s, how has the scene changed since then?

Wow, it’s changed loads, there are no real record sales like before, so you have to be creative and diversify. I ended up setting up a music company that makes music for brands like Ford and Samsung, etc. I’ve got to be honest, before I did this I turned my nose up at it, but now having been in it a few years I love it, you can really make it your own. ‘Jupiter Snakes’ Fast Cars was one we did, and it felt good.

What’s your own personal favourite release from your repertoire so far?

That’s a tough one as I’m always into what I’m doing today, but the tracks from the Deepest Blue album ‘Late September’ will always have a soft spot in my heart as we recorded it on David Gilmour’s (Pink Floyd) boat. I can’t really beat that one yet.

As a producer and songwriter for many years, what piece of useful advice would you give to yourself back then?

Write what you love,  I’ve meandered in the past to survive, but honestly be true to your soul.

So you’re back with an exciting new guise, London Fields which is quite a departure from your Deepest Blue sound. What’s the inspiration behind it and why the decision to head underground per se?

Whenever I have downtime or hear something exciting, I run into the studio  and  can lose days and months in there. London Fields came about as a bunch of musical doodles. I sent a few half finished sketches over to Christian and Lewis from Friday Fox Recordings who liked and they told me to finish them off. I love Friday Fox, their agenda is to have fun and put out good music and very refreshing and old skool in their approach and not preoccupied with what was in the last BeatPort top ten, they just do their own thing.

Were you always a bit of a ‘House’ head?

I was actually a massive Indie kid for years and grew up listing to Jesus And Mary Chain, The Stone Roses, The Sex Pistols. Then Pete Tong put out a compilation called ‘The House Sound Of Chicago’ and as soon as I heard Mr Fingers I was hooked!

You’re kicking off the musical year with your second single ‘Colour To My Life’ on Friday Fox Recordings, what’s the song all about?

It was written for someone I know.  I got hooked on the lyric – “with you I’m filtered, I’m not seeing black and white, you brought colour to my life”.

You’ve also got a very cool set of remixers on the release, tell us about those and how they sound?

I love the remixes, they all come with their own shades of house, do check them out! There’s the legend Sonny Wharton, Rapson (who had a lot of success for the label with his big track ‘Heat’) and Friday Fox’s own Christian B, who have all smashed their mixes out the park.

You’re a very busy man musically with lots of other guises including TrAmHeD, Dead Guys and Deeper The Fall, how does each one sound and do you like to experiment with all genres?

TrAmHeD came about after being in Moscow one New Years Eve, Jamie Jones played an epic night. Dead Guys was my Indie/Electro thing and I made remixes for Blondie and Lamb. Deeper The Fall is my new album project with Glen Nichols (who is currently in LA producing the next Crystal Method album). We started Deeper The Fall after a few beers and we had a shared interest in vintage synths and a bunch of old tape machines.  Sound wise, I really had the desire to make a destructive album as I love sad songs.

As a singer / songwriter what inspires your songs?

Life, I have loads of hidden meanings in my songs, only the person I write about will know it because it’s exact. ‘Late September’ was about a few people I know. My acoustic solo album for Mercury (I recorded a really lovely acoustic album for Mercury right after Deepest Blue – but after a small falling out with the label the album sadly didn’t get a release) was again about a few close friends. The Deeper The Fall album is very dark in its subject matter and after playing it to the person it was written for they cried their eyes out. Job done!

How important are songs for our dancefloors?

I love songs and I also used to love the small back room at The Cross club in London. Both songs and dark Techno bangers have their place on the dance floor.

Who would you most like to sing a duet with?

The list is endless, I’m into so many different genres – but at this moment in time IDLES are my favourite band. I would love to bring back my Dead Guys moniker and make a remix for them.

In the studio are you a hardware or software man?

I love toys, so hardware for me. I’m a big Thermionic fan and also can’t do without my Dramastic Obsidian. I’m also over the moon to be asked to work with Aston Microphones.

Who are you favourite underground house producers at the moment?

Too many to mention but Owersound and Daniel Poli for starters.  I love the attitude and charisma of Nina Kraviz, true artistry. I’m really enjoying watching OC and Verde come up, really hope they smash it. Not on a House tip, but pure production brilliance in my opinion is Tennyson, totally off the hook and one of my favourite electronic acts from the last few years.

What was the last club you went to and who was DJing?

The last time I went as a punter was to Secret Garden Party (I went to the very first Secret Garden party, so it was brilliant to see how it had grown from 2000 travelers to 35,000 maniacs) We ended up at Maya Jane Coles and she smashed it. The time before that was to watch the legend Eddie Richards.

What do you hope to achieve with London Fields?

I just love being in the studio with mad creatives, especially the ones who don’t have an agenda. I like to make music have fun.

What’s in the pipeline for 2018 you can tell us about?

well, firstly London Fields 🙂 I’m also working with a young guy called Louie Bolongaro Trever. I’m mates with his dad (f*ck me I’m old) his parents started the fashion label All Saints and are mad creative geniuses – It seems to run in the family, but this time it’s music. Also, once Glen is back from LA we’re cracking on with Deeper The Fall project again. And I’m currently mid project with my mate old mate, Chad Jackson (ex resident at The Hacienda and former DMC Champ!), we’re going back to our roots by making an authentic Acid House album where we’re using a lot of the old original gear.

‘Colour To My Life’ will be released on Traxsource promo on February 16th / Full release March 2nd 2018 on Friday Fox Recordings.

https://soundcloud.com/londonfieldsmusic

https://soundcloud.com/fridayfoxrecordings/