Ralph Lawson embarks on new musical directions into the world of dub with a heavyweight and diverse selection of remixes from Hector Couto, Barem, Shaun Reeves, Fernando and Rui-Z. Dan Prince checks in with the legend…
Ralph a huge welcome back to DMCWORLD young man, where on planet earth are you today?
I’m in the studio in Leeds, diggin’ through music for the next chapter of back to basics, which is back begins at a new venue called ‘Church’ in Leeds. It will be our 7th incarnation and this time it’s the resurrection!
You are the talk of the town yet again thanks to the brilliance of your Lost In The Storm project. And what a tale behind the track there is too. To set the scene of this dub heavyweight, let’s go back to the beginning before Ralph Lawson was wowing crowds with his house music selection and check into the music lover exploring the land of dub. How old were you when this sound grabbed you and who were the early artists you were digging?
I was into dub music in the 80s as a kid growing up in London. I was listening to dub soundsystems like Jah Shaka, Aba Shant-I and Manasseh. Going to their dances. Then there was a great record shop out west called Dub Vendor where I would buy records by Jamaican producers King Tubby & Scientist and from the UK Mad Professor, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Macca-B.
I believe you were a regular at the legendary Dub Club in London back in the day? What memories do those nights evoke?
Yes it was right on my doorstep at the Boston Arms in Tufnell Park. So an easy walk home which helped. Jah Shaka was always the man there. I also used to go down to Dingwalls in Camden town which would have dub nights on and that’s how I also found Norman Jay’s ‘High On Hope’ club, which was playing house. That was one of my first exposures to house music.
How did the whole dub into house transgression happen, what changed? E’s?
No it definitely wasn’t down to drugs. I think there are more similarities between house and dub than people make out. Disco too. Look at those delayed claps in the Peech Boys productions made for Larry Levan at Paradise Garage. Just totally empty sections with a clap echoing off and acappella vocals left in the space before the beat. Very dub style. I would always go straight for the ‘dub’ mixes on 12” records as well. The main vocal mix was hardly ever the one I played and house producers started making ‘dub versions’ very early on. They’d be the ones stripped down to bass and drums with effected snatches of vocal echoing off.
So things began to change a couple of years ago for you when you disbanded the 2020 Soundsystem and started to explore dub again and seek out original studio gear used by dub greats, what’s the story here?
Yes I put a huge amount of love and energy into the 2020Soundsystem, we all did. But forces pulling it apart became too great to manage and we had to call it a day. I would like to revisit live performance but I think it would be more in a real soundsystem way with machines rather than instruments. The band quit officially in 2013 and I came out thinking everyone would still remember me as DJ Ralph Lawson, but it was actually far harder than I expected to jump back in. Promoters had moved on and there was a whole new generation of new DJs out there. I must admit it’s been quite hard to re-establish myself as a DJ. It’s been like being starting again, back to being that kid looking for a break. I suppose that’s humbling and also good because I’ve had to really work hard again.
Musically I had time to examine my past and my influences and I realized there was this vast untapped inspiration inside me that wanted to get out. So I got deep and really researched dub again and started listening to my favourite producers who turned out to be King Tubby and Scientist. For a while it was all I was listening to. There have been several attempts at making dub house and techno and I wanted to create something for that scene but make something fresh. The first attempt was Lost in Dub (LOSTIME003) which was cool but I feel I’ve really raised the game with Lost in The Storm (LOSTIME005).
How did the whole Lost In The Storm journey begin, what were the production techniques behind the track?
Well there is a whole video recorded for Future music you can check out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawlQS3p3qI). I have a really simple up based around DJing. It’s not a proper studio, I stand up, no sitting down making tracks. I try to do ‘live passes’ as that was what I always enjoyed as a DJ and in 2020Soundsystem too. I managed to borrow an authentic 1970s spring reverb which makes that unique ‘thunder’ sound when you abuse it by dropping or hitting it which is what Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry found out and used way back then.
This story took a wonderful twist when Seth Troxler, DJ Harvey and Greg Wilson all picked up on the track using FX and stems to create their own versions live. A year later Lost In The Storm is finally available digitally after being re-mastered by Steffen Mueller with a whole host of remixers bringing their own interpretations. It’s been quite a journey!
Do you know what, when I was making the track both Seth Troxler & DJ Harvey came into my mind as DJs who had the balls to try something new like this and it was really fulfilling that they both went for it of their own accord. Seth started working the Storm FX into his sets and then overdubbing his own beats and then into the original later. Harvey took it a stage further and asked for stems so he work it all night at The Ministry of Sound. Now I am talking to Loopmasters to release the stems as NI stems for Traktor on our Lost in Time sample pack, so any aspiring DJs can also work the track as stems and summon their own storms on the dancefloor!
What is coming next from Jah Lawson, what is the next dub adventure you have up your sleeve…?
Haha some whiteboy dreadlocks and a really bad fake patois accent ! But you know I’m going to keep having a go with the studio set up in a dub fashion and make more dub techno and dub house.
What has been your tune of the summer?
Hector Couto – Get It On (unreleased acid dub)
5 big tunes in your box this weekend…
- Lauren Lane – Edge of Sideways
Expect big things from this rising DJ from Los Angeles. Sounds like Maya Jane Coles.
- Mr G – Bring It
Love the old rave feel to this one, defo bust out some old school running man dance moves to this one !
- Mark Henning – Jaguar
Just great sounding big room techno, perfect for ‘Church’.
- Hannah Holland – Diva Bern (Ralph Lawson & Rui-Z Remix)
The very first remix out with my new production partner
- Luca Donzelli & Mar T – Disco Techno Revolution
I love this genre defying crazy track, put it in a pigeon hole if you dare !
Okay, let’s get up close and personal with Ralph Lawson for a moment…
The last great film you saw?
I’ve been getting back into Sergio Leone westerns. They are incredible for watching on planes, so slow paced, no one says anything. It’s all expressions and eye movements in incredible scenery. Clint Eastwood is still the coolest actor who ever walked the planet too. ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ is the best one.
Your favourite part of the day?
Any time that involves food. Breakfast, lunch or dinner. All good.
The last time a piece of music made you cry?
Not sure there is one, really random rubbish things are more likely to make my eyes water. Like the good guys winning in a kids film or something.
Your most prized possession?
I have great luggage. If you go through life with lots of baggage, you need great luggage!
A DJ you would happily pay to see…?
I’m never happy to pay Dan! I’m always on the list dahling! I really enjoy DJ Harvey, Greg Wilson, Seth Troxler, Dyed Soundorom, Craig Richards, Tania Vulcano, Mark Farina, Domenic & Harri and Tristan da Cunha. Basically proper resident DJs who can play long and varied…
Space Ibiza closed it’s doors for the last time a couple of weeks back, what are some of your favourite memories of the gaff?
My best days were at We Love. I was resident there for a long time and feel I played some of my best sets there. It brought out the best of me. I respond to pressure fairly well and that was always super high pressure. Once after my I played The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army last track and I was singing the verse,” I’m going to Witchita..,” and then walked straight into a post and fell over. Everyone was watching me and all pissed themselves.
And finally looking ahead, what other projects can we expect from you in 2017?
I am working on a compilation celebrating my 25 years as a resident DJ at back to basics and a Lost in Time album…
Ralph Lawson ‘Lost In The Storm’ is out now on 2020Vision
