James Lavelle

Not to be confused withJimmy LaValleorJim Leavelle.

For the Australian footballer, seeJames Lavelle (footballer).

James Lavelle
Lavelle in June 2014
Background information
Born	(1974-02-22)22 February 1974 Oxford,England
Origin	London, England
Genres	Electronic trip hop alternative rock
Occupation(s)	DJ, recording artist, record label Boss
Years active	1990–present

James Lavelle(born 22 February 1974) is an Englishelectronicmusician, record label owner and curator. He founded theMo'Waxrecord label in 1992, and has been the only constant member ofUNKLE.He directed the 2014 edition of theMeltdownfestival on London's South Bank, and curated the 2016 exhibition "Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick" atSomerset House.He is the subject of 2016 documentary filmThe Man from Mo'Wax.

Career

Lavelle foundedMo' Waxin 1992. The label was not co-founded byTim Goldsworthy,as is often reported.

In 1996 Mo' Wax released one ofelectronic music's most celebrated albums,DJ Shadow's seminalEndtroducing......Soon after this Lavelle started work on an album with DJ Shadow under the nameUNKLE.The resulting releasePsyence Fictionfeatured collaborations withRichard Ashcroft,Mike D,Badly Drawn BoyandThom Yorke.In 2003, he released a follow-up to Psyence Fiction, titledNever, Never, Land,though this album saw DJ Shadow replaced byRichard Fileas the second full-time member of UNKLE. It featured collaborations with3DofMassive AttackandJosh HommeofQueens of the Stone Ageamong others.

He is a longtime resident atFabricin London, mi xing the inauguralFabric Livemix album.He has also mixed four DJ mix albums forGlobal Underground.

He has produced a number of film soundtracks, includingSexy Beast.Also an in demandremixer,he has reworked tracks byGarbage,The Verve,BeckandMassive Attack.

In an August 2006 interview withThe Skinny,Lavelle revealed that he was working withChris GossandAutoluxon the follow-up toNever, Never, Land,entitledWar Stories.Of the album's direction, he said "It’s rawer thanPsyence FictionandNever, Never, Landalthough it’s more in the vein of the traditional singer/songwriter. If the first record was UNKLE does hiphop and the second record was UNKLE does electronic, then this one is like UNKLE does rock, but it’ll hopefully still have its continuity. "

Lavelle produced the title track for longtime collaborators Queens of the Stone Age's 2013 album...Like Clockwork,which reached number one on theBillboard200making it the first Queens of the Stone Age album to top the chart in the United States. The album was nominated for threeGrammy Awards,includingBest Rock Album.

In 2014 he was asked to direct theMeltdownfestival, following in the footsteps ofDavid Bowie,Patti SmithandJarvis Cocker.His lineup included concerts by Joshua Homme,Max Richter,Neneh Cherry,GoldieandMark Lanegan.The event culminated with a liveUNKLE:Redux featuring a guest appearance from former memberDJ Shadow.

Lavelle has scored the soundtrack forDanny Boyle's anthology seriesTruststarringDonald SutherlandandHilary Swank.

Selected discography

UNKLE

• Psyence Fiction(1998)
• Never, Never, Land(2003)
• Edit Music for a Film: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Reconstruction(2005)
• Self Defence: Never, Never, Land Reconstructed and Bonus Beats(2006)
• War Stories(2007)
• More Stories(2008)
• End Titles... Stories for Film(2008)
• Where Did the Night Fall(2010)
• The Road: Part I(2017)
• The Road: Part II (Lost Highway)(2019)

Mix albums

• CreamLive Two – Disc 3(1996)
• Tribal Gathering 96 – Disc 3(1998)
• FabricLive.01(2001)
• GU023Global Underground,Barcelona(2002)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Beats?(2001)
• Do Androids Dream of Essential Beats?(2003)
• WWIII – UNKLEsounds vs. U.N.K.L.E.(Bootleg, 2004)
• GU026Global Underground,Romania(2004)
• Big Brother is Watching You(Bootleg of Do Androids Dream of Essential Beats) (2005)
• GU037Global Underground,Bangkok(2009)
• GU041Global Underground,Naples(2015)

Quotes

• "I became a DJ because I couldn't breakdance and I was no good at graffiti."
• "I'm into a whole concept, it's a whole scene. I'm totally involved in it. We cover hip-hop fused music. We want to do this rock hip-hop thing. We are gonna launch a mad hip-hop/thrash fused band, a young Beastie Boys kind of thing. I'm into the total energy of the Beasties and that whole kind of skate thing. I want that energy and total madness surrounding the whole idea."
• On Mo' Wax:"We put out 200 records in 4 or 5 years, I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that again. I don’t think I could ever work like that again, it was just insane."

Other sources

• The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002,p. 295, atGoogle Books

External links

• James Lavellediscography atDiscogs
• Inspiring interview about James Lavelle's creative journey by SUBvert magazine
• James Lavellediscography atMusicBrainz