N.O.W. that’s what I call music

By now the longest serving act on the Warp roster, Nightmares On Wax have over their decade-long existence gradually evolved from a primarily studio-based, techno-centric outfit, into a far more organic, soul and funk-influenced proposition. Due to visit Ireland shortly as part of the Heineken Green Room Sessions, NOW mastermind George Evelyn enthusiastically acknowledges how his project has grown over the years.

“The evolution of any band’s sound just comes with experience,” says George, his Yorkshire accent unaffected even after years spent living in London. “It’s really not a calculated decision where you say, ‘Right, I’ve made this kind of record, now I’ll move on to a different sound.’ The soul and funk elements have definitely come more to the fore as we’ve progressed, but it’s been a very natural thing. ‘Organic’ is actually a really good word to describe the process.”

Which isn’t to say that Nightmares On Wax aren’t still very much open to sonic innovation. ‘70s 80s’, the latest single from the band’s fifth album, Mind Elevation, features a remix on the B-side from acclaimed Ohio-based producer, RJD2, whose 2002 debut album, Deadringer, thoroughly merited the lofty DJ Shadow comparisons it attracted.

“I thought the Deadringer album was the record DJ Shadow never made,” George ventures. “I mean, you listen to Endtroducing, and to me, Deadringer is the follow-up to that album. I enjoyed The Private Press, but it just didn’t blow my mind in the way Shadow’s first record did. I think RJ’s stuff has more of a link to Endtroducing, whilst still being innovative work in its own right.”

A further interesting connection between RJD2’s music and the Shadow/Quannum/Poets Of Rhythm San Francisco axis is that you could easily mistake certain tunes by each artist as being genuine funk records from the ’70s – something this writer was guilty of upon first hearing Quannum’s ‘I Changed My Mind’!

“I think it all goes back to sounding organic again,” George muses. “There’s just something about the dirty funk grooves from that period which appeals. My own musical background is searching out those old records and looking for the best sounds, so it comes very naturally to me to be into artists like RJD2 and DJ Shadow. Those people are from the same age group as me, and we grew up listening to the same records – as well as following the path of becoming DJs and subsequently producers. We’re just doing similar things but on different sides of the world, which is very cool.”

Speaking of the global village, George hasn’t exactly been a slouch in the nomad stakes himself, his peripatetic existence having taken him to many an interesting location over the past ten years, from world capital of culture New York to the hippie Mecca of Goa. What’s the allure of the Far East?

“It’s the spiritual element,” George replies. “It was a genuine culture shock, which I’d never experienced before. You see people there who – viewed through Western eyes – would appear to have nothing, but truthfully they’ve got everything. That was the most touching thing… I would even go as far as to say that I haven’t been the same person since. People who go there and just rave on the beach are missing out. There’s so much to soak up, if you’re open to the culture it can really be an amazing experience.”

George’s travels have also taken him to the famously reefer-friendly city of Amsterdam, where he gratefully accepted the offer to judge the town’s High Times Cannabis Cup.

“It had to be streamlined down,” George recalls. “It’s done over a month, and you have X amount of samples which you try, and you judge them day by day. But obviously a problem arises, because how can you judge when you’re smoking them continuously?! (laughs). It started to get a bit out of hand when my agent said, ‘We can’t have anything to do with this, we’ll get someone to bring the samples back to England’ – it all got a bit heavy, y’know? But it’s great to be there – especially trying to understand Dutch when you’re stoned!”