Zone-Magazine-Wally-Lopez-Issue-040

Thanks for taking the time speak with
us today! What were the highlights of
2023? Personally and for your
Labels?
Thanks for having me! Yeah, things continue to be
nice and busy both in the studio and with gigs as well as on
the label side. I’ve been playing a hardware based Jimpster
live set since the pandemic, both on my own as well as with
drummer Andy Gangadeen. We’ve got to play some great
festivals and clubs including Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here
and Berlin’s best deep house club Heideglühen. Both of
these sets have been highlights and it’s really nice travelling
with a friend for gigs for a change. It’s definitely more
stressful and more effort playing live shows but the payback
and satisfaction after the set is worth it and people really
seem to appreciate the live element. In 2022 we started a
3rd label called Cyphon Recordings which is already 10
releases in and focusing on Detroit inspired electro and 90’s
UK techno/IDM/electronica. It’s been amazing to set up
another imprint and the response and support has been
much stronger than we imagined.
What was the music that inspired you
most growing up and how has that
influenced the music that you
produce today?
I was lucky enough to grow up in a musical family
with my dad being the drummer in a jazz funk band called
Shakatak and my mum being a jazz vocalist. I used to go
into the studio when Shakatak were recording and to pass
the time I’d grab a synth or drum machine that wasn’t being
used and plug in some headphones and mess around on
them. At the same time I was getting into breakdancing and
starting to collect the Streetsounds Electro compilations so I
guess this period around 1983/84 was when everything
came together and the seeds were sewn.
How did you start out as a DJ? What
music got you into the dance scene,
what did you start out playing?
I think I got two turntables and started learning to
mix records around 87/88. The decks were just hifi decks
but had pitch control of plus/minus 3% so as long as the
records were fairly close in BPM you could get match them
up. Around this time I was listening to a lot of On U Sound
releases so dub reggae, Mark Stewart, Gary Clail and
Tackhead as well as EBM like Nitzer Ebb and Front 242 and
industrial and experimental noise and electronica stuff from
Meat Beat Manifesto, Renegade Soundwave, Throbbing
Gristle and Skinny Puppy. I remember when Renegade
Soundwave’s Space Gladiator and The Phantom came out
and blowing us all away and signaled our entry into clubbing
and discovering house music. I think my first proper gig was
around 1991 in my hometown of Braintree, Essex and going
by the name DJ O.D! Strictly hardcore!
Was there/is there anyone who is
still, or who has been, particularly
influential in your musical journey?
I grew up in a small village an hour from London
but we were lucky enough to have a bunch of older lads who
were obsessed with good music. One of those was Peter
White whose sister worked at Mute Records and would bring
home tapes of upcoming releases which Peter would play to
us. Getting to hear this stuff ahead of release and
sometimes even hearing demos or rare remixes and stuff
which would never be released was a real buzz. He went on
to create a great label called Space Kat around the early
2000’s, a label I followed religiously so you could say he’s
been a constant source of inspiration for a very long period
of time.
What have been your personal
favourite moments in your musical
career? Gigs, Productions etc
The majority of my most amazing moments in
music are from my time spent touring with a live band
called The Bays. For about 6 years from the start of
the 00’s we got to play some crazy gigs that I’m so
grateful to have got to experience. Several Peel
Sessions at Maida Vale, Glastonbury and some other big
festivals in Japan, Holland, Sri Lanka and Brazil. If I have to
pick one highlight it would have to be getting to play with
Herbie Hancock joining us onstage at a sold out Barbican.
Still can’t believe that happened to be honest.
What has been the best concert/
event you have ever been to.
Whether you have played there or
not?
Miles Davis at Wembley Conference Centre in
November 1986 playing tracks from Tutu. I was 13 at the
time and getting obsessed with synths. Seeing Robert Irving
III with his vast racks of keyboards was the moment that
made me think, I’d like some of that please!
What music do you normally play at
home these days?
Mostly soul and jazz both old and new. Rainer
Trueby has a Facebook group called Soul Gliding which I
discover a lot of great older stuff through.
26 ZONE-MAGAZINE.EU