LTJ Bukem: Logical Productions
SF: The Skinny tracks down LTJ Bukem amidst increasing production work and gigs across the world to talk about his new mix album and DVD.<br/><br/>PQ: 'It's just going back to the way it was before, putting out lots of new stuff for people to hear on 12"".'
| 06 Jan 2008
For a man who is very much one of the British dance industry's most recognisable faces, Daniel Williamson, known professionally as LTJ Bukem, is a strangely distant and private figure. Over the past 16 years, he has cut a defiantly original and personal path which takes in being a performer, producer and DJ across a range of genres. Pinning him down for an interview when people from all sectors of the industry want a piece of time is difficult, but we finally do to talk Exit Festival
Bukem has been an ominous presence on the UK dance music scene since his first DJ gig at a small venue near London's Charing Cross Road, over twenty years ago. Following a storming set at 1990's Raindance Festival, national fame came with the release of his debut single Logical Progression in 1991. Since then, he's barely stopped for breath, wowing critics and audiences alike with his stunning DJ sets and floor-burning record releases. Up until 2004, he averaged around two releases per year, both on his own label and others – this on top of playing just about every major club and festival known to the living world. It is no surprise then, that after the release of the Progression Sessions 10 - Germany Live 2004 mix album that he decided he'd had enough for a while.
November saw the release of the split single Switch/Drum Toolz on Bukem's own Goodlooking record label, a collaborative effort between Bukem (whose Switch takes up the A-Side) and MC Conrad & Furney, who occupy the B-side with Drum Toolz. Switch was something of a revelation for Bukem's fanbase, with its swishing, dancefloor friendly drum patterns and frenetic, stop-start rhythm. It successfully marries the deeper side of drum and bass with the creamy, progressive face of nu-rave, of which we have seen so much recently in the media. This is no accident - as Bukem himself says, it is a reaction to "a carefully considered climate change in the music industry." If it continues to produce releases of this quality, then the change is certainly also a welcome one. It continues the fascination Bukem holds with the jazz fusion genre, a style of music he was introduced to at school by his music teacher, a man named Nigel Crouch and one which he still holds in the highest regard today. Without hearing it, we may not even have such choice aural treats as Switch to enlighten our own world today, so maybe it's not only Bukem who should be offering his thanks to Mr. Crouch.
The Skinny puts it to Bukem that it sounds as though he's got a pretty full plate in the upcoming months. "Yeah, absolutely, but that's the way I like it. It's just going back to the way it was before, putting out lots of new stuff for people to hear on 12" and such like. We're looking to put out six to eight 12"s and a couple of albums a year," he says.
After what his press people have termed "a well earned break," Bukem has very much come back to the fore in recent months. "2008 will see many new projects and a few familiar concepts updated for this new era of audio/visual consumption," is the official line from the man himself.
Switch, released back in November, was his first release of any kind since his 2004 Germany Live mix album. "We've been going for such a long time, 15 years plus," he explains. "We needed some time to have a break, basically."
Bukem presently has a number of projects on the go, all tied in with his Goodlooking record label, including a mix album and DVD of 2007's Exit Festival, the Serbian gathering which just won Festival of the Year. "Yeah, we did The Exit festival this year, which was really something, we had some cameras filming and it was really just an amazing experience," he enthuses. From observing the previews available online this DVD should be something really special, including spectacular visuals alongside some of LTJ's classic hits and forthcoming productions.
He sees the sounds of today as being some of the best ever to come out of the dance scene: "It's just amazing what we're hearing these days; I'm just really excited about it." When asked to elaborate, Bukem names "the new Combat album" due out next year. Tantalisingly, he also reveals that he "will be spending much of next year working on a new album," as well as having two forthcoming Logical Progression gigs in the pipeline.
Bukem has been an ominous presence on the UK dance music scene since his first DJ gig at a small venue near London's Charing Cross Road, over twenty years ago. Following a storming set at 1990's Raindance Festival, national fame came with the release of his debut single Logical Progression in 1991. Since then, he's barely stopped for breath, wowing critics and audiences alike with his stunning DJ sets and floor-burning record releases. Up until 2004, he averaged around two releases per year, both on his own label and others – this on top of playing just about every major club and festival known to the living world. It is no surprise then, that after the release of the Progression Sessions 10 - Germany Live 2004 mix album that he decided he'd had enough for a while.
November saw the release of the split single Switch/Drum Toolz on Bukem's own Goodlooking record label, a collaborative effort between Bukem (whose Switch takes up the A-Side) and MC Conrad & Furney, who occupy the B-side with Drum Toolz. Switch was something of a revelation for Bukem's fanbase, with its swishing, dancefloor friendly drum patterns and frenetic, stop-start rhythm. It successfully marries the deeper side of drum and bass with the creamy, progressive face of nu-rave, of which we have seen so much recently in the media. This is no accident - as Bukem himself says, it is a reaction to "a carefully considered climate change in the music industry." If it continues to produce releases of this quality, then the change is certainly also a welcome one. It continues the fascination Bukem holds with the jazz fusion genre, a style of music he was introduced to at school by his music teacher, a man named Nigel Crouch and one which he still holds in the highest regard today. Without hearing it, we may not even have such choice aural treats as Switch to enlighten our own world today, so maybe it's not only Bukem who should be offering his thanks to Mr. Crouch.
The Skinny puts it to Bukem that it sounds as though he's got a pretty full plate in the upcoming months. "Yeah, absolutely, but that's the way I like it. It's just going back to the way it was before, putting out lots of new stuff for people to hear on 12" and such like. We're looking to put out six to eight 12"s and a couple of albums a year," he says.
After what his press people have termed "a well earned break," Bukem has very much come back to the fore in recent months. "2008 will see many new projects and a few familiar concepts updated for this new era of audio/visual consumption," is the official line from the man himself.
Switch, released back in November, was his first release of any kind since his 2004 Germany Live mix album. "We've been going for such a long time, 15 years plus," he explains. "We needed some time to have a break, basically."
Bukem presently has a number of projects on the go, all tied in with his Goodlooking record label, including a mix album and DVD of 2007's Exit Festival, the Serbian gathering which just won Festival of the Year. "Yeah, we did The Exit festival this year, which was really something, we had some cameras filming and it was really just an amazing experience," he enthuses. From observing the previews available online this DVD should be something really special, including spectacular visuals alongside some of LTJ's classic hits and forthcoming productions.
He sees the sounds of today as being some of the best ever to come out of the dance scene: "It's just amazing what we're hearing these days; I'm just really excited about it." When asked to elaborate, Bukem names "the new Combat album" due out next year. Tantalisingly, he also reveals that he "will be spending much of next year working on a new album," as well as having two forthcoming Logical Progression gigs in the pipeline.
The Exit Festival mix album and DVD from LTJ Bukem and Goodlooking Records is due for Feb release
http://www.goodlooking.org
http://www.goodlooking.org