EL-B: GHOST RECORDS

These days, Lewis Beadle aka El-B is synonymous with UK Garage and Dubstep. From his days spent under the wing of Noodles as one part of Groove Chronicles, through to producing some of the finest Garage committed to wax in the early noughties and his position as godfather to a whole scene thanks to producers such as Burial and Brackles name checking him as an influence.

As a recent guest at Hatcha and N-Type’s new residency at Plan B in Brixton, he went back-to-back with Komonazmuk to produce an exclusive set of cutting edge Dubstep and bass, showcasing the sound of his own Ghost Recordings label, circe 2010.

With a big year ahead for the label come January, we emailed the South London-dwelling star a few questions to see what he makes of the UK’s current scene.

Hyponik.com: Where do you place your current productions in the UK scene – is it Garage? Grime? Dubstep? Funky? House? Techno?
El-B: The ghost records sound is nothin’ but Dubstep for the clubs!

H.com: In your recent Wire interview, you referred to Dubstep as ‘ignorant and harsh’ - what do you mean by this? And what do think of the ‘wobble’ side of scene that seems to be all about dancefloor impact? Do you think that leads to a flat, stagnant scene?
E: Well, it is harsh as you cant play it round most normal people as you’ll likely to get a complaint! But its also wonderful and ‘most of the time’ seriously groovy and great to dance to. Plus the so called “wobble” side is the most important i think because without those loud bangers, the scene would be bland.

H.com: You’ve worked with a lot classic of names in the UK Hip-Hop scene – what do you make of the UK scene compared to our US counterparts, and do you think Grime is closer to our version of UK Hip-Hop?
E: I still do studio bookings for a small handfull of uk rap clicks South of the river, and when it comes to gangsta rap we are definitly progressing faster & sounding better than the States at the moment.

H.com: What are you looking to for inspiration these days, and what music are you concentrating on in the studio?
E: I’m only concentrating on Dubstep for 2010. I get all my Dubstep inspiration from other Dubstep, and its an exciting time with new names and styles coming through all the time at the moment.

H.com: Coming from your background, what do you make of the recent reappearance of 2-step in the UK – trendy East London middle class kids loving Garage they’re not old enough to remember first time around?
E: I wasn’t aware of this but its all good. Things can go a bit OTT sometimes so the old school will always be used from time to time in any scene I guess.

H.com: The same thing has happened to Burial music now too – what was once a single artist view has now spawned a whole sub-genre of ‘wonky’, disjointed ‘post-Garage’ music that uses early Jungle and the Metalheadz era, as well as some of your own work, as a starting point. What do you make of that?
E: Thats an honour. As we talk, I have Burial sitting infront of me smiling like a kid in a candy shop as we listen to the track we have just completed for our Nu-Levels compilation album on Ghost Records.

H.com: Have you listened to Burials albums? What do you make of them and Hyperdub’s take on this UK bass music?
E: Kode9 is an old friend. He has an individual take on most things and has shown alot of support for Ghost Records in the past so we love him for that.
Hyperdub caters for a certain side of Dubstep and as no other label does this with such success then I think its very important (whether its my cup of tea or not)!

H.com: What have you been listening too recently, and what can we expect to see you play in an average club set?
E: Apart from keeping a close eye on certain Dubstep producers work, you’ll find me playing Salsa in my crib (as always).

H.com: How long have you known our friends at the Sin City crew (Hatcha & N-Type)?
I’ve known Hatcha since he started working at Big Apple records in Croydon. We all thought he was totaly mad at first but it didn’t take a minute for him to earn the respects of the whole Ghost Camp. I met N-Type few years after.

H.com: What do you make of Funky? It seems a lot of people from the Garage heyday are involved in the scene – what differences do you see between ‘99 and ‘09?
E: Apart from the great Steve Gurley and a few others back in the day, I think ‘Funky’ is more sophisticated - but not all that MC rubbish!

H.com: Where would you like to see yourself and Ghost in another 10 years from now?
E: I’m sure we won’t be around in 10 years - we’ll remain in the memories of all that were there when we set the pace in 2000, and also in the hearts of all those that know about good grooves and drum programing. NOW - its all about 2010!

H.com: Finally, Disco, House, Techno, Jungle, Garage, Grime, Dubstep, Funky – is it all one and the same? UK music that revolves around beats, bass, dancing, clubs and the atmosphere… What for you, is the route of this music?
E: It’s just the wonders and many mutated forms of House music It’s all come from House music in the 80’s, with UK dance music moving the fastest.

Watch out for the Nu-Levels compilation dropping on Ghost Records in March 2010, featuring tracks from Burial, Zed Bias, MRK-1, Narrows, Luke Envoy, Ramadanman, J-Da Flex and El-B himself. Plus keep an eye out for new Ghost signings Karmine, Opus and Yoof coming to your ear soon!

Interview by Louis Cook.