Ralph Lawson

As an integral part of the scene for over twenty years, Ralph Lawson has had a lot said (and said again) about him. You'd definitely think first birthday celebrations were a thing of the past. Right? Wrong. With an extra special London party lined up in August to commemorate 2020 Vision's 12 months in the events game, the Leeds legend remains as active and clued up as ever. Whether it be his own sets, a unique blend of cutting edge and classic house, or the recent addition of Maya Jane Coles to the 2020 roster, Lawson is all about the bigger picture. Carlos Hawthorn caught up with him ahead of the return of 2020 Soundsystem to London's Fabric, the third stop on their extensive summer tour.

Pulse: Yo Ralph, how are things? Where are you at the moment? Ralph Lawson: I'm fine thanks. Im just in Leeds in my basement studio with no light coming in, so I've no idea whether it's raining or sunny. Though I doubt it's the latter to be honest.

You're not wrong there. So, what have you been up to recently? I've actually just got back from Croatia. It was really good, I had a fantastic time, I love it out there. It's all about the atmosphere they're getting there at the minute – very fresh, very new. It's not expensive, the locals are great and it's a very small, intimate, passionate scene. And the music is brilliant, not diluted in any way.

So this Saturday marks the return of 2020 Soundsystem to London, playing at Fabric. I understand you're playing new material – what's the process been like a second time around? Yeah that's right we're playing quite a lot of new stuff. Fabric will actually be our third show this summer, we started at We Love Space in June and then we went over to Hungary for the Balaton Sound Festival, both were excellent shows, we're on a bit of a roll really! Everyone's buzzed up to be playing again and Fabric always brings out the best in you so I'm looking forward to it.

So there was always a desire to keep the project going, to push it in new and different directions? Well I mean there's always been a drive, there was never a question we wouldn't get back together, it's an ongoing project. Of course two of the guys live in Argentina, that's where they're from and the only thing that's changed from the last album is that they're based there now and come over when we tour which actually makes things easier for us because the Soundsystem works better with specific tours as it's such a big operation when we're on the road.

2020 Vision just released a 4-track EP from madam of the moment Maya Jane Coles – How did that relationship form? I basically just called her up. It was literally born from me loving her music and just hearing a real talent in her and doing my best to jump on it as quickly as possible. I knew (and was right) that a lot of labels would be after her and that she'd be wary of all the attention, as she was when I went down to East London to meet her personally. I just told her what I thought of her music and the diversity of her talent and that for me it wasn't all about her house tracks, which was what everyone was after. She's a very clever young lady who really has something inside her to make fantastic, eclectic music. Thankfully she could see all the other labels coming a mile off and she had liked what we were doing at 2020 for a while so it seemed the next logical step.

You're going to be celebrating the first birthday of the 2020 parties. How's the year been? The year's been good, really really good. We've just started really going for it seriously recently, I mean we've always done events but never on the scale I'd wanted to do them and with the people I'd wanted to do them with. Luckily I've found that person now, a guy called Danny (Raper) in London who's brilliant at finding venues and promoting the nights, which is great because obviously I'm all about the music and the creative side of things, so it means I can concentrate on that. We make a great team. And the birthday is going to be great, we've got Julio Bashmore, Greg Wilson and The Revenge all playing. It should be fun.

There's definitely an eclecticism to the lineup.. Yeah that's it. The important thing is that it's not just about house tracks, it's about mixing it up, keeping things fresh for both us and the audience.

Is that the reason then for all these diverse projects – to keep things fresh? Yeah for me it is, it keeps me fresh. I just like a challenge and love throwing myself into them and that's just what's working for me right now. But of course you can easily become jack of all trades master of none, so it's important not to spread yourself too thinly, as I've been guilty of at times in the past. I'm excited at the moment, it's all a lot of fun.

Any plans for extending the franchise? (Laughs) No I think we're going to stick to that for now, stick to concentrating on the events, the LIVE show, the Djing...That's more than enough for me.

Do you spend much time in the studio yourself these days? Absolutely yeah. I mean, I never saw myself as Mr. Big Wig producer, I've always been much more of a DJ but I've always enjoyed working in the studio, especially with other people. Obviously I worked on the last 2020 Soundsystem album, that was the last major project I've done. Actually it's interesting you spotted that because I haven't done much in the studio since then, I needed a breather after that to reset my perspectives and think about what I wanted to make and to get inspired again. I'm feeling really inspired at the moment and I feel you should only make music when it feels right, there's no point just doing it as a job, churning tracks out. I haven't done as much as some production wise but what I've done I'm proud of – the stuff I did with Carl Finlow and Ron Trent, the stuff with Blaze and Chez Damier. I like to keep the bar quite high, quality control is important to me. But as I said I'm feeling in the zone right now, only last week Fernando (from 2020 Soundsystem) and I were in the studio and it was sounding great. There will definitely be something coming from that in the near future...

Finally, what does the rest of 2011 hold for Ralph Lawson? Well I've just got the summer down really. I've got a lot of gigs to get through and then I'm just starting to piece October together now. 2020 Soundsystem have been invited to play at The Warehouse Project in Manchester for the first time, which is great, so I think we'll build a tour around that. And then in November we've got the 20th anniversary of Back to Basics in Leeds which is going to be one hell of a party. I'm already really looking forward to that. And that'll be my year done really and then it'll be time to concentrate on 2012.

Ralph Lawson on Pulse