Unkle  London, United Kingdom

Aged nineteen, James Lavelle had established himself as a DJ welding together all that was blaring out of the windows of Britain’s inner cities. When he started Mo’ Wax Records in 1993, he brought the same approach to the label. DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, Beastie Boys-cohort Money Mark, Air, Blackalicious and many more thrived under his enthusiastic and anti-authoritarian guidance. 

In 1996, together with old school pal Tim Goldsworthy and Kudo from Japanese Hip-Hop outfit Major Force, formed UNKLE. UNKLE was not the name of a band – it was the label Lavelle intended to use for his own musical ventures, recorded with anyone who might happen to be around. In the meantime, A&M Records had offered Mo’ Wax an irresistible licensing deal that also covered UNKLE. A first attempt at recording a debut album in Los Angeles went awry. Kudo and Goldsworthy jumped ship – the latter eventually to resurface as the co-founder of DFA Records in New York. Lavelle turned to DJ Shadow, another Mo’ Wax artist, for help. The UNKLE debut Psyence Fiction with contributions from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Metallica’s Jason Newstead. The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft and Talk Talk’s Mike Hollis, appeared, at long last, in summer 1998. The album was an unqualified success, reaching number 4 in the British album charts.