GETTING LOGICAL
LTJ BUKEM

When a new musical genre emerges, there are always those few artists who stand out among the rest and are remembered for their influential roles in developing the new sound. LTJ Bukem is one of these artists.

Bukem has been called the Godfather of drum 'n' bass. He was among that first wave of DJs to experiment with - and speed up - the breakbeats in the late '80s and early '90s. It was his "Demon's Theme," an early-90s record, that gave the nascent genre much momentum and inspired other DJs to push the sound even further forward.

Unlike many DJs in the electronic mixscape, Bukem is a trained musician. He can spin records, cut a break and work a sound console, sure, but he can also play the piano, trumpet and drums. It's this musical background that has given him a broader musical vocabulary upon which to draw when creating his sound.

And Bukem's also a savvy entrepreneur whose Good Looking Record Label has been of immense influence throughout the '90s in spreading the "sound of speed" and supporting many artists and DJs.

The label isn't your average record company. From it's founding, Bukem, and his partners, set up a structure that allowed artists signed to the label total freedom to make their music, their own way, without interference from The Suits.

Since the label inked a licensing deal with Sony Music to distribute Good Looking records in Japan, Bukem and Co. have been making regular visits to Tokyo to promote the label, artists and Logical Progression.

Air caught up with Bukem backstage at Good Looking's Logical Progression night in Japan.

Air: So, Dano, how do you like Japan?

LTJ Bukem: I must love it, because we come here so often. I love Japan, Japanese people. They're a very fanatical race of music heads - do you know whatta I mean? When the Japanese go with something they like, they love it beyond reason. So, yeah I love Japan - the place, the people. We're gonna try and come here more often, maybe every couple of months or something to try and promote the sound better - they need it.

Air: "Need it"? Why do the Japanese need Bukem every couple of months?

LTJ: Well. coming here like every six or seven months or so is just too big of a gap - the gap's too much. You need to be in people's faces constantly, I think, to make them aware of what's going on. And I like it a bit as well. We would like to set up residences in Japan, America, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland, and keep it minimal, the right places, you know what I mean?

Air: So by having a regular Logical Progression night at all these clubs around the world, you've always got an event going, somewhere.

LTJ: Yeah, so like every two months in America, every two months in Japan, every two months in Germany. We've got a thing in London, at Ministry of Sound now on Fridays, which is like unheard of. Drum 'n' bass at Ministry of Sound, which is a GA-GA club on Fridays, is like a big thing.

Air: That you can do that now reflects people becoming more responsive to your to drum 'n' bass, not just back home in the UK, but also in America. What's the scene like right now?

LTJ: Definitely. Well, I mean the UK and Germany - speak for themselves. Germans were the first to pick up on it, European-wise. Crowds have been good here (in Japan). Americans are always slow (laughs), I mean, I dunno, man, it makes me laugh, the American thing. It makes me laugh - 'cause I'm a lover of Soul music - how, first of all, the Americans dis the Soul, the '70s soul thing. It became crazy in England, where it became Rare Groove and you couldn't get a gold of these records, and now it's like Americans have got into it later-on kind of thing.

I don't know what it is, but I think it's the same with most music, apart from rock and country, but Americans kind of pick up on it late. You have got to get through to the Americans harder than any other people around the world. But it's good. We've done two American tours now, and I've been to America about six, seven times and I've had a good time on each visit. So, they'll get it eventually.

Air: Where are you finding the best response to your music in the States?

LTJ: Well, Washington. Washington is quite a good place actually. San Fran is good, and I ended up doing something in Palm Springs - it was madness, man.

Air: You're working with Sony now. They're pushing you in Japan in a big way. How is the big label treating you?

LTJ: Excellently! My main thing, my only thing, is "keep control!" When everyone else in England sold their record label or sold themselves for a hundred-thousand pound check, we kind of held back and said "NO!" We want to do it ourselves. I gotta have that control, because we've been doing it for too long, and I can't have someone tell me how to make my music. I can't have that. I'd rather stop making music before someone says to me "Bukem, put a vocal in that tune! Make that more commercial!" But I can't do that. I know that about me.

So any deal that we have with Sony, it's mainly because you can't be up every hour of every day working, so you have to have someone representing you, and Sony said they'll do it, and all we have to do is provide them with the music. Simple. And they'll put it out. That's it.

That to me is like the best licensing deal you could ever have, where they can't change (my music). No one at the label can sort of "make up" an album of our stuff without our permission. If it's gonna happen, they'll have to say "Bukem, is that all right?"?" And I go, "Yeah, cool. Go ahead and do it."

Air: That kind of arrangement is rare in the music business.

LTJ: It is, but Good Looking is a rare company. We do different things musically, and do things different business-wise. The whole way it was set up, whereby, we were signed artists, 14 signed artists on an independent label. That's pretty unheard in England, in the UK. I mean most independent labels have artists who make music for different labels, but ours are exclusive to our label, like a major record label, but we're independent.

Each of our artists has got their own label. The way it was set up is such that no artist is tied down. They're creatively free. And that's me, but I wanted to create a label that does the same thing as well. And we have. People said we would die in three years, but we got bigger. And now we've got like 17 staff working for us and 30 artists. I think we're still here.

Air: You've paid your dues and faced a lot of people who have resisted your ideas over the years, but have come out on top. What are some hurdles you've faced?

LTJ: Yeah, well, work, you know, "well, what my sound isn't a good enough sound for the rave?" kind of thing. Definitely, I think it took a lot to get to this stage now, but I wouldn't say to someone, "Yeah, go through the same thing that I went through and you'll get this, this and this." I wouldn't advise it, because it hasn't been a smooth journey by any means. But, it's made me more positive and makes me want to do it more, you know, "Now we've gotten this far" kind of thing.

Like the other day, I went to see Herbie Hancock in London, and I wanted to see him play and I saw his band afterwards, and a friend of mine, a girl, had been with the band all afternoon playing Good Looking records. The whole afternoon, just playing everything. And they loved it. And Herbie Hancock said to me, "This is 21st-century soul."

Air: That's beautiful. You had to have felt a thrilled by that.

LTJ: And I'm like "do you think I'm stoppin?" when someone like Herbie Hancock says to me this is like 21st-century soul.

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