George Evelyn aka Nightmares On Wax, is fast becoming a British hip hop institution, whether it’s writing or DJing, he’s been performing at the highest level since the early 90s.

Notion caught up with him 100km outside of Madrid as he reaches the halfway point of his latest idea. He’s moving his studio from Leeds to Ibiza and decided to drive with all his stuff in a converted van while recording new music.

 

I’ve flown to Spain to hear what he’s got to say about the compilation he created for the first record of the ‘My Definition’ series (a major insight into what made him who he is, from the first record he ever bought to the track he would most like to remix and everything in between), what he’s been up to and what the future holds.

 

“This is only the third mix compilation I’ve ever done and I like to choose them wisely. You know you’ve got it right when it feels right with you and the person you’re hooking up with to do it. Sometimes it’s nice to switch off and do stuff like this. I don’t DJ as much anymore – I’ll do it for a month and then will stay in the studio for two months. There was a nice overlap with DJing and choosing the tracks for the album.”

 

“They asked me to do this over a year ago now – it’s the first one of a series and it took that long to get it right. It was nice to take my time over choosing the tracks. I wanted to choose over 50 tunes and then take the best mix of those. You don’t always get to do what you want on compilation tracks. Even though it’s called ‘My Definition’ I wanted my one to be like a journey, which probably says a lot about my music.

I wanted to get back to the “head nodding society.” Which connects to the social surroundings I come from – whether I’m just listening to music at home or at a club; I want to be nodding my head to the tunes. I wanted to take it back to that. That’s why I’ve put in some new stuff and also some stuff that was around when I first started clubbing. There’s gonna be some people who have never heard of some of the tracks. I chose some of those as they remind me of really dancing and b-boying. There’s not many other types of music that make you do that – not where you have people going up and taking each other on. When I finally got down to what I wanted, I realised I had the album – I just had to put it together, and see where the journey took us. I’m really happy with it as it’s come out in a way that I like to listen to music. There’s enough on there so I can share some of the artists on the record with people who may never have heard of them, they’re from part of an era they might not know about.  A lot of the tracks like the DAS EFX one are from what people are calling “the golden era” now. I remember breaking in the clubs and in sports centre to them. They weren’t just hip hop tracks – they were massive tracks in the clubs. I think the basis of most hip hop tracks now come from that time with the way people like Tribe Called Quest changed beat constructions. Although a lot of the stuff called hip hop now isn’t true hip hop in my opinion – it’s just a fact. They’ve taken small bits of hip hop and put it in pop records – it’s more “hip pop” nowadays.”

 

“There was a Sizzler track that came out on Jet Star and remixed by Bronx Dogs that I really wanted. I only unearthed it recently. I’ve just moved to Ibiza so I’ve had to go through all my tunes – and I’ve got like 10,000 tunes to go through, so putting this album together was done at the perfect time. There was a bunch of stuff that didn’t make it, for example there was a Keith Mansfield, KPM library track ‘Morning Glory’ that was used in the Danger Doom album. I loved the track, it’s awesome but it didn’t make the album as it wasn’t right for the mix. I think you can tell from the journey that my influences are really heavily rooted in hip hop but there’s a lot of soul in there too.”

 

“My favourite track at the moment off it is the Camp Lo and Black Nostalgia using the Curtis Mayfield loop. I just can’t believe I forgot about that tune! It’s like WOW! That’s such a classic. It’s in my box now – as soon as I rediscovered it about eight months ago it’s been in there. It’s a timeless classic and works in any club. I also like the Black Grass one and JD73– that’s British, honest music and I like the fact a lot of people don’t know about them so I hope they’ll go and check them out and buy their albums. I would have liked it to have come out in for the summer to be honest but I hope it keeps the summery feeling through the winter months.”

 

“The Crusaders. Definitely The Crusaders. I put that on last because it makes you feel good. It’s like the last track when you’re playing a club – that’s how the night should end. If people don’t know The Crusaders, they should get to know them… they used to be called the Jazz Crusaders and were a heavy influence on my music. That track has a real smoking memory for me, I first discovered that tune in ’88 in the summer when me and my mates used to sit and smoke to it.”

 

“Leeds is a great city, it’s an innovative place with a lot of talent but it’s only known for its house music. A lot of people ignore the alternative scene it has there like the Invisible Circle stuff or the guys doing the dub step down at the West Indian Club like Sub Dub - these people should be in the town centre but they’re not offered the Saturday nights, as the club owners only care about numbers. The bar culture there has really hit it hard as well as people can drink there until late and then go on to the clubs at like two or three in the morning.

I feel the clubs don’t promote their residents enough at the clubs either – they rely on the guests coming in. With so many students in Leeds, they should big up their residents to keep punters coming back to the club every weekend – not just coming once to see the guest. I’ve done promoting and stuff but it doesn’t interest me anymore. I started doing it when I was 15 and it got to the point where I was thinking “I’m just paying for everybody’s night out.” You book people you really want to see but only you and the DJs know who they are and not the Joe Public. It’s a lot of hard work for not a lot of return. I’d rather throw a house party and everything be free.”

 

“It started about six days ago and we’ve been travelling from Leeds across France and through the Pyrenees. I’ve only seen about a quarter of it. Once you’re in that creative bubble, you’re not coming out of it.

We had an amazing time the other day coming through the mountains at this little village called Toldra. It had been pissing it down all morning and then we hooked up this fresh new tune and the sunshine in this tune was there and as it really came alive the clouds parted. We were driving through this canyon with the tune and the sun and the synchronicity was there totally – that was like when I really felt it. I don’t really remember France, it didn’t really grab me… and the time through Pyrenees took anything that France might have left me with away.”

 

“We’ve treated the writing exactly the same as we would in a studio – the whole process is exactly the same. We just made sure everything was comfortable in the van as we didn’t want to change the way we work. The number one thing about our writing is to not be premeditated about it, just go with it and see what comes. That’s exactly what we’ve done – tunes have just been opening up. We’ve been knocking two of them out a day. And that’s fucking wicked – I’ve never done that in my life. My whole vision for this trip was just like my vision for my music; it’s about a journey and not about a destination. To actually physically do it… it’s like “This is it! Let’s do it and see what happens.” I’m in no doubt that we’ll have an album by the time we get to Ibiza.”

 

“I just thought I’ve got to get from Leeds to Ibiza. I’ve got to get my studio there and there’s no way I’m putting it on a truck and hope that it turns up – that’s just not gonna happen. So the only way to bring my gear was for me to bring it with me. And I figured I might as well do something with my gear if I was with it. I’m picking up different musicians up on the way and have been creating beats the moment we left Leeds and we’re seeing what happens.  We just figured this bit of Spain would be cool to stop off for a couple of days and hook up with some more musicians. To me, if you can think of something then you’re going to be able to do it. Luckily everyone else has helped co- ordinate it and I’ve been able to concentrate on the music. It’s 10 days until Ibiza and I’m like “I’m gonna make this album in that time” and what a beautiful way to make that album. We’re videoing it and everything for a DVD and we’re never going to forget this time we’ve had. It’ll be cool when we get there – my wife will be there with my mum and we’re all going to have a big banquet and chill in the pool for a few days.

I’ve got no idea how the others are gonna get home though – they’ll all have to hitch through Europe I guess.”

 

“Well after ‘My Definition’, this album we’ve been writing will drop at some point next year. In between those two releases we’ve got about five projects with my label Wax On Records with different artists finishing off albums. We’ve got a remix EP coming out with people from the label and people I’ve met on my travels – it’ll be with a load of bedroom producers that are trying to get a look in. That EP will be out for early next year I think and then as I said, this album will be out for the summer. I’m the busiest I’ve ever been and it’s all good. Everything’s good.”

 

‘My Definition’ is, as Nightmares On Wax intended, a real journey through hip hop seen through the eyes of someone who has lived every step of it. It’s got classic tracks that aficionados will kick themselves for forgetting about, and will open the eyes of the generation of younger fans to the music that formed the foundation for what they’re listening to now.

 

‘My Definition: Nightmares On Wax’ is out now on Apace Music