Steve Lawler is an artist who knows all about making the transition from DJing to producing. His head-turning excursions into sound as a recording artist have had an explosive impact all over the world and have even attracted the attention of Hollywood. With one studio tucked away in the basement of his beautiful Georgian countryside home in Birmingham (UK), and a second situated in his villa overlooking Salinas beach on the Spanish island of Ibiza, he is as passionate about producing as he is about performing. On a quest to uncover more about Steve’s studio habits, djsounds.com tracked down the man himself in Birmingham, and found him hard at work on yet another remix for a major label.

Djsounds: How did you first get into making music as well as playing it?
Steve: “My first attempt at making a song was terrible. I hooked up with a guy who played the piano in a theatre and at the time I didn’t have a clue either, so together we were like the idiots. How I got into production more than anything else after that was through visiting Phil [Dockerty], who is one half of Futureshock, at his studio in Birmingham. I’ve known Phil since my early teens and used to go sit in his studio to watch what he was doing. When you already have a hunger to play records, you can soon develop a hunger to make them.”

What advice can you give to others wanting to make the transition, from DJing to producing?
“Don’t do what I did (which was to find a pianist), because that’s probably not going to help you at all! [he laughs]. I for one have never read a manual in my life and instead learnt from watching how producers like Phil, Alex Tepper [the other half of Futureshock], and Washington did things in the studio. So that’s my advice if you want to get into making music: go sit in on a recording session with a great producer to find out what it’s really all about.”

So will you be working on your debut artist album in the forthcoming months?
“I’ve been saying that I am going to finish it for years, but it’s not happened yet. First and foremost I am a DJ, it’s what I do week in and week out, so I haven’t had the time to spend the last 15 years in the studio learning everything there is to know about the kit. Consequently, I am still looking for someone to travel with down that path. Most DJs that I know of work alongside an engineer or co-producer, a silent half as you will, somebody that seems to be the more technical out of the two.”

You’ve remixed some major label artists in 2006, including Justin Timberlake. How do you feel about the merger of underground electronic dance music with pop?
“I did that remix at Phil’s studio, in Rich Bitch Studios, in Birmingham and it was great. If a popular commercial artist wants to do something daring and different then I respect that. On the other hand, the more underground artist has a chance to grow when their expertise is called upon in this way. I think it can be really interesting when the two opposites meet. I loved what Soul Mekanik did with Robbie Williams’ Rudebox, for example.”

Can you tell us how your studios in Birmingham and Ibiza differ, what are your recording set-ups like, and how do these differences affect the creative process of making/remixing music?
“My studio in Ibiza is a lot hotter and when you open the window there you are overlooking Salinas beach, whereas here in Birmingham we’re in a basement. This can change the way that you feel when you write a song. For example, I wrote That Sound, Illectronic Music and Lost in Ibiza, and the biggest electrical storm that the island has ever seen took place on the night we made Lost. We produced the track in one night and really took inspiration from what was around us, so you can almost hear the storm in the music. Location is important but neither studio is worse or better, they’re just different.

“Technically speaking though, the studios are very similar and these days that comprises everything I have in my computer as opposed to lots of hardware. In Ibiza I run the same production software, Logic and Ableton Live, have the same M-Audio Ozonic keyboard, and use the same mixing desk and studio monitors from Mackie. In this studio I tend to have all my DJ kit linked up to my Mac because I do a lot of re-edits down here. Using the DVJ decks, two EFX-1000s and a DJM-1000 mixer, this means I can record material in live, on the fly. Generally, the two studios are set up so that I can transfer on my hard drive whatever productions I am working on at the time.”

As a hands-on way of shaping music on the fly, do you ever use the EFX-1000s during the production process to make the most of your DJing skills in the studio, as opposed to using automation on a computer, for live jamming rather than programming?
“I am in the process of taking the equipment to this level in production. There’s a very musical Vocoder effect on the EFX-1000, for example, which produces this very strange synthy sort of sound. It can sometimes be difficult to use, but it depends on the sounds you are putting through it. If it works out, I may use this effect on the Jamelia [Beware of the Dog] remix that I am working on, perhaps feeding it some drums or a cappellas. I’ll then re-record it, bounce it down and use it as an audio file in the final track.”

What benefits are you experiencing from running your new Viva Music label digitally, notably with a distribution connection to UK market leader Universal?
“I am yet to find out the true rewards but the possibilities are endless. I faced numerous problems when I was running my three analogue/vinyl labels. To be able to sign new underground artists, for example, you had to rely on the song itself to sell, as opposed to the artists’ names. You then needed a strong team to really work the single, along with exceptional distributors. Alternatively, with the online situation I am in complete control and it’s open to the world. Teaming up with Universal is very exciting and we will see exactly how it all works when the first release [S.L.A.D.L.Y’s Unicorn] comes out.”

Your triple CD compilation, Viva, sounds digitally advanced too, how did you mix that?
“I mixed some of it using the Pioneers and some in Ableton Live. I had to create the third disc in Live because of the sheer complexity of the mix. I blended 18 songs with extra interludes, effects and samples woven in between them to make the mix gel together like a movie soundtrack.”

After being invited to craft a title track for The Skeleton Key, has Hollywood been back in touch for more atmospheric audio, and do you think you would enjoy the process of scoring a full movie soundtrack?
“Yes, Iain Softley [director of The Skeleton Key] is interested in us working together again, so watch this space. I would love to score a full film soundtrack, but I am not ready yet because I am travelling so much right now. A movie project is a huge responsibility and not something I would take lightly. I would want to spend six months in my studio, fully concentrating on the script and footage, so the last thing you need then is to be jetting off 3,000 miles every weekend.”

Is the creative process any different when you are making music that’s more in tune with visual elements?
“Every track you make can have visuals in the mind. When you go into the studio to start a new track, you can envisage where it will fit within a set, and you can even visualise what type of club you are making the track for. I always work to a vision.”

Finally, you’ve been DJing for about 17 years now, what’s your take on how the art form will evolve and can you see a visual future up ahead, perhaps using the DVJ decks?
“They are incredible machines and I do like the idea, but visuals in a club are just not for me. From a DJing point of view, I like the lights out and the room dark. However, I have recently had a couple of DVDs made for the festivals and arenas. So in that respect, when it comes to big shows, I’ll definitely be going down that path.”

For further information about Steve, please visit: www.djstevelawler.com.

Interview: LL