Tastemakers Delight: Sinning In LA Enters The House of Wax On Records With George Evelyn
Listen to an exclusive Wax On Records mix by George Evelyn here:
For true lovers of the genre now dubbed “downtempo,” there are certain names that stand out in helping to shape this scene. Air, Massive Attack, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation all come to mind but also the sounds of English act Nightmares on Wax. Now George Evelyn, better known as DJ E.A.S.E, has taken the N.O.W. soundscape a step further by starting his own record label, the fittingly titled Wax On Records.
Although he now resides on the sunny (and sinful) isle of Ibiza, we managed to track him down and get the lowdown about his sizzling new imprint, which we soon found out is actually not George’s first stab at this.
“After starting a label called Poverty Records back in 1989 to get us on the map because we had had no joy in getting any interest from labels, I decided I would not go into the business side of music again,” George explained. “But around seven years ago, I was away on holiday and realized I had built this platform, my fan-base and I just knew so many people making music, that it would be only right to share what I have managed to create. So the idea of Wax On Records was born to bring honest music to a world, that brought so much to me."
The main ethos of the label would be music that did not dictate anything but quality. My main belief is timeless music, meaning it's not tied to scene-era-fashion or anything that states the kind of person that should listen to it. It's for everyone!
At Sinning In LA, we can certainly relate to George’s desire to bring only positive energy into the world and with a bevy of recent releases from Gelka (the intoxicating Less Is More), Negghead (on his tasty debut, Scrambled Negg) along with my favorites, Marcel and The Deadbeats, whose tracks I discovered via the wonderful Wax On label compilations that George lovingly curates.
There have so far been two successful installments in the series, with more planned and they are the perfect stage to showcase these songs that simply need to be heard. George has selected only the finest from each act, especially from the aforementioned group, The Deadbeats.
“With The Deadbeats, I knew one member Ged who worked at Warp Records (home to Nightmares On Wax), he passed me a demo CD of theirs just before they split up around eight years ago. I always dug out the demo CD when I had friends back at my house after partying, so when I started the label up, I kept getting in touch with Ged to see if we could make the album happen. Over a two year period they all made friends again, and then the mission was onto getting the album mixed at Wax On studios Ibiza, which is in my home.”
The story behind on how George found the group, Gelka proved to be another example of a man tracking down the sounds he loves and wants to share with us all.
All the signings to Wax On have been totally organic, all with their own little story.
George added. “I actually met Sergio from Gelka doing a TV interview, he was the journalist that put it together, and told me he made music and asked if would be OK for him to send me some tracks? I said ‘Yes I'm all ears!’ which is what i always say but I did not hear from him for about two years after that. When I did get the CD in 2006, it had six tracks that just blew me away, so I flew out to Budapest to meet them and find what they needed to make the album happen. The result of Less Is More is an album I'm super proud of. I then made the connection of Marcel through Gelka, who then told me my album Mind Elevation had helped him through a serious illness in which he flat-lined four times, which seems like a mad turn around of events, to survive that and end up on my label.”
Now that he resides in Ibiza, one of the world’s most sinful and sunny locales, it’s that vibe that has helped shape the sounds on Wax On Records.
“I used to look at my music and think about expressing sunshine through it, now I do the same, just making music in the sunshine,” George shared. “But on a serious point, I think it's about soul, not the genre, the feeling that we all hold inside us. It's not the style of the music, it's feeling in the music. I know I'm attracted to that feeling, which is why it's so evident in what I'm involved in. Everybody loves the sunshine, and what feeling it gives us. So the connection is there.”
George has slipped out from label-owner mode and into his DJ E.A.S.E guise to bring you an exclusive Wax On Records installment to the Sinning In LA mix series! Featuring tracks from a plethora of acts on the label, this is the perfect taster to get you started on the everything Wax On.
Buy: Wax On Records Store
Follow: http://twitter.com/waxonrecords
