James Lavelle- England's a Very Repressed Country

"A lot of English journalists tend to be very negative and they seem to thrive on negativity. And what they don't seem to realize is that this attitude creates a massive lack of confidence in people. People end up not wanting to worry or do things because you just get so sick of everybody judging you. I don't think that's a particularly healthy thing."

9 years after he was first hailed as the pioneering guru of leftfield dance music, James Lavelle has had an unusually severe taste of England's notorious build-em-up-then-knock-em-down media culture. Lauded by both media and major label companies alike, his name and record company Mo Wax became inexplicably linked with 1995's next big thing, Trip hop. And as speed garage stepped up to push it aside, Lavelle's own public standing suddenly nose-dived. Chatting to Skrufff's Angie Ng in her Kuala Lumpur Radio studio last week, he was clear about when he realized his name was "public fodder to tear apart".

"When I put the UNKLE record out," said James. The album in question, an interesting co-production with DJ Shadow called Psyence Fiction, came out in 1998 and "received mixed critical responses" according to one music encylopedia (which adds that it was "over ambitious").

4 years on, his main day to day activity appears to be DJing, whether for his Fabric residency in London or increasingly abroad as a world recognised international DJ. Still wedded to breaks and experimental music, he was chatting to Angie in her radio studio the night after wooing an enthusiastic Malaysian crowd with his typically eclectic set.

Skrufff: You're a resident at London superclub Fabric; in what way does your approach differ playing in London and playing outside the UK-

James Lavelle: "It doesn't really differ at all. I wouldn't change my style when I play somewhere else. When I played last night, I didn't really know what to expect so I played quite full-on. It's difficult because the kind of music I choose to play and I really like is not at the most commercial end of dance music and it's difficult enough going outside of London let alone come to Malaysia, to play the kind of records that I play. But things are slowly changing."

Skrufff: Does being a resident at Fabric allow you to play the sounds that you want rather than what the crowd wants-

James Lavelle: "I don't play what the crowd wants, I play what I want to play but DJing to me has always been about two things; one, entertainment, because people have paid to come in and enjoy themselves; and two, education, because you have a duty as a DJ to try and change and push things forward. I think that's basically what you're required to do as a DJ."

Skrufff: The British press, is full of talk of a superclub crisis right now, with Gatecrasher going monthly and…

James Lavelle: (interrupting) "Yeah, but they're playing crap music."

Skrufff: What's your slant on the state of the UK club scene-

James Lavelle: "The UK club scene is particularly healthy at the moment, I just don't think it's healthy for the Mecca (glitzy) side of club culture. I mean, I did Cream on Friday night and it was absolutely rammed and amazing but that was because they had a great line-up with Norman Cook, Dave Clarke, FC Kahuna, Jon Carter and Phil Kieran. That's a great line-up because it's interesting, musically provocative and it stands for something. I think the days of going to see certain DJs who play by numbers are gonna' be over soon because people are growing up. There's a new generation of people come through who are more and more clued up (knowledgeable) about music."

Skrufff: You don't like Gatecrasher though…-

James Lavelle: "I do like Gatecrasher, I respect them massively and I'm sorry that they're having a difficult time. I think what they've done has been great but I also think there's going to be a crisis for that area of music and all those DJs who've been playing in that style. Why do you want to go and see a DJ like Se Tags

• James Lavelle