Interview: Leeroy Thornhill on the new album, Electric Tastebuds and the digital music revolution (free track inside!)

Leeroy Thornhill has come a long way since his early days as a dancer for The Prodigy. Sometimes Sean grabbed five minutes with the man himself

Hi Leeroy. You hit the ground running with The Prodigy, but over the years you have also developed your own personal musical style through various guises such as Longman, Flightcrank and on vocals as part of the group Hyper. You now produce under your own name as well as with other production partners. Can you tell us a bit about the projects you are involved in at the moment?

Right now I'm involved in two projects other than my solo tracks: the first is Smash Hifi, with Marten Horger, a great DJ from Germany. We have just started getting some new tracks under way, and hopefully these will be the start of an album. We DJ together as Smash Hifi, and both of us are into the same sort of music and this makes studio work flow quite easily when we get together.

Jagged Slap is the second project with Joe Morena. Again Joe DJs and has a strong musical background. We have done tracks together for years and decided to start putting them out when I started the label. We always vibe in the studio so again it's a buzz to do. With my own music, I will look to write an album in the near future. It is tricky finding the time to do everything, so I'll just see how things progress. I have been working on a downtempo mix album as well.

The Prodigy was what brought you to public attention as the biggest rave act ever to exist. But previous to that where do your musical roots lie?

I started DJing at 16, playing hip hop and rare groove, but before that I was into electro and breakdancing. There was also the mod days and ska, and my older sisters were punks so I had a good education in music.

Getting recognised as a dancer in a group is a rare feat. Most of the attention in dance music is focused on the DJs, producers and MCs, even though the whole point of the scene is to escape the world for a little weekend rave up. Do you think bringing this element back to the front of live performances could help benefit the music?

I don't know. A lot of clubs still have dancers and I think it's great to have that connection with the people in the crowd. Maybe it would allow a few more electronic bands to breakout of the club scene, as there is more of a visual element for the crowd. It's hard to say.

The label you have set up, Electric Tastebuds, takes in elements from a multitude of genres including breaks, electro and house, although it appears to be more geared towards the nu skool breaks crowd. This was nominated for best breakthrough label at Breakspoll this year, which is a great achievement. How do you see the label developing and what sort of things do you have in store for us over the coming months?

My main aim is to continue enjoying it. I don't want to try and run before I can walk. I feel that at the moment the label is a manageable size and I'm happy with the artists who are onboard. Of course I would like to continue expanding, but it's hard enough trying to get back what you invest as it is. So it will be a slow process, but onwards and hopefully upwards.

I'm currently finishing the Tasty Episode, A Double Helping mix. It's all the album tracks mixed together with some new material from some of the artists as well, and I've mashed up loads of beats and extra riffs in there as well.

On the label's website www.electrictastebuds.co.uk you talk about the artist's dependence on major labels being in decline, and the digital music revolution making it easier for artists to release music they want to make. What do you feel are the pros and cons of this situation?

I feel the digital era lets people who would never get exposure for their music get it out for people to experience, which to me is the object of creative people, whatever field they work in. I have seen acts that have been signed by an A&R guy with a great album, then making the second album the sound has evolved and this one guy doesnt like it, so the act are dropped. The music was never put out. So I like the freedom it brings.

Don't get me wrong the digital world has also damaged the music industry as well and therefore there are fewer majors with the option of backing artists because of the financial situation caused by downloading. And I think there will be less chance of credible acts making it big mainstream. If you do get the backing of a major label then there are more people behind you and this will help you. I just feel you have to accept that things have changed and do what suits what you're doing.

There are a lot of people in the same situation now, starting labels and making their own productions. What is the best piece of advice you can give to the people just getting started?

Enjoy it, be patient, stay grounded, take advice and criticism, believe in yourself. Set realistic goals.

You’ve been extremely busy as a globetrotting DJ during your musical career, and have done a great job at pushing breaks in different parts of the world. But we all know your sets are much deeper than that, so how would you describe your style at the moment, and how has it developed over the years?

I think it's hard to put a style to it. I just like dynamics when I play. I like to take it up and down, stop tracks and build it up again. I think one continuous mix can be boring sometimes if the tunes are not dynamic enough, especially with a four four drum. I like different styles of music so I like to throw in some rock bootlegs, hip hop vocals. If it's in the right tempo range most music can be mixed together.

Staying within the breaks scene and aside from the guys signed up to Electric Tastebuds, who are the artists that you can’t do without in your DJ sets?

There are loads of great acts out there and we need one to break through mainstream. Stanton Warriors , Plump DJs, Atomic Hooligan, Drumattic Twins, Rico Tubbs, Napt, Beat Assassins: these guys all rock.

The 00s have seen some major changes in dance music, and because of the digital music revolution mentioned before there is a whole network of sounds and technologies that are available to the modern DJ. Where do you see things going from here, technology and style wise, as we enter the next decade?

The technology will continue to take things forward with new sounds and fx being created. Musical styles will always go round in circles with elements all being mixed together to form another genre. I'm down with the progress, but when I DJ I'm still a bit oldschool. I don't like the idea of having my face in a computer while I'm playing. Music is like everything else, it needs to evolve! Older technology is still there to use - it's about preference. At the end of the day it's all about who is controlling the technology and what they do with it. By way of example, see what Liam Howlett does.

Leeroy, it’s been a pleasure for thisisbreaks.com to get an insight into what goes on in your world. As a final word is there anything you would like to say, or mention, to our readers and your followers?

Live life, and always remember to leash your camel ... or it will be gone when you wake up.

Tasty Episode 1 is out now on Electric Tastebuds. You can catch Leeroy on tour at Fuori Orario Reggio, Emilia, Italy on 28th Nov and a Smash Hifi party at Dampfzentrale, Bern, Switzerland on 5th Dec, with more dates to follow.

Leeroy has also been kind enough to give us his track 80s Child from the label's back catalogue for you to check out. Download it free here.