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James Lavelle

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James Lavelle
Lavelle in June 2014
Lavelle in June 2014
Background information
Born (1974-02-22) 22 February 1974 (age 52)
Oxford, England
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Occupations
  • DJ
  • musician
  • record producer
  • songwriter
Years active1990–present
Member ofUnkle

James Lavelle (born 22 February 1974)[1] is an English electronic musician, record label owner and curator. He founded the Mo'Wax record label in 1992, and has been the only constant member of Unkle.

Career

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Lavelle was born and grew up in Oxford.[1] He ran a club night in Oxford called Mo Wax Please while working at Bluebird record store in London.[2] He later moved to London and worked for Honest Jon's and contributed a column to Straight No Chaser.[2]

He founded his own record label Mo' Wax in 1992. The label was not co-founded by Tim Goldsworthy,[3] as is often reported.[4] Mo' Wax released albums by DJ Shadow, Dr. Octagon, and Lavelle's own Unkle project.[5]

Lavelle is a longtime resident at Fabric in London, mixing the inaugural Fabric Live mix album.[6] He has also mixed four DJ mix albums for Global Underground,[7] and soundtracks to the films Sexy Beast[8] and Shelter,[9] and TV series Trust.[10] Lavelle also produced the title track for Queens of the Stone Age's 2013 album ...Like Clockwork.[11]

In 2014 he was asked to direct the Meltdown festival, following in the footsteps of David Bowie, Yoko Ono, and Jarvis Cocker.[12] His lineup included concerts by Josh Homme, Max Richter, Neneh Cherry, Goldie and Mark Lanegan.[13] The event culminated with a live UNKLE:Redux featuring a guest appearance from former member DJ Shadow.[citation needed]

Lavelle later curated the 2016 exhibition "Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick" at Somerset House.[14] He was the subject of 2016 documentary film The Man from Mo'Wax.[15]

Selected discography

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UNKLE

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Mix albums

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Quotes

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  • "I became a DJ because I couldn't breakdance and I was no good at graffiti."[15]
  • "I'm into a whole concept, it's a whole scene. I'm totally involved in it. We cover hip-hop fused music. We want to do this rock hip-hop thing. We are gonna launch a mad hip-hop/thrash fused band, a young Beastie Boys kind of thing. I'm into the total energy of the Beasties and that whole kind of skate thing. I want that energy and total madness surrounding the whole idea."[16]
  • On Mo' Wax: "We put out 200 records in 4 or 5 years, I don’t think I’d ever be able to do that again. I don’t think I could ever work like that again, it was just insane."[17]

References

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  1. 1 2 Gaunt, James (29 March 2020). Making Psyence Fiction. Foxteeth Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-7028-8934-6.
  2. 1 2 Oliver, Mark (10 June 1998). "CV: James Lavelle FOUNDER OF MO WAX RECORDS". The Independent. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  3. ↑ Christopher Tubbs interviews DJ and UNKLE producer James Lavelle, retrieved 25 March 2022
  4. ↑ Kev Geoghegan (13 June 2014). "Meltdown is 'something joyous' says curator James Lavelle". BBC News. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Rosenschein, Jamie Franklin and Ari (7 November 2022). "Label Spotlight: Mo' Wax Records and UNKLE". Roland Articles. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "RA: Resident Advisor - James Lavelle Interview - Feature / Interview". www.residentadvisor.net. 19 September 2002. Archived from the original on 7 September 2006. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  7. ↑ Hawthorn, Carlos (17 September 2015). "Global Underground returns with James Lavelle CD · News ⟋ RA". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "JAMES LAVELLE IN SEXY BEAST SHOCK!". NME. 21 March 2000. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  9. ↑ "James Lavelle's Meltdown 2014 - God Is In The TV". 6 June 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  10. ↑ Trunick, Austin. "Premiere: James Lavelle (UNKLE) - "Theme from Trust (Shadow Beat)"". Under the Radar Magazine. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  11. ↑ Reilly, Nick (7 September 2017). "UNKLE's James Lavelle on working with Josh Homme and Richard Ashcroft, and his new album 'The Road: Part 1'". NME. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  12. ↑ Geoghegan, Kev (13 June 2014). "Meltdown is 'something joyous' says curator James Lavelle". BBC News. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  13. ↑ Cooper, Leonie (24 March 2014). "UNKLE, Neneh Cherry, ESG, Chrissie Hynde, Goldie confirmed for James Lavelle's Meltdown". NME. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "Review: Daydreaming With Stanley Kubrick". Ransom Note. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  15. 1 2 Girou, Baptiste (26 November 2018). "James Lavelle and The Man From Mo'Wax". Inverted Audio. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  16. ↑ "Career Guide for Losers Number 0". www.state51.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 1999. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  17. ↑ skinnymag.co.uk Archived 29 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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