Graham 'Greymatter' Luckhurst's inclusive and progressive musical palette has seen him take in a sprawling and varied catalogue of music over the years. He has listened to just about anything and everything he could get his hands on, from happy hardcore to jazz fusion.

Having no friends at school who shared his fanatical interest in music, Luckhurst's broad musical taste is perhaps in part down to his auto-didactic path, exploring anything that took his fancy - something that still remains with him today: "I dig and listen to absolutely anything, from 80s bossa to drone or funky and garage," he explains.

Greymatter's forthcoming Mind Over Matter LP, which is to be released on his own Unique Uncut imprint, showcases brilliantly the breadth and depth of these musical interests. Taking in elements of everything from funk and soul to house and techno, the album is tied together by the recurring touchstones of hip hop, jazz and jungle, which provide the backbone to the whole album, and what he describes as "an element of dubby soul."

Jumping from the jungle indebted Raw Root to the raw baile funk of Eu Fumo to the dystopian future hip hop of Essay, Mind Over Matter is bubbling over with ideas and influences that pull together to form a chaotic and enthralling picture of Luckhurst's musical mind, constantly pulling you in different directions and never giving your mind time to wander.

Forging his own musical path, it has been a natural progression for Luckhurst to get to where he is now from music lover and consumer to producer, DJ and record label owner. "It was step by step for me", he explains. "First I started buying music, then I wanted to do something with it so I started DJing, then I wanted to make it so I moved into production, and then I wanted to release it so I moved into record labels. It was a very natural progression for me. It was literally step by step by step."

However, with no formal musical training to speak of, it has been somewhat of an exploratory experience for Luckhurst trying to condense his love of music into one musical entity and to then to realize it. Taking a love of sampling from years of listening to hip hop and an ongoing vinyl addiction, samples often form the starting point for the creative process:

"I try and get some hooks and a vibe down and then replay or recreate as much as possible and take the samples back out. Chord progressions and stuff like that I like to take because I can't play particularly well. You get surprises when you do that; you don't know what is going to come out. I like that aspect of it."

After retracting as many of the samples as possible, the organic sound that is audible throughout the album is largely down to Luckhurst's incorporation of live instrumentation.

"As time goes on I'm moving more over to hardware," he explains. "Initially it was Cubase, just a sequencer and a couple of VSTs, but as time moves on I'm moving over to outboard stuff. I prefer the live feel. A lot of it is just live automation recorded in single takes or just a couple of takes."

This is something that he is looking to expand and continue to implement in his music more because as he feels, "The tracks that I write with that human element are the ones that stand out."

In fact, Greymatter has already started work on his second album. "I am pretty much half way through the next one, so it should be out in winter. It is jazzier and there is going to be a bit more live instrumentation on it, which I am using session players for.

"Ultimately it basically stems from jazz-fusion like Gary Barnes, Larry Young, guys like that, who really got the sonics bang on for me. A mix between traditional jazz and the electronic side of it with the Moogs and the Arps and all the extra synths. I suppose it is sort of my version of that... but I'm not a jazz player."

Better not sleep on this then...

 

Words: Sam Collenette

 

 

Mind Over Matter will be out on Unique Uncut on 17th February and will be limited to a run of 1000 CDs.

The launch party for the album is at Life on Friday 19th February with sets from Greymatter, Alexander Nut and Illum Sphere.

 

 

You can download this TRG remix of Believe In Something ft. Heidi Vogel but don't hang around as it's only available for two weeks...

• Greymatter

Related Links:

• Introducing: Klic
• Matter To Close
• Diamond Eye Releases Moments in Life LP
• Uprooted: Roni Size and New Forms
• Commix Interview

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