Trevor Jackson Interview

Trevor Jackson Interview

17 September, 2009
by: Rose

You might not know who Trevor Jackson is, but you will know his work. In 1996 he founded cult label, Output Recordings, and almost singlehandedly sculpted the angular, art school funk aesthetic that still reigns in alternative music today. He signed and produced remixes for The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Tom Vek, CSS, The Gossip and Klaxons, to name a few. Jackson has always resisted categorisation, oscillating in his mastery between post punk, new wave, electro, funk, disco, indie, techno and pretty much everything. His graphic design portfolio is equally impressive, including album covers for Soulwax, Fourtet, Playgroup and The Rapture’s seminal 2004 record Echoes.

I had the pleasure of speaking to him yesterday. He was charming, and staggeringly modest.

So you're being honoured at this Friday's GAG awards?

Yeah, with the OG award. The show's at the Lightbox, I'm really interested to play there actually, I've heard good things about it. And it's a good line-up.

You're obviously something of a production expert. What producers do you most admire?

At the moment I really like erm... who do I like at the moment? God, that's like asking what's your favourite record at the moment.

I know I'm sorry.

No don't apologise...well there's someone called erm, fuck let me think... If you're asking me about the producers who inspired me to make music, well that's a different thing. The term producer has kind of changed a little bit, now a producer can just be one person at a laptop making their own music, back in the day a producer was someone that was producing other people's music and shaping their sound.

Okay then, who influenced you back in the day?

There was a guy called Adrian Sherwood who founded On-U Sound Records, he did awesome Pop Will Eat Itself and Depeche Mode remixes. Then there was Arthur Baker who did some wicked stuff on Tommy Boy Records, like [Soul Sonic Force's single] 'Planet Rock', and he produced for New Order and did loads of electro stuff. And Martin Rushent, oh my God, he produced The Human League, and loads of new wave/new Romantic stuff like Ultravox and Spandau Ballet.

Wow.

Do you prefer producing or touring?

Well I don't do much of either at the moment actually. I don't produce that many bands and I don't tour that much. I mean, I DJ maybe a couple of times a month, and I've never really done a proper tour as such. I like travelling, but I'm not into the whole rock n' roll lifestyle of doing twenty dates in a row, I don't think I could handle it.

And are you still doing your design work as well?

Yes absolutely.

Would you say the design work takes precedence?

It's an equal balance. I'm very fortunate that I make a living doing these things that I love. When I get bored of my music I do my design work, and when I get bored of designing I do music. So I keep myself happy.

Are you designing with anyone at the moment?

Erm, yeah I'm working on a album cover with Chromeo.

And how collaborative is it when you're designing? Do you liaise with the artists in person?

Well, I mean most of the people that I work with are people that I know, so it starts out with friendship, and turns into something else. It's important to have as much communication with the band as you can, to really get into their head as much as possible, and make sure the artwork on the album sleeve reflects the music on the record. I appreciate how important aesthetics are to a band,
and always want to do something which makes them happy.

Are you working on any new music at the moment?

No I'm not. When I closed down Output I decided to take some time out. The music industry at the moment is in such disarray, not least financially. I took a step back and tried to simplify my life in many ways.  I actually moved out of my home. I don't have a home at the moment, I'm just crashing with friends here and there and moving around the world with my laptop and a suitcase. I'm just trying to re-inspire myself. So, I'm working on a few projects yeah, but honestly, work isn't my priority at the moment, it's more a question of trying to find direction and decide what I want to do with my life. Next year I'm going to get back into it and work on a new record. I've got three or four old albums from, like, a decade ago, that I never  finished or released; I want to get stuck into those.

What do you think of the London club scene at the moment?

I think Plastic People is without a doubt the best club in London, if not the UK. It's an amazing venue. And I love the Cave club (at the Buffalo Bar), which is run by The Horrors. It's really refreshing: they play psychedelic music and weird rock and 50s and 60s stuff, and to me that's still really fresh. It's different from a lot of other things that are going on at the moment. But the London club scene in general doesn't inspire me that much, when I play I prefer playing abroad. I guess that's because I've been living in London all my life, and I've been going to these clubs for, like, twenty years, so maybe I'm a bit jaded now, like I've been there, seen it, done it. When you get the chance to travel so much, you realise that we have great clubs and we have great DJs, but not necessarily the best audiences. Having said that, there's a lot of diversity over here which I like, there's a whole dubstep and grime genre that I'm not a part of at all, but I think it's pretty unique to this country, which is exciting.

You've worked with some pretty huge names. How have you maintained relatively anonymous in comparison?

[Taking playful offence] Are you saying nobody knows who I am?

[Backtracking like a shameless sycophant] No I just mean...

...Ha, I'm only joking. Seriously, I've never been in this business for the recognition and fame. I don't actually enjoy that kind of physical attention and all the bullshit that goes with it. I've seen it. I've seen it affect people, and I'm not going to get wrapped up in it. I work for my own reasons, for my own satisfaction, I just want to achieve things that I'm proud of, and that doesn't have anything to do with millions of people liking my work, it's got to do with me liking it, and people that I respect liking it. Being famous isn't interesting, as long as the right people know who I am and what I've done, then I'm happy.  I've been doing this since I was 18, and I've been involved in some really interesting cultural and musical movements, and I'm still doing it. If, earlier on, I'd have blown up and been really big, I don't think I'd still be involved on such a level. I thrive on underground culture, I don't want to be part of the mainstream, I'm far more interested in being subversive and alternative and reactionary. And, you know, once you hit a certain level you can never go back. I've always chosen to work on projects with integrity, rather than being famous and earning loads of money.

I'm going to come and watch you on Friday, I'm reviewing the GAG awards.

Well make sure you come and say hello won't you.

[Grins] I will.


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Rose