James Lavelle: 'On this tour it’s more like a giant mix of everything UNKLE'

“More club-based” than previous endeavours due to what was then possible recording-wise and also, he says, “just where my head was at – it was a way of being creative in that period when there was a lot of uncertainty”, it’s taken him three years to figure out the logistics of presenting Ronin live, but this month he is finally taking it out on the road.

“With the situation that we’re in with practicality of stuff and economics, I wanted to do stuff that was tourable but also have the opportunity to regional stuff that I haven’t been able to do for a long time and be able to re-engage in that way,” the 50-year-old tells The Yorkshire Post via video. “When UNKLE started it was coming from more of a club/DJ sensibility. When I first toured (in 1999) with Psyence Fiction it was with the Scratch Perverts (a turntablist trio); Never, Never Land was as UNKLE sounded with me and (the singer, guitarist and producer) Rich (File); then when we did War Stories we went more into the traditional live performance. I wanted to do something which had a bit more of a foot in the way that I started and that allows me to be quite creative with how you can put a show together.

“If you’re doing a normal band show you’re performing songs in a more traditional way. On this tour it’s more like a giant mix of everything UNKLE coming from this Ronin perspective which was this remix, re-edit kind of headspace. You can have moments where different songs are playing on top of different backing tracks and different instrumentation and you can add and take away. On some of the songs there might be three or four different vocals and other songs weaving in and out.

“It’s quite exciting that you can create this real journey and this unique way of performing songs, and also that it can constantly evolve. It is a band show but you can play around with things and do interesting things with technology, with layering and mixing different elements together.”

Employing the “Ronin sensibility”, the idea is to create “the beginning, middle and end of a club night – something that starts slower and ends up more euphoric”.

“Also there’s a lot of retrospective stuff in there as well, there’s a lot of classics,” he explains, but “unlike shows in that electronic domain...there are more symphonic and guitar Burn My Shadow moments, there’s elements of heavy rock, house and techno and hip-hop and everything in between...it feels like a soundtrack. It’s a collage, it’s sampling. It’s all the stuff I love the way that I’ve grown up with music and culture, but also DJ-ing and the foundation of how the music was made in the first place. The music has not been made as a abnd. There have been times when that has been attempted when we were doing War Stories (in 2007) or Where Did The Night Fall (in 2010), there was a lot more of a core group of people working together on a live element, but essentially it’s always come from this collage.

“The way that it’s made in the studio is not the same as, say, Noel (Gallagher) would if he was writing a song – he would write it on an acoustic (guitar), sing it and then put a band around it. A lot of the time we’re starting with a beat or a sound then you’re building around that, giving to someone to perform on whether that’s a singer or musicians.”

Lavelle’s intention is to create “something that’s fun and hopefully thought-provoking” for a cross-section of people. “A lot of thought has gone into it,” he says. “If you’re a trainspotter I think it’s quite interesting. Also, if you’re just out to have some joy and go out and celebrate; it’s an upbeat, quite joyous thing that I’m trying to do. There’s visuals and lights because it’s not just about the music; it’s about the whole atmosphere that’s being created.”

The tour opens in Leeds, a city with which Lavelle has had a long relationship. “I used to DJ at Back To Basics,” he remembers. “Over the years it’s been a key place in the UK for electronic music, particularly.” In 2017 he staged an UNKLE retrospective exhibition at Leeds Dock.

“One of the things with the places that have chosen (for the tour) is they’re places that I’ve always really liked playing and have had a really good relationship with the audience, particularly in the north of the country. Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, they are places that I’ve played a lot but also where I’ve had quite a lot of relationshisp with artists over the years, from going way back for me to someone like Nightmares on Wax from Leeds who was a big influence on what I was doing. I just recently did something for a documentary about him (George Evelyn).

“Manchester, working with Ian (Brown) and Noel (Gallagher) ​​​​​​​and Doves and Badly Drawn Boy and many others and DJ-ing there many times, the same in Liverpool​​​​​​​. The energy that’s always been in that part of the country for club culture and electronic music. When ​​​​​​​you look at the beginnings of club culture and dance music coming out of the UK, Manchester and Leeds were very key and then obviously with Londo​​​​​​​n. So there’s a lot of good history and great nights out.”

UNKLE: The Ronin Tour starts at Project House, Leeds on October 15. https://linktr.ee/unkleofficial