Steve Lamacq - DJ, BBC Radio One & Journalist, Summer 2001
By: Toby L
A year and a half ago, an email was received at BBC Radio One. Its contents were composed by a 14-year old music fan who wanted clues on how to break into the industry, with the subject-header of the message reading, 'Young Journalist Seeking Help!' That desperate wannabe writer was me. The DJ that received this plea for 'help' was Steve Lamacq.
Steve's reply read, 'Respect for your enthusiasm, but you don't have to shout the loudest to be heard... This may sound a bit weird, but we get a lot of emails like yours, and the way to stand out from the crowd is to get some experience and then launch a guerrilla attack. I've spent ages learning the politics of the business and it's a bloody minefield.' Little did Mr Lamacq know that these few words he sent on to me would go on to form the whole way I perceived the industry - and how I wanted to get in on the act. However, there's a question which hovers over this whole affair: why choose this man for advice over everybody else? The response is luckily simple.
After spending years writing for his own fanzine, 'A Pack of Lies', and working his way through high-level positions throughout some of the UK's most popular music publications, Steve, inspired by a spell of DJ-ing on a pirate radio-station, then went on to host the 'Evening Session' on Radio One almost every weekday evening. And he's still there: managing to gain an audience of millions and opening up ears for the best in alternative rock, indie, hip hop, dance, electronica and anything else that's worth valuable air-time.
The objective today, in cosy pub The Ship, W1 London, is to find out even more about the industry, according to a man that has viewed sights others will never see. Last year gave Lamacq a chance to focus his mind on an autobiography of his years in the music-industry. Entitled 'Going Deaf For A Living', the book covers the full range of musical styles that took over the UK from the early 80s up to the present day, and is packed with as much an insight on to the key occurrences within Steve's career as it is with the emotions that every music fan will be able to identify with. Told with a self-assured sense of humour and earnestness, he reveals where he went wrong in his career, and also delivers some genuine laugh-out-loud reading moments. It's not just a story about a man and his music; it's also an account on you, me and our music.
'One of the weirdest by-products of the book,' speaks Steve, cracking open a fresh packet of cigarettes and displaying a gleam in his eye that indicates he's about to reveal something that really interests him, 'Was that I got a call from a mate of mine called Lee. He used to write for my fanzine, and he said, 'I've got a mate and he's just read your book - do you fancy going out for a drink (with him)?' Well, it turned out to be the drummer from The Lurkers (a quintessential Lamacq favourite)!
'So I went out for a drink with this guy and he was like, halfway through a conversation, 'Hmm, I've read your book,' and he pulled out one of the original Lurkers badges I never got sent. Then he said, 'It's twenty-three years old, this; there you go,' and he gave it to me; I thought I was going to faint!'
Clearly, this isn't the sound of a man that has become jaded by his volatile surroundings - yes, he still buys records, still attends gigs and the music is still his paramount interest after over twelve years in the music-world. This may sound standard to some, but those in the know will realise that to remain in a talent-spotting position for so long whilst being able to carry on with the same enthusiasm and thirst, which he originally started with, is a rare feat. And this is why he's still the biggest and the best when it comes to foreseeing popular trends and supporting gifted musicians.
The UK music press is revered (rightfully) as a media-platform which is so cruel that even the egg-man, John Prescott, would weep at some of the slagging-offs that British journos write about up and coming bands. How does Steve feel on it, having been involved in journalism during various spells..?
'Some of the music press in this country feels quite old; it doesn't feel like it's talking to me as a youngster,' Steve comments on thoughtfully, putting himself into the mindset of the record-buying teenager, before returning to character. 'I disagree that the music press has the ultimate power (to make or break bands); up to about two years ago, they could crucify bands and make them really struggle, but, these days, if you get crucified or ignored by the press, it's not necessarily the end of your career.
'Marking systems have always been weird in the music press. When I was working at 'Select' (once popular UK magazine, now defunct), I had a bust-up with all of the freelance writers ... well, not a bust-up, but I eventually got frustrated with them coming in and saying, 'This album's worth four out of five'. I had to say, 'Look, let's put this into some context - this from now on is supposed to be the scoring system: five out of five means that every reader should buy this, it goes across all genres; four out of five is the best thing in this album's genre at the time. A good record - that's pretty good in its genre - is a three. Let's just say then, for example, Nirvana's 'Nevermind' is a five, and maybe a Dinosaur Jr record comes in at a four.'
'However, all this didn't stop anything and, the next month, somebody came in and gave us a review of Cows, the new album on Subpop, who had rewarded it five!' Suddenly, it all goes a bit spooky, as Steve appears to have a conversation with an invisible journalist that he had to work with in the past... 'He was like, 'All right then, I'll knock it down to four,' but it was us saying, 'No; more like, knock it down to three! It's not even the best in its genre; it's just the best one you've had this month!
'There is just no context with the way some people have graded albums. I'm a huge fan of context because you have to look at the bigger picture and what people want.
'It's nice on the programme ('Evening Session' and 'Lamacq Live') that we have people who specialise in different music, but, at the same time, you have to point out to them that it's not just their genre which we're catering for. Even if they do specialise in just one thing, be it, whatever, something like American punk, they've still got to look at all of the other things that are going on as you have to weigh up what's happening, because, otherwise, it would just come down to me to work out what we should play on the show.'
Straying on to backing new acts - something that radio often tries and fails to do - Lamacq has no doubt played an important part in many bands' start-ups to fame, with his endorsement on someone's record almost enough to guarantee a bright future. Although, every now and then, we all make the odd mistake here and there, accidentally proclaiming one new act to be the saviours of rock, when they've actually got more chance making a better lifestyle for themselves out of selling candy rock on a coastal seaside resort. However, by the vast majority, Steve Lamacq has tipped many names for the top and that's been the very next stop on their train-journey to international stardom.
'The odd thing is when you get sometimes pilloried for being 'part of the norm', even when the bands that you championed were out of the common loop at the time,' notes the pondering disc jockey. 'When we first started championing Idlewild, it was during Britpop - and they weren't a Britpop band! We even pushed Coldplay when they were unsigned - and then you get people saying, 'Oh, they only play safe stuff on the show like Coldplay,' but they weren't safe when they started!
'When I was 14 or 15, I had no clue whatsoever on the way that the music-industry worked; I lived in blissful ignorance! Bands would come and go and you would ask, 'I wonder why that didn't work out,' and you just had no idea why they'd split up, even if it was because they didn't work in America, the band weren't a priority, the A&R man got sacked... It was a brilliant naivety to have because it didn't matter then and you could make your choices purely on what you liked or what your mates liked or something. Even now I try and retain that feeling. 'However, when you figure out what songs to put into the show, you have to think about who's backing it, how it's going to be marketed and everything... You want to just champion records that can get to people, but, at the same time, you also want to play records by people that are probably only pressing up about 1,000 copies of their track. These days, however, teenagers and record-buyers know a lot more about the way the music-industry works than my era did, or even those that grow up in the early 90s. I think it's good that people know about the industry; I mean, knowledge is power, you should know your enemy, you should know how it works, but not at the expense of losing that pure enthusiasm for liking any sort of record.
'In regards to receiving demos, you build up an instinct for the music that you think the listeners will like and things that are really worth running with as opposed to things that are just there and OK. We get plugged relentlessly by all the major labels and all the independent pluggers with stuff which is all right, but that's it. I wrote down a list of records - including all the records that had been plugged to us, all the ones I wanted to play and the records that deserved to be played on the show - and I had 132 records! We get something like 60 records on air a week, which means it's at the stage where you're only able to play a third of the records you've got! You have to work with the process of choosing the best ones, which ones you're going to run with and it's a long process.'
And, on from pioneering specific acts, to, er, pioneering music scenes... At the moment, it's hardly been a secret that good, ole' New York is signalled as the place to be in - as we're led to believe by the media - what with an exciting array of acts emerging from the city that never sleeps.
'I think the records individually are good, but, at the same time, when I went to the States at the end of February, there were people in New York that had never heard of The Strokes,' Steve observes. 'They specifically are only now beginning to find a foothold in the States. I think that The Strokes' stuff is amazing, though and I quite fancy a skinny tie revival!
'Obviously, you can write about bands in different ways; you can write them up, or you can write them down. So, if people didn't like The Strokes, they could have just said that they're rich kids playing rock 'n' roll - and there's nothing wrong with that for me, because 'New York City Cops' by them is one of my favourite records.
'It was a similar thing with The Sugarcubes (cult Icelandic act),' Steve mentions, finding a parallel of the past to compare with the modern example that's currently being discussed. 'Everyone was saying 'aren't they cute, aren't they bonkers' and all that, but Einar (member of the group) went to college around here; he's not 'bonkers' at all! He's very well educated and travels a lot! In that way, I can see how things get twisted around... I mean, the New York stuff is good, but it's not as big as people would have you believe.'
A variation in 'boss tunage' is what you can anticipate on lending an ear to on the 'Evening Session', as previously expressed, but does the man behind it actually really like all of what's played?
'People quite often say to me, 'How can you like that music and like that as well,' as if I have to choose just one or the other. I like so many different types of music now. I find myself in these odd arguments where, for example, I went to the Deconstruction show recently (gathering of heavier guitar bands) and you get people that ask, 'How can you like Starsailor,' and 'How can you say the new Travis record is a good record?' I'm just like, 'Well, it is!' However, I understand the time where you end up fighting a corner because you love that corner so much where certain other music goes by the wayside really because you're so passionate about that one type... The pop music fan's search for justice makes you sometimes more introspective about the music you like - and more protective towards the music you like.
'It's like you see a band and you don't think that they're very good and then you can catch up with them eighteen months later and they're brilliant! Through that sort of thing, I've learnt to be more adaptable and flexible on my opinions on bands.'
It's this source of wisdom - which is often not revealed about Steve Lamacq - that makes you understand how he's got to where he is today. So, being such a high profile type of guy, surely it's the case where he crashes out at Madonna's for a couple of nights, only before going on holiday with his old chums Thom Yorke and Michael Stipe, right?
'Sorry, but I don't go, 'Yeah, going round to Damon Albarn's tonight; then we're going out if he can find a babysitter,' because it's just not like that! I don't just hang out with pop stars like people assume I do - in the same way that I don't hang out with Colchester Utd (his footballing pride and joy), because what can you say to them?!'
I've got some things that I could say to them, but let's not lower the tone of an otherwise sprightly and spiffing article, OK? However, before parting - 2001: A Musical Odyssey?
'I'm optimistic about the music for this year, so long as we can hold it together; it's brilliant that there are so many different sorts of music you can get into at the moment and there is so much great stuff that exists. Cross-fertilisation of different styles means that there's fantastic stuff all over the place and that allows you to know you're going to be continually surprised...
'If you stop getting surprised by what's out there, then there's no point doing it because you soon get bored, which means that you will become boring. My only thing is that sometimes you do find that people section themselves off a little bit too much maybe; you've got to keep your mind open to other sorts of music - even so you know that you don't like it (smiles)!'
As I walk away from The Ship, thoughts - suitably to the pub's name - sail around in my head. Getting involved in the music-industry isn't as easy as you may anticipate; there are people ready to knock you down and make your grope to the greasy pole - where success is located at the top - even less tight. However, by following some of the lessons this man's learnt and has now taught in his book, you can look forward to voyaging forward in the right direction. After all, where's the harm in following a man that continues to broadcast his main passion to listeners all over the world? It almost makes you forgive him for supporting Colchester United.
Artists in this article: Steve Lamacq