CLUBS

Joker’s much-anticipated debut album arrives this month. Adam Burrows gives the globe-trotting, genre-defying producer a call.

Joker’s always been a wildcard. Ever since 2007’s ‘Gully Brook Lane’ G-funked its way into DJs’ record boxes, the Bristol producer has been so tricky to pin down that people have resorted to words like ‘wonky’, ‘crunkstep’ and – most famously – ‘purple’ to describe him. He’s become one of the most respected producers in the dubstep scene without ever really being a member of it and despite pushing a sound that favours hooks and arrangements over bass and space. “I don’t really deal with genres,” he says. “All that kind of p*sses me off.”

As usual, Joker – aka 22-year-old Liam McLean – is a long way from home. Venue finds him hungover in Japan, touring ahead of the release of his debut album ‘The Vision’. His next gig is “Tokyo, or Osaka – I couldn’t tell you which”, and his last was in Australia. Is he enjoying himself? “It depends,” he says. “I DJ every week anyway, but when I go away for two weeks it feels like a long time. On Tuesday I’m back in the UK for a few days, and then I’m off to America.”

As a child and teenager he also moved around, although admittedly within a much smaller area. “I’ve always been moving. I never really grew up anywhere. As a kid I lived in Easton twice, Speedwell, Lockleaze, St George…” When asked if Bristol has influenced his music, he replies: “It’s helped me keep from getting blocked. If you live in London, there’s a lot of stuff going on, so it’s hard to concentrate.” His main influences came from further afield, though. “The tunes I grew up listening to were mostly from London and America,” he says. “The only local music I knew when I started was friends like Gemmy and Guido, and obviously Roni Size and the Full Cycle thing.” He grew up listening to “grime, R&B, hip-hop, dance music”, and his formative influences were “obvious people like The Neptunes and Timbaland, plus game producers – people who made music for computer games”.

Ah yes, the Megadrive Connection. It’s been there in his synth sounds and melodies from the start, not to mention those pitch-shifted game samples on ‘Snake Eater’ and ‘Retro Racer’ – but just how deep the influence goes is clear from ‘Level 6’, the homage to 16-bit gaming in the middle of the new album. “I think everyone can relate to that in some way,” he says. “I mean who didn’t play Sonic as a kid?”

Joker’s first big break came at the age of 17, when ‘Gully Brook Lane’ was picked up by grime and dubstep don Plastician. “I saw him in a club and asked him for his email address or MSN, and it started from there. He’d be playing for MCs like Skepta, and obviously everyone loves Skepta, so when people heard him on one of my tunes – yeah, I loved it.” His career took off straight away, as a series of stunning tracks from ‘Stuck in the System’ to ‘Purple City’ and ‘Psychedelic Runway’ saw him hailed as one of the UK’s most imaginative young producers. 2009’s ‘Digidesign’, in particular, was unavoidable in the clubs, and its easy, futuristic melodicism saw it sneaking onto the playlists of music fans who’d never been to a grime or dubstep dance. Equal parts sci-fi movie theme and underground bass banger, it was clearly the work of an artist who refused to be pigeonholed.

‘The Vision’ drops in the UK on 7 November, and it’s an impressive showcase of Joker’s range. Radio-friendly dance-pop, quirkily melodic instrumentals and heavyweight club tunes are all there in force – filtered through a virtual reality urban aesthetic that couldn’t have come from the mind of anyone else. “I guess I had a vision when I was making it,” he says of the album’s title, “which didn’t pan out exactly how I wanted it to. It’s a vision of something that only got half done.”

It includes more vocal collaborations than we’ve heard from Joker before, including powerful, emotive turns from Bristol rapper Buggsy (‘Lost’) and R&B singer William Cartwright (‘On My Mind’) that he cites as favourites. “I’ve always worked with singers and MCs,” he says. “I’ve got two mixtapes that nobody’s ever really heard – 35 to 40 tracks with vocalists on them. I’ve been doing it for ages.” Strong as the album is, Joker is modest about his achievements so far. When asked which of his productions he’s proud of, he answers: “I don’t have one yet. I still feel like I’m slacking. I’m far, far away from being happy.” If ‘The Vision’ is the sound of a man who thinks he’s still has a long way to go, how good is he going to be when he gets there?

‘THE VISION’ WAS RELEASED ON 7 NOV ON 4AD RECORDS. JOKER PLAYED BLOC AT MOTION, BRISTOL ON FRI 25 NOV. FFI: WWW.4AD.COM/ARTISTS/JOKER

Copyright Adam Burrows 2011