House producer Laurence Guy tells Danny Turner why his first vocal-based album is the one he always wanted to make
Acclaimed within the contemporary house scene, Laurence Guy’s productions have been praised for their sophisticated fusion of grassroots genres. Received with enthusiasm by clubbers and network radio alike, despite cutting his teeth on the UK rave scene, Guy’s instinctive ability to appeal to mainstream audiences has seen him light up iconic venues such as Printworks, Glastonbury and L’Olympia in Paris.
However, while the house producer’s singles have been heavily oriented towards the dance floor, his two albums to date have shown a far more experimental side. His latest LP, Living Like There’s No Tomorrow, But Killing Yourself In The Process hosts a myriad of vocal collaborations infusing elements of rap, hip-hop and spoken word. By continually questioning what a house producer ‘should’ do, Guy once again pushes his sound into new creative directions.
Living Like There’s No Tomorrow, But Killing Yourself In The Process is a very lengthy and philosophical title. Is it autobiographical?
“It’s definitely autobiographical, but other than the first few tracks pretty much every tune I’ve made has used titles to specifically achieve that. For this album, the phrase itself was going around in my head a lot until it started to make sense. It could mean a few different things, but for me it’s about that line between hedonism and self-destruction. A lot of the things I’ve been doing in my life were under the guise of trying to live it to the fullest, but they were also potentially shortening my life later on. Eventually, I had to question whether being a bit calmer might be a better way to go about living.”
Presumably, you’re referring to the DJ lifestyle?
“Yes, but it could also be applicable to any activity you do to an extreme. You can take anything that may be fun or considered good and turn it into something that’s not so good. In my case, it’s about the whole clubbing lifestyle, staying out every weekend and similar things that I love to do. Every now and then I get hit by the idea that maybe it’s not the best idea to do those things all of the time [laughs]. Making music is a good way for me to balance my brain, which is maybe why my music is, not melancholy, but fairly chilled with a bittersweet sound.”
Do you primarily see the album as a house LP designed for clubs and post-party environments?
“There are a couple of classic house tunes on there, but it’s definitely not a club album, it’s more of an after-party album for people coming back from clubs early in the morning. There are lots of different tracks on it, but they all share a similar ae
