Top DJ Evermean launches his latest floorfiller this Summer.
Evermean, AKA former Flintshire resident and Wrexham student Luke Meads, spoke to Natalie Jones in the run up to its release.

AS a baby Luke Meads was on the road with his blues musician father and his backing vocalist mother, so it’s no wonder music is in his blood.


Luke was born in Bristol in 1980, and, when not on tour with his parents, he was brought up in two very different parts of the country – London and Mold.
 

Fast forward three decades and Luke is a DJ, working under the name of Evermean (EVM) and has just signed to Meltdown Music Recordings.


“Evermean is a character from the Michael Jackson and Diana Ross version of the Wizard of Oz called The Wiz,” the DJ explained.


“My style... I hate this question.


“It’s hard to answer as today there are so many genres and sub genres.


“I don't like to limit myself to one particular style and I love to experiment.


“I guess it’s an amalgamation of hip hop, jungle, garage, reggae and soul... I call
it raggage!”


As with all children who grow up in a performing household, Luke was surrounded by music.


“At home my dad was always playing John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf, Blues Brothers and was also very much into reggae and jazz so I would steal his Bob
Marley and Glen Miller records,” he said.


“I was given a Pearl drum kit when I was 10 by my dad’s drummer and I would practice in the basement of our house.

"By the time I was 13 I fell in love with hip hop and jungle!


“I would use my dad’s microphones and eight track recorder and layer drum loops into the eight track and make my own hip hop/breakbeat loops.”


Luke left home at 16 and enrolled at Wrexham’s Yale College where he studied art and photography.


By 18 he’d acquired Technics 1210 decks and was buying hip hop, jungle and
garage records.


“It was an absolute addiction and still is although with technology and the internet now I don’t need to buy quite as many which frees up space at home.”


Since then Luke has been living in both Mold and Chester, but is heading back to
the big smoke this month.


But he won’t have time to take in the sights of London – with a new EP, ‘Groove Content’ to promote as well as pushing a brand new project he is going to be busy!


“I’m working with Amy Wilson on a project called Leftclique which has been dubbed ‘junglist soul’,” said Luke.


“I met Amy in Chester when I saw her Motown covers band play, her voice blew me away.


“She’s amazing!


“I basically stole her and she’s moving south too so we can both push our sound and get on the festival circuit as well as local gigs.

“Hopefully by next year we’ll hit the larger stages.”


Luke already has a number of memorable performances, including Roots Manuva’s birthday party in 2009.


“My other most memorable was when I played for MTV in Lithuania in
2008,” he said.


“I played in this big warehouse and played hard jungle and breakbeat.


“The crowd went wild when I dropped some Congo Natty white labels and blew one of the speakers.


“I don’t think they knew what hit them.”


Luke is keen to offer advice to young DJs, but warns them to stay in and learn the craft and “don’t come out until you’re brilliant”.


“That’s probably a bit extreme but you catch my drift,” he said.


“A lot of youth centres now offer DJ courses and music production workshops
so check with your local council and get involved.


“Once you feel your good enough and confident enough record a demo and pass it about to local clubs and bars.


“If it’s production you want to do then get hold of Cubase or Logic for your PC or Mac and once you have your demo ready, pick the record labels you like and that you feel support your style of music and send it to their A&R person,” he added.


With many plans in the pipeline, Luke won’t be slowing down anytime soon, but he has high hopes for the future when he hopes to be respected as a producer, as well as starting his own family.


“By then I would like to be playing the big stages at festivals and clubs all over the world,” he said.


“I believe you have to think big an follow your dreams.
“If you want it enough and focus you can achieve anything.”


? Don’t miss Luke’s (EVM) EP Groove Content which is out July 25 on itunes or
BeatPort as a digital download, it is also available from most independent record stores.