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Back in June 2002, iDJ interviewed Steve Lawler about his double mix CD, ‘Lights Out’, on Global Underground. At the time, he seemed like a man possessed. Four months had been spent in the studio tweaking the album to perfection, and he seemed edgy and highly strung as he prepared for a marathon US tour to support it.
‘Lights Out’ was something of a dark masterpiece and a celebration of the steamier, sleazier side of night life. It had that proper 4am feeling, with techno, tech-house, tribal, electro and breakbeat influences layered on top of the pounding beats. This was music to lose yourself to, as the heat and energy of the smoke-filled dancefloor took control.
On the said tour, venues would be shrouded in black with words and phrases projected onto the walls saying things like ‘Submission’ and ‘Let yourself go’. Deviant sexuality and forbidden pleasure were recurring themes on ‘Lights Out’ and this was not an experience for the faint-hearted. It was all a little bit twisted and Lawler himself was a coiled spring.
Fast forward to late August 2003 and Steve Lawler is a very different man. When we catch up with him in his home town of Birmingham he’s tanned – the joys of an Ibiza residency! – and relaxed, cracking jokes with our photographer and eager to talk about ‘Lights Out 2’. More on the music later, but it’s clear this album was born out of a different attitude to life – it’s celebratory and dynamic rather than intoxicating and claustrophobic.
It’s not that ‘Lights Out’ was a bad album or that a walk on the darker side doesn’t have its place in dance music; far from it, in fact, but that album did represent a difficult and transitionary period in its creator’s life. ‘Lights Out 2’, meanwhile, looks outwards and forward with its big house sound and optimistic vibe. Ask Steve Lawler what he thinks about the problems facing dance music and he’ll say “Crisis? What crisis?â€
