There are few labels as universally respected as Warp Records. Founded back in 1989, Warp has always released music that would cause raised eyebrows or shaking heads at other, less adventurous labels. Their fearlessness, however, became the foundation of the label, and the name quickly became synonymous with next-generation electronic music.

Since 1989, Warp has released music from Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Autechre, Flying Lotus, Mount Kimbie, Battles, Hudson Mohawke, Kelela, even the noughties' favourite indietronic rock outfit: Maximo Park. The pattern is obvious: innovative, genre-bending artists that don't sound like anyone else.

George Evelyn is perhaps not the best known of these artists, but he's been a mainstay of Warp Records since their second ever release - Dextrous by Nightmares on Wax. Fast forward almost thirty years, and Evelyn has just released the eighth Nightmares On Wax studio album, every single one of them on Warp.

The point? Warp Records has been tirelessly innovating in electronic music for three decades and George Evelyn's productions have soundtracked the journey every step of the way. From the ironically titled debut A Word of Science: The First and Final Chapter to 2018's Shape The Future, Nightmares on Wax have grown and evolved alongside one of the world's most genre-fluid labels, and they've done it without missing a step. We caught up with Evelyn in the early stages of his UK tour:

So, your new album Shape The Future dropped on January 26 on Warp Records, you've done a few nights of the tour now - how is it going so far?

It's been amazing, thank you. It's always a good when you're going on tour and it's already sold out. Me and the whole band have been buzzing about getting to the shows. You know, as with all tours it's all about getting as many shows under your belt as possible. It's like having a good preseason right? You've gotta get match fit.

The band have had a couple of days break, I've been DJing as well in between, we're playing tonight in Dublin and now we've got five shows in a row.

You started with a sold out show at Concorde 2 in Brighton - you've toured a lot before, but do you still get nervous before the start of a new tour?

No I don't actually. It's funny I was having this conversation with one of the band members the other day. I've only ever had butterflies once, and that was a Leeds gig a long, long time ago, back in the late 90s, something like that.

I never get nervous. I do remember one band member on one tour who was like - "how come you always go for a shit before you go on stage?" but that's not been happening this tour. It seems I've overcome that one.

Well, congratulations. 

So, one of the first thing I noticed, going through the tracklist of Shape The Future, is the list of collaborators - people like Jordan Rakei, Allan Kingdom, Andrew Ashong. What drew you to these artists?

Do you know what, each one is kind of different.

Andrew Ashong came out to play at my party in Ibiza called Wax Da Jam and I was like, "if you're gonna come out here why don't you hang out for a few days, stay at my house and we'll get in the studio and mess about?". We ended up doing two songs, one song I'd already written, which was 'Tell My Vision', and we did a track called 'World Inside' which was on an EP from last year. 

Jordan Rakei came out and played at Wax Da Jam as well, at the closing party, and the next day I was doing a barbecue at my house. Him and the band came down sometime in the morning to hang out and literally we were setting up this barbecue for everyone that had been involved in Wax Da Jam and Jordan and his band got in the studio and just played with some beats that I had. They were like "right, we've picked a beat out that we're gonna use" and Jordan wrote the song there and then as I was setting up the barbecue.

Allan Kingdom was through my manager really. We'd done 'Citizen Kane' the original version and we thought it'd be really cool to do like an alternative version with an MC on it. So, I kind of had a vibe with Allan Kindom and then he remotely recorded that, which I was so amazed by because doing remote recordings is not really my thing, but he nailed it. I was super, super happy with that.

 

As you've moved into more of a live band setup, has this opened up doors for collaboration that perhaps aren't there when producing electronically?

To be honest I've been playing in live bands since probably about '96. It's not really a new thing for me, but I would say I'm probably using musicians that are more far and wide now. Before I was using musicans that had either grown up around me or were from Leeds, you know? Now I'm collaborating with people from different parts of the weird, so it's a more expansive side to what I'm doing now. Sebastian Studnitzky is an amazing composer from Berlin; we've got people from America, people from the UK. It's a nice mix. 

So, you're working with Grace Jones's stage and live producer, and her shows are pretty wild - can you talk me through your live setup?

Sure - we've got Dan Bolton on keys, drums I've got Dan Kershaw, vocalists I've got Sadie Walker from the album, LSK, Leigh Stephen Kenny, my homeboy, he's on the album too. Then on some of the shows I've had guest appearances from Moses and also Andrew Ashong as well. 

You've always been someone who blurs the lines between electronic and live music - are there any current artists who you admire for doing similar things?

Wow, umm. Yeah. I've got a lot of respect for Bonobo and what he does and his production. I think he kind of stands out on his own and I really think he's found his path in his music, so I have a lot of respect for him. Jon Hopkins, I've got a lot of respect for. And then, on stateside, a guy who has really taken his vocals to another level, and the way he kind of combines hip hop and soul is Illa J, especially on his latest album, Home. 

And finally - what are you listening to right now?

Illa J again. That's what's been on heavy rotation for me. Also there's a couple of producer friends of mine called Acid Mondays who are doing some amazing stuff as well at the moment. I really love what they're doing on the techno side of things. But as far as album listening goes, I'd say Illa J. That's the shit I'm really pumping.