Being someone's paradise: Leon Vynehall explains how he built 'Rojus'

Leon Vynehall is an artist of distinct talent.

His DJ sets sparkle with vibrance and elation. The first time I saw him play he pulled out one of my all-time favourite records, Oni Ayhun’s ‘OAR003-B’, in the packed-out main room of Manchester’s Store Street venue, creating a moment so special it made me want to immediately run to the hometown we share (Crowborough, East Sussex), tear down the statue of Arthur Conan Doyle and use the materials to erect one of Leon in its place.

His musical output meanwhile is singularly creative. It’s not attached to any trends. Instead, he operates within a deeply personal sphere, working influence from experiences spanning his lifetime and old-skool records picked up from charity shops into beautifully crafted productions.

Take 2014’s ‘Music For The Uninvited’ on 3024, which is a record drenched in nostalgia, drawing upon the music his mother would play him as a child, and featuring references to 1988 Nintendo games and samples from 1989 ballroom documentary Voguing: The Message.

Yet among the emotional fragility 'Music For...' also retained a strong dancefloor focus, with ‘It’s Just (House of Dupree)’ and its swelling synths proving to be among the most popular club tracks of the year. The overall result was a release that connected as closely with people’s hearts at home as it did with their feet in the club, and one that launched Leon firmly into the spotlight.

Despite the widespread acclaim, Leon has been reluctant to refer to the record as an album, instead labelling it as a “mini-LP” or “double-EP”. His next outing follows the same path. Titled ‘Rojus’, it’s an eight-track release conceptualised around a perceived similarity between the courtship rituals of birds and strangers’ attempts to attract each other through dancing in the club, and sequenced to reflect the energy of a night from doors to close (read the full explanation here).

There’s less personal weight attached this time, but a similar depth of thought extended to his work beyond the beats is apparent through vivid imagery and feeling conjured across its 48-minute runtime. Before ‘Rojus’ arrives on Running Back on April 1, we had Leon talks us through the release.

Exclusive Q+A and premiere of new track ‘Beau Sovereign’ below

You’ve explained the 'Rojus' concept as stemming from an observation of the “similarities between birds' attempts to captivate and impress the opposite sex with dance, and the way strangers try to attract one another in clubs." Does the music of ‘Rojus’ incorporate the whole story of a club night, or is it just designed to be the soundtrack?

Not consciously, but you could argue that a certain degree of storytelling is done inherently via the music’s dynamics, textures and temperament. It’s more a musical accompaniment to the narrative, as opposed to the narrative itself. I do hope that listeners can incorporate their own stories into it.

It’s precisely sequenced to be played from start to end to reveal its concept, but each track is “functional club music” in its own right. How dominant is the overall theme to the listening experience?

The record is sequenced as if it were being played in this ‘fictional club’. It’s written to build, peak, and dip, just as music would do over the course of a night. In a musical sense, it was more functional writing for the context it would be played in. More so than some of the tracks on ‘Music For The Uninvited’, for instance. That being said, the songs do link and intertwine as if it were a long player. So, possibly, it’s the best of both worlds for a listener and a DJ.

How was ‘Rojus’ recorded and how did this influence its sound?

Samples of the birds’ calls and habitat informed how a lot of the songs took shape. Percussively, the calls were fun to work with, but I had to be wary of crossing the line between interesting and shit. It can be quite easy to get carried away.

Even the sound of leaves rustling together made for unusual rhythms that complimented my hi-hat patterns in ways I wouldn't have thought previously. Things like that can be subtle, but to take them away would change the impression of a song.

How do the track titles of ‘Rojus’ and their order reflect the concept?

In some way or another, they are all related to either birds of paradise names, or with the image of ‘paradise’. The ellipsis’ on the first and last track are there to make a sentence ('Beyond This...' and '...There is you'). It plays with the romantic notion of someone being another’s ‘paradise’, their ‘Rojus’.

You’ve been against referring to ‘MFTU’ and now ‘Rojus’ as albums. What do you see as the main difference between these conceptual releases and what you would consider to be an album? What should an album represent that these don’t?

This is something I’ve been asked a lot, and to be frank, I don’t know exactly know. It’s just a feeling I have about a release. I don’t feel quite comfortable yet saying anything I’ve done is an ‘album’, yet I’m unsure about what would constitute it to be one. The releases lie in limbo. I see them more as ‘pieces’, whatever that means.

The concept behind ‘MFTU’ was based on tapes your mum played on your car rides to school as a child. In your Boiler Room interview you mentioned your mum’s nickname is Bird. Is the Birds of Paradise concept behind ‘Rojus’ a continued nod to her influence or just coincidence?

No, but thanks for flagging that up. I’ll tell her it is and get some ‘good son points’, even though it had never crossed my mind…

Have you considered making video accompaniments to your music?

I have, and there are projects I'm working on which will incorporate film. I can’t say much more than that right now.

You’re not really attached to any specific scene which makes your releases quite timeless in a way, but you’ve also spoken before about seeing your music as ‘timestamps’. Do you mean that in a personal sense?

Yeah, that's purely personal to me. By timestamps, I mean I can listen back to something I’ve done and remember when and where I was, what was going on in my life at the time, and who I was as a person. I think it's healthy to document growth and look back and appreciate where and how far you have come, or how far you feel you have to go, whether that be professionally or as a person. I'm a firm believer that music as a creative process can be a tool to finding out things about yourself.

You’ve been producing and co-writing tracks with LA Priest and you produced Formation’s EP and album, what’s it like working behind the controls for these acts?

It’s a different process for sure. Most obviously is that it’s a totally different way of writing compared to my own material. There are different things to think about in terms of arrangement and melody. You’ve also got other people to think about other than yourself. It’s not my baby, I’m there to facilitate their artistic vision, ideas, sounds and push people forward. I understand that I’m asked to be involved in projects because of a ‘sound’ people associate to me, or because of my style of song writing, but at the end of the day my name is not on the front of the record. It would be arrogant of me to completely drench my aesthetic over someone else’s music.

How does it differ from collaborating with A1 Bassline as Laszlo Dancehall?

Drastically. LZD came about because of mine and Christian’s friendship and mutual music tastes. It’s a lot more ‘casual’ than sitting at the helm of a console while a band look on waiting for you to direct, record and produce them. With Christian, we usually just get a bottle of bourbon and attempt to write 3 songs in 3 days.

Do you have a background playing in bands/guitar music? If so, does this feed into your solo production now? I find your drums sound quite organic despite their programming.

Yeah I do, and I would say that it does. More the sound palette then anything I think. Super synthetic sounds never got me going (with some exceptions). I’m quite tired of hearing a 909 on everything. It’s beginning to feel throw-away for me, which is a shame. A growing number of new music just heads straight for the ‘meat & veg’. Where's the paprika at, man?

You’ve spoken before about going in blind and buying records from charity shops. How often do these buys appear in your DJ sets? I find the idea of ‘discarded’ music from one person being played for and enjoyed by a likely younger generation quite romantic.

They can do, but when I’m in charity shops picking out records, its usually with the intent of sampling, and more often than not they make it into songs. Almost feels like a musical rebirth. Who knows, maybe in 50 years time someone will sample my music and the cycle will continue? That definitely feels sentimental.

'Rojus' is out on Running Back on April 1. Leon celebrates with a launch party at Mick's Garage in London on March 25

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter