Interview: Peverelist

Taking Livities: Adam Burrows speaks to Tom Ford aka Peverelist.

Let’s deal with the name first. Peverelist is short for Hatfield Peverel Junglist Massive, a mouthful that sums up Tom Ford’s origins. “Jungle was the big sound in my formative years,” he explains. “It’s definitely still an influence on my music although maybe not in an overt way.” Hatfield Peverel, meanwhile, was his original home town in Essex: “I moved to Bristol when I was 18…although I didn’t really get involved directly until I started working at Rooted Records around 2000.”

Rooted – the Gloucester Road vinyl store Tom managed until it closed in 2010 – was the centre of Bristol’s dubstep scene, a tight-knit group of producers who adopted the South London sound and made it their own. Tom was one of the most talented, and early Peverelist productions like Roll With The Punches and Circling (with Appleblim) became classics as the sound went international. Soon Tom was in demand around the world, playing subtle, creative DJ sets crossing dubstep with techno.

Most early Peverelist tracks came out on Tom’s own label Punch Drunk, which built arguably the strongest roster of home-grown artists this city’s ever seen. Guido, RSD, Hodge, Bass Clef, Kahn, Ekoplekz: all had strong Bristol ties and distinctive visions of where music should go. Was documenting his community important to Tom?

“That’s what the mission of the label was really,” he says, “capturing some of the things that were happening in the city and bringing it all together. It was diverse but it worked. If you know the city you can join the dots.” The label’s on hiatus now: “In a way it served its purpose. When I started it there were very limited outlets for Bristol producers. Since then everything has changed and there’s a plethora of really great labels just in Bristol releasing amazing dance music. I’d like to think Punch Drunk helped open the door…”

These days Tom’s main focus is Livity Sound, the label he started with Kowton and Asusu in 2011. While individual tracks are credited to specific producers, there’s a shared mentality and aesthetic that runs through everything they do.

“It’s a label, it’s a collective and above all it’s an idea – our vision of dance music,” says Tom. Techno, dub, grime and house are all fed into the Livity grinder, and what comes out is equally at home at a soundsystem dance or a house party. For evidence check out Pev’s 12inch Undulate / Grit, released on November 13.

Their live shows are a revelation, and while Tom describes the tangle of drum machines, FX boxes and cables as “a nightmare” he clearly thinks it’s been worthwhile: “It’s good to introduce that bit of extra chaos. We’d never be quite sure what was going to happen and I think that’s what gave it a vibe.” While it will be a DJ set rather than a live show, Tom promises “the full Livity Sound sonic experience” when Pev and Asusu appear at The Lantern this month as the support act for maverick, leftfield U.S producer Laurel Halo. Is Tom a fan of hers? “Yeah, the new record sounds great,” he says, “very fluid and mesmeric.”

While Livity Sound is strictly an outlet for its three members, its sister label – Dnuos Ytivil – was set up to release music by kindred spirits. “Obviously it needs to be good,” Tom explains, “but it also has to resonate with what I’m into and what the label is trying to do. Genre tags aren’t relevant to me. I’m looking for the right vibe. It’s unquantifiable but I know it when I hear it.” Whether DJing, producing or running record labels Pev’s musical vision is always progressive. “I’m trying to forge new narratives in dance music,” he says, “building on what’s gone before rather than imitating it.” We can’t wait to hear where it takes him next.

Laurel Halo with Peverelist & Asusu (Livity Sound) is at The Lantern on November 27. Pre-order Undulate / Grit now at peverelist.bandcamp.com