Loose lips is a series of interviews hosted by our very own Woodenhorse Provocateur. This is episode 1 in the series and was first aired approximately 6 months ago. We thought to share it on here so any of our listeners who may have missed the original broadcast can catch this essential insight into Justin’s work & influences:
Justin Langlands has been immersed in music from his childhood, initially learning piano and then progressing to drums and later on percussion. He cut his teeth with various bands during his teens, but initially pursued a career in graphic design and whilst following this path Justin started recording in his bedroom and then subsequently progressed into studio engineering and music production. He also made his mark as a DJ whilst working as Art Editor for the NME, starting out in the ‘warehouse party’ scene and rising to prominence as part of the ‘Heavy Duty’ crew, who had a weekly residency in the late eighties at the notorious Wag club in London’s Soho; as well as playing alongside Jerry Dammers (The Specials) at the 3As (Artists Against Apartheid) night in Seven Dials Covent Garden.
Justin went on to form Pressure Drop in 1990 with Heavy Duty DJ partner Dave Henley, carving a niche as critically acclaimed ‘underground dance music pioneers’ and helping to create an influential fusion sound, alongside Massive Attack and others, which became known as ‘trip hop’. Writing, engineering, programming, mixing and producing 5 albums with Pressure Drop he also developed his writing and production skills with a variety of collaborations and numerous remixes, ranging from Courtney Pine to Leftfield, via The Sugarhill Gang and Nitin Sawhney. Alongside his music making he also continued to DJ, travelling all over the world, from Europe to Australia, the USA to Japan.
Today Justin has his own music studio based in central Brighton and continues to compose and produce a variety of projects encompassing production music alongside remixes and independent releases.
Justin co-hosts the Organised Sound show on 1 Brighton FM every 2nd Saturday of the month between 4-6pm.