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Fresh off a sold-out show at Fabric in London, we caught up with Bristol born DJ and producer Laurence Guy to get an exclusive insight into his new album ‘Living Like There’s No Tomorrow But Killing Yourself In The Process’.

Beth: I’ve been listening to your album, it’s very very good. It’s somehow relaxing, but very haunting at the same time.

Laurence: Yeah, that’s a good way to describe it, to be fair. It’s kind of almost like cathartic making it, but that also means it’s fairly emotional at the same time. Comforting, but also a little bit melancholy.

Beth: Yeah. It’s sort of familiarly disconcerting, like a walk home in the dark. Is that how it feels releasing new music? This is your second album, right?

Laurence: It’s the second album. I released one in 2017. I’m feeling good – it’s been done for quite a while, about a year. It’s taken quite a long time to find the right label, and find the right way to release it, but I’m really excited to get it out there. It still feels just as relevant to me as it did when I made it.

Beth: When you’re talking about finding the right label, and finding the right way to release it, what hurdles did you have with that?

Laurence: We just had different deals set up that didn’t work out, and then we decided to go with The Orchard, because we saw ourselves releasing it with some backing from a label. Fairer split of the royalties, and you get a bit more autonomy on how you do it and stuff like that. It’s a really nice way to release it. 

Beth: I’ve always been very much in awe of people who are able to encapsulate feelings through music alone, without lyrics. So can you explain to me a bit about your process?

Laurence: It’s something that I’ve done since I was like thirteen, so it’s sort of like a private coping mechanism that I’ve created to deal with everything. I was never really very good at expressing my emotions, or talking in general, so I had to find some kind of outlet to do that, and through the years, music’s been the way to do it, really. So, I would probably be more honest and authentic through music than I would be in day to day life, really. I find it quite hard to talk about things, so I put all of that into my music. Now, because I’ve been doing it for so long, it’s a direct link between what I’m thinking, how I’m feeling, and what comes out. I don’t really have to think about it anymore. It’s not a conscious thing of ‘I feel sad, I’m going to write a sad song’, it’s more just like however I’m feeling and whatever’s happening at the moment I make it just comes straight out in how it sounds naturally.

Beth: You say you’ve been doing it since you were thirteen, have you been into making music since then?

Laurence: I started really young, when I was about twelve, on a really basic programme called Fruity Loops. I was really into drum and bass and dubstep back then – that was the big thing when I was at school. I just never stopped, it kind of naturally progressed. I was experimenting with that kind of sound, and then I started making more stuff, and as I got more proficient, it was more about expressing emotions. I was DJing a lot at house parties from thirteen to eighteen, and then started to DJ in clubs. I’ve never really thought about doing anything else – luckily it’s working! It’s always been what I wanted to do since forever. I did lots of random jobs in between, obviously. I worked as a gardener, as a labourer, I worked at a factory where you cut chains to different lengths, I worked at DFS warehouse. I worked loads of different warehouses, and then the longest job I had was when I worked at a rock climbing centre – which is something else that I’m really into. I worked in a shop selling climbing equipment.

Beth: Are you into rock climbing in the sense of in a wall or a building, or do you go out on the cliffs?

Laurence: Both, both, yeah.

Beth: Do you find that sort of a therapeutic thing for you as well?

Laurence: Yeah, a hundred percent. It’s kind of the same as music. Anything you can do that gets you into that state where you’re not thinking about anything else is perfect. Climbing and music are really similar. You have to focus completely on what you’re doing – with climbing it’s a bit more like, if you don’t, there’s danger, so you have to concentrate extra hard. Music’s the same thing, it’s just about finding something to take you out of yourself and forget about everything.

Beth: Do you find that being outdoors, being in nature, really helps or are you more of a city guy?

Laurence: Yeah, for sure. Nah, I like being out. Especially if you climb by the sea, you can climb up and be above the sea, it’s one of the best feelings. It’s amazing.

Beth: You’ve DJed here, there and everywhere – do you have any favourite places you’ve been? Places you’d love to go?

Laurence: I think my favourite place to play is probably Australia, I reckon. Perth, specifically. It’s the furthest place I’ve been to DJ, and I did it quite early. Even early on, they were just really receptive, there was a big scene for it out there. Everyone was really welcoming, and it’s just a really nice place. The crowds out there are just more excited and happy that you’re there – they’re just really nice. It felt like home, basically. Australia’s definitely my favourite place to go. 

Beth: Do you have any bucket-list places that you’d really love to perform?

Laurence: America’s the big thing for me at the moment, I really want to go and tour over there. Hopefully, this year. New York, mainly. I think in terms of DJ, New York’s the epicentre of everything. There’s so many legends from there. I’ve been there once, and it’s just an amazing place. It felt like being in a movie – I’d love to perform there.

Word By: Beth Bennett
Photography By: Ryan Jafarzadeh