A name respected and admired equally by breaks-enthusiasts the world over; Lee Coombs is busy preparing himself for his triumphant return to Australian shores. An accomplished DJ, producer and remixer, Coombs has been DJing since the late 80s. He produced his first record in 1991 under the name The Invisible Men, and since then has gone on to release under various guises including The Freakazoids and The Frog Junkies. One of the Fingerlickin’ Records crew, Coombs has established a solid name for himself off the back of his Future Sound of Retro release, heralded by many as a CD that introduced a new era in breakbeat. Tim Hardaker spoke with the man about his history and plans for the future.
With roots that stretch back to the earliest days of the acid house explosion in the late 80s, I was interested to hear who Coombs cited as defining influences over his production and DJing career, “In the early days it was guys like Paul Oakenfold, Andy Wetherill, Todd Terry, the big names that were around at that time.” Going on to joke, “I was really just feeding off the vibe back then, haha!” Coombs still retains strong links to his acid-house past, and it’s without a doubt one of the more remarkable aspects of his unique sound, a sound so distinctive that in 2000, off the back of his acclaimed Future Sound of Retro release, Radio One Essential Mix host Pete Tong went so far as to declare, ‘If this show had an in-house orchestra, it would be Lee Coombs!’ I asked Coombs how he found himself behind the decks all those years ago, “I don’t really know how, I just did! As soon as I heard the music I knew I wanted to DJ.” Going on to describe his affinity with all things syncopated, “I’ve always liked breakbeats, I’ve always done it. But I’m really just into funky music, stuff that people can dance to, and I love electronic funk music.”
Both critics and listeners took a shine to Coombs’ Future Sound of Retro album upon its release in 2001, with the interest sustained all the way through to his follow up mix for Perfecto released last year. On top of his album releases Coombs also has a long list of successful 12”s and remixes on his resume, including a rework of New Order’s Crystal, my personal favourite (which coincidentally Coombs also cites as his best work), “The song I was given, it’s just such a rounded piece of music. It’s exactly the style that I love, so it’s definitely my favourite!” After the success of his various albums, remixes and releases, I was interested to hear if Coombs felt any pressure in following up, “I’ve got to do an artist album for Fingerlickin’ now, and it’s going to take a lot of thought! At the moment I’m doing a lot of collaborations, a lot of remixes, just getting into making really good club music.” Coombs’ DJ sets often bridge the gap between breaks and house, with Coombs’ drawing on his many varied influences to construct a sound that is literally unrivaled, “The crowds go bananas for the sound, I know that in Australia people love their breaks, and there are a lot of ‘breaks purists’ so to speak, but I love to play house music as well as breakbeat, I love to mix it up. You can get a real energy from going between styles, in the UK and the States it’s been going down really well.”
As a proud member of the Fingerlickin’ Records stable (home to Field Day aficionados Plump DJs, Soul of Man and Krafty Kuts), it’s more than likely Coombs has been informed on the somewhat fanatical breaks enthusiasts down under. Having now had the chance to experience it for himself on a number of occasions, I asked him for his thoughts on the state of breakbeat in Australia, “It’s a really vibrant scene you’ve got going on out there. Last time I was out I did Two Tribes (2002), and that was massive! It’s always a good atmosphere, I like it a lot. I’ve had good gigs in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, all over the place!”
Lee Coombs national tour dates:
June 6 – Canberra, Babylon
June 7 – Brisbane, Reanimator
June 8 – Sydney, Sounds on Sunday
June 8 – Melbourne, Slinky,
June 13 – Adelaide, Traffic
June 14 – Perth, Ambar
