inthemix | International News | Steve Lawler revisits the "dark drums"

Once upon a time, Steve Lawler was know for the deep, dark tribal rhythms that pervaded his sets, and for a sexy sense of rhythmic percussion among the house beats. As fans will no doubt know, he’s moved on from that sound since then, intent on avoiding being pigeonholed as a ‘tribal’ DJ. However, with Lawler preparing to commence an Australian tour next weekend, fans would have noticed a distinct percussive edge that’s begun to show up in his sets. What’s the go, have the “dark drums” made a return?

“I’ve always been turned on by percussion and drums,” Lawler told ITM last week. “Groove and rhythm moves me way more that anything else in electronic music. Some people like melody, some people like songs; but for me it’s rhythm, that’s what I’m drawn to in electronic music and that’s been the same since day one.”

Earlier in his career Lawler was placed as one of the pioneers of the tribal sound, along with his US counterpart Danny Tenaglia, but he says the sound eventually became diluted when everybody was having a go at producing tribal. “What tends to happen in a situation like that is the quality levels drop, and you end up getting music that’s just not as good… and that’s when I don’t play it. I’m looking for a certain thing in music, something that feels right, organic and natural… So that’s when I moved onto a different sound.”

Recently though, the “dark drums” have began to resurface in his sets, and Lawler confirms the sexy percussive sounds are back, this time with a distinct South American slant. “I was finding these really obscure tracks on vinyl, being sent to me by labels I’d never heard of before, and it was an obvious choice for me. And now in 2010, it’s kinda the big thing again and I have had a lot of comments in the past few months, am I going back to tribal? My answer to that is, ‘not really’. There’s just some amazing music being produced out there.”

Stay tuned for ITM’s full-length feature with Steve Lawler, and catch him at the following shows across the country:

Fri 19th Feb – Brown Alley, Melbourne
Sat 20th Feb – Playground Weekender, Sydney
Sat 20th Feb – The Arthouse, Sydney