James Lavelle (born 1974 in Oxford, United Kingdom) is a DJ, electronic recording artist and record label boss. Born into a family with a strong tradition of music, Lavelle first began by learning the cello with his grandmother in Oxford.
Music career:
While attending Cherwell Upper School, Lavelle’s music career started at 15 when he ran block parties in Oxford. At only 18 he started the Mo’ Wax label, taking the name from his club night at the time, Mo’ Wax Please. Around the same time he started the That’s How It Is night with Gilles Peterson, which went on to become one of London’s longest running nights.
In 1996 Mo’ Wax released one of electronic music’s most celebrated albums, DJ Shadow’s seminal Endtroducing… Soon after this Lavelle started work on an album with DJ Shadow under the name UNKLE. The resulting release Psyence Fiction featured collaborations with Richard Ashcroft, Mike D, Badly Drawn Boy and Thom Yorke. In 2003, he released a follow up to Psyence Fiction, titled Never, Never, Land, though this album saw DJ Shadow replaced by Richard File as the second full time member of UNKLE. It featured collaborations with 3D of Massive Attack and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age among others.
He is a long time resident at Fabric in London, mixing the inaugural Fabric Live mix album.He has also mixed three progressive house albums for Global Underground.
He has produced a number of film soundtracks, including Sexy Beast. Also an in demand remixer, he has reworked tracks by Garbage, The Verve, Beck and Massive Attack.
