Liverpool-born house producer Tony Lionni is on the cusp of releasing his second album, Just A Little More, and it’s more soulful and impactful than anything he’s ever done. That’s really saying something when you consider his incredible last few years. Ahead of its release, Defected’s Ben Lovett spoke to Lionni about the processes that went into the album’s creation.
Lionni, 41, has been involved with electronic music for over 20 years now, a pure, educated heart who gave up on house when its mid-Eighties Stateside roots became increasingly tangled by mainstream UK rave culture but rekindled his passion the following decade when the likes of Kerri Chandler and Ron Trent started to fire with their deep, emotive, utterly soulful sounds. It is Chandler’s venerable Madhouse imprint upon which Just A Little More will arrive next month but more on that in a bit.
Does Lionni agree that the record is his best ever work? Is it the progression from 2010 Freerange-debut As One that he hoped for? “The production techniques are the same” he begins, “but there is a different concept. This record is more vocal, more soulful - that was intentional. I think there’s a greater progression for the listener as they work through this album as well; it has a wave effect - the first few tracks are for listening to in transit; the core of the album offers a build on that, and then the tracks at the end are squarely aimed at the dancefloor. The basic idea of a grand finale really appealed to me.”
But is he happy? “100% happy” he answers. “It’s been a long process for me; a long and careful journey. In the final stages, everything had to be right; I didn’t want to repeat what I’ve done before.”
Nevertheless, whilst Lionni’s discography reveals a continual urge to progress and move forwards – he is already working on new “different sounding” EPs for 2014 – the producer likes to “dwell on things.” Embracing past personal achievements and, on a far wider scale, appreciating the full sweep of electronic music history is Lionni feels vitally important. The past IS important. It is not every contemporary club artist that feels that way.
“I can’t wait to own a finished, physical copy of the new album. I feel like I’ve been able to create a timeless memory and those always encourage greater positivity” he remarks. “I make music from necessity...because I’m emotionally compelled to do it. I first got involved with house because it was progression of disco and the other types of soulful, emotional black music I’d grown up with. The quality wasn’t always there, so it wasn’t until the Nineties when Trent, [Theo] Parrish and Chandler started injecting the soul back in that I fully reconnected and saw a new opportunity for progression. Those producers, like the producers of earlier black music, were working because of the necessity of their feelings. I connected with that.
“Today, kids make music because of the necessity of popular trends. The industry is relentless but these kids need to spend time properly researching and understanding the history of their music. It’s depressing that so many of them think house was born in 1988 when a bunch of clued-up Scallies came back from Ibiza for the first time with E and a bunch of new tunes. For some, their earliest club memories only go back five or six years to seeing videos on You Tube.”
Such refreshingly earnest talk doesn’t mean Lionni is waging any great campaign to sway mass dancefloor thinking. On the contrary, he is happy to work for his own sense of pride. “I love music and simply want to release music that I love” he says. “I’m not a chaser of money or fame. I’m not into commercial trends. I just say ‘fuck it!’ and do what I want to do...what makes me happy. Of course, I’m a down-to-earth, open, no bullshit sort of person, so if anyone else likes what I’m doing and wants to talk then my door is always open.”
Lionni’s determined stance has held him in excellent stead, even if the main thrust of his career only took off five years ago. There were setbacks before then, one heavyweight techno producer deriding an early Lionni cut over MySpace. Lionni, however, took the negative as positive – “it made me totally confident that I would be up there one day with that person and the people he’s connected with” he told Resident Advisor in 2009.
Lionni was born in 1970s Liverpool, into a multi-ethnic family that would expose him to all manner of quality black music – soul, jazz, funk, R&B.... During the following decade he moved to Manchester and embraced that city’s black music community and its pre-Hacienda ‘house fusion’ clubs (“the mainstream ravers would lean on our music and even our fashions...the bandanas, the bum bags, the dungarees.”) Here, a focus on hip-hop and B-B-boy streetdance would help crystallize his musical path.
Over the next 20 years – “with all the Hacienda raving and naughty bits out of my system...my head was fucked, I needed to stop” – Lionni settled down to hip-hop and house writing, and, in time, production. EP outings for renowned electronic labels Wave, Versatile and Mule in 2008 led to stunning piano-house breakthrough Found A Place (which would find its way onto Len Faki’s high-profile Berghain 03 mix album and a subsequent Ostgut Ton 12”) in 2009, and then an impressively consistent, 24 carat series of house licks on everything from Freerange (also home to Lionni’s 2010 debut album) to Lo:Rise via Madhouse. Minding his own, very tidy business, Lionni has generated incredible momentum.
How has he found working with Chandler, one of his all-time heroes? The pair hooked up in 2011 when one of Lionni’s new tracks was the subject of keen interest from both Chandler and Chez Damier’s label Balance; Lionni opted for the former. “I remember 1992, when I’d given up house, and one of my friends was trying to get me to check out this new deep house stuff” he recalls. “I told him to piss off, because I thought it’d be really shit. But when he finally forced me to listen to Kerri Chandler I was like ‘wow! this is really dope!’ Kerri had that amazing way of weaving blues and jazz into the beats...classic influences like George Duke. To be releasing via his label, Madhouse, years later was an incredible honour. It still is. Madhouse has produced some amazing records over the years.”
In truth Chandler has been busy recording his own album recently, thus Lionni has been left to get on with moulding and recording Just A Little More. “To be honest, that’s how I like to work anyway” he qualifies. “I’m not an energy drain on people, I like to give them space rather than hound them. Kerri and I will have occasional conversations about music, which is great, but he’s a very busy guy. I know he believes in me to deliver great music, and that’s the main thing.”
Lionni has been decreasing his DJ commitments in recent months so that he may concentrate more on the studio. Whilst the adrenaline rush of a club set is hard to beat, Lionni sees performance as more and more of an unwelcome distraction. “If you make music you want to be able to present it the people. Being able to present something personally can be very special, depending on the gig” he remarks. “Playing out can also give you an energy that plugs straight back into the studio. Deep down, though, I wish touring wasn’t so important in terms of financial survival today. I wish I didn’t have to rely on plane travel so much; I love producing far more.”
That said Lionni’s studio life is rarely confined to the same buttons, switches and windowless walls. In this instance, producer almost out-tours DJ. “I’m constantly in transit. People and places usually have a time limit so I prefer to keep on the move,” he explains. Does that help him maintain the freshness of his output? “A little but really location is irrelevant. As long as I have a creative space to work, and no sound constraints then I’m good to go. Anything can spark creativity, not simply environment but feelings, moods, a whole range of things. Several commentators today make snap judgements on artists based on where they live - if they’re from Detroit or Berlin, for example, they can do no wrong. I prefer not to say where I am at any one time; and to be honest, I’m not really settled at the moment, but I am in Europe....”
Lionni’s movements are likely to be far more closely tracked once Just A Little More is released. The public’s gaze is set to widen and intensify; profile, like it or not, is set to snowball. In line with earlier comments, Lionni doesn’t seem unduly concerned one way or another. “I’m happy about where I am currently, and that’s enough” he promises. “There are honestly no expectations around this new album; let’s just let it happen now. I do hope it goes well. I have my fingers crossed, but at this stage of my life I’m not worried about anything – it is all water off a duck’s back. I’m well aware that these days you can have a great album but just be incredibly unlucky with the timing of release. If something big happens, socially or culturally, then people will be distracted and that affects how they digest the record. If my record is slated or misunderstood then so be it.”
That seems unlikely. Lionni’s trajectory is firmly upwards, and hurtling at high velocity. “I think my main problem is that I’m too well spoken on certain things” he suggests. “I’m the type of person who hovers over situations, sees them clearly and has to comment. Honest talk isn’t necessarily great for marketing and building profile; it pisses a lot of people off.”
But, then, many more love his unique house sound. It is this highly meaningful and unique voice having the loudest say; it can only get louder....
Words: Ben Lovett
Tony Lionni’s new album Just A Little More is released by Madhouse (US) on November 25. Lead single, Take Me With You (featuring Rachel Fraser) is out now.
