On the record: in partnership with pioneer DJ

Before he founded Leftfield, Neil Barnes was making music as a DJ. Alongside performing with his relaunched band, it remains his first love, as he tells Rolling Stone UK

- By David Pollock

After their rave-friendly club anthem ‘Not Forgotten’ was released in 1990, Leftfield became pioneers of British electronic music production. The duo’s Mercury Music Prize-nominated first albums Leftism (1995) and Rhythm & Stealth (1999) were key recordings of their era, featuring guest appearances from the Sex Pistols’ John Lydon, Roots Manuva and others.

Until they parted ways in 2002, Leftfield was a double act made up of founder Neil Barnes and Paul Daley. The latter was not involved in Leftfield’s return in 2010 following an eight-year hiatus. Barnes now collaborates with Adam Wren, with guest vocalists on last year’s fourth album This Is What We Do including Fontaines D.C.’s Grian Chatten.

Between live dates with Leftfield — including a UK tour this spring and summer festival appearances at Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party and Bluedot — Barnes returns to his first love: DJing. He discovered it in 1979, drawing influences throughout the early 80s from American groups and producers playing electro and hiphop, including D Train, Larry Levan, Grandmaster Flash and Soulsonic Force.

“Mixing records was primitive in those days,” says Barnes. “I remember first seeing people doing it — taking a vocal beat and keeping it going — in London in around 1986. As soon as we realised what we could do with vinyl, it changed everything. Until then, we just mixed records into the beginning of the last one on Pioneer DJ decks; there was no thought of putting something over the top until hip-hop came along and minimised the beats.”

The art of DJing has undergone phenomenal change since those early days, as Barnes reveals below.

How did you move from DJing into music production?