From London to Barcelona: Lee Webster explains how moving abroad boosted his creativity

Sometimes moving overseas can help lubricate a person’s creativity helping to boost something that was otherwise stifled in their country of origin. For instance, lots of artists have found moving to Berlin has helped to push them musically – likewise, Barcelona is known as a bohemian city where many of the world’s creatives have relocated in the hope of finding some space to really let their imagination run wild.

This is pretty much what happened to Lee Webster – a Canterbury native who emigrated to the Catalan city and found it’s relaxed way of life was highly conducive to his beatmaking, so much so that his Soundcloud page is updated with new music on an almost daily basis. I stumbled across Lee’s work thanks to one of his tunes being played by Richy Ahmed on the End Of Year Mix he did for me – after listening to his stuff and reading his entry on Resident Advisor I decided to get in touch to find out more about him…

First off Lee, where did you grow up?

I grew up in Canterbury. Due to the lack of locations playing good music, we used to go out into the woods and party there. In fact, Canterbury’s saving grace was the vibrant free-party scene that gave us an alternative to going to the local nightclub (and getting glassed in the face by someone).

I read that UK garage and pirate radio has had a big influence on your output…

Garage was the first ‘dance music’ I paid attention to. My mates used to leave tapes in my car – those tape packs you seldom see these days that used to open up like a book to reveal eight tapes which was often a recording of an event with multiple DJs and MCs… Moving to London briefly allowed me to get access to pirate radio stations (pre-internet radio days) that were playing garage. The best ones sounded like they were coming from someone’s bedroom and often played bouncy deep house kind of garage.

There are so many sub-genres within house and garage – what kind of style were you really into and which tunes epitomised that style?

Scott Garcia – London Thing. The sounds in that record epitomise what I adore about mid-nineties garage music. I like deep synths, I like sub bass, I like bouncy beats. The simplicity of this track can be misguiding, its elements are basic, production simple and there’s rarely more than a few elements at once but what it does have by the bagfull are VIBES! That’s the key word for me that will sum up everything that I look for in music and everything I strive to achieve in my own music.

Totally agree on London Thing, great tune.

Yeah man, it’s one of those tracks that can sum up a whole era beautifully.

Then how did you progress from being an avid listener to starting to make beats?

I was making beats quite early on, I had a turntable when I was a kid. Just a single deck, my dad found it in the rubbish one day and gave it to me. It took a year before I had a stylus and a homemade mixer my dad also crafted for me… I was pretty much only concerned with learning to scratch as at that time in my life I was listening to hip hop almost exclusively, artists like Lord Finesse, EPMD, MF Doom, Biggie; these guys were, as far as I was concerned at the time, the only thing worth listening to. I used to make instrumentals to scratch to because I was running out of beats to use, so I got myself a copy of Fruity loops and used it to make hip hop beats.

When and why did you decide to move to Barcelona?

Five years ago I had enough of England and just left it all behind for Barcelona. It’s probably the best thing I’ve done, swapping a dreary piss hole of a country for a colourful and much more European city has allowed me to relax and create an environment in which creativity flows a lot more freely. We have a great family of music makers, music listeners and party promoters all brought together by a common love for the city we live in.

Never be dull – LW by Lee Webster

So how long did it take you to integrate into the local scene? Did you already know people there, or did you go alone?

It’s easy to make friends here, everyone’s super laid back and friendly. The first people to show me love, in terms of music, were Digital Delight they are all pretty gangsta’, so obviously we get on well. I’m currently living with two amazing producers; Paul Loraine and Funk D’void, I’ve only been here a short time but already I feel good vibes and I have a nice area to make music, which is something I needed for a long time. It’s easy to get comfortable in Barcelona, it’s one of those cities that you can always find a way.

Now, you’re known for being a prolific beat maker – obviously, as you said, being in Barcelona has facilitated this – but, how do you find time to make so much music?

I like to work quick, just let it flow out. Sometimes you can stand in the way of an idea by spending to much time over working it. To be honest, a lot of the music I put up on Soundcloud is just ideas, sketches of tracks, some more complete than others. As far as explaining the high output of tracks goes, all I can say is that music is an integral part of my life, I have a lot of ideas in my head so I guess I’m just playing around with sounds at the moment.

And where does your inspiration come from?

Sexy women.

Shes in This II (Eclectic Relaxation) – LW by Lee Webster

Do you have any grand plans with your music?

I’m just going to keep learning as much as I can about how to create the sounds I love. I’d like to work on something more ‘albumy’ and less ‘dancefloory’. I have loads of music which I haven’t shared yet. I’d like to work with some vocalists instead of having to use samples.

Have you reached out to anyone or got started on anything in that respect?

I’ve been looking for someone for years to record some vocals, I’m waiting for the planets to align themselves and send me a gift from the heavens. I’d love to meet a diva who can give me those strong verses you often hear in old school deep house, and I’d love to jam with someone in the studio and bounce ideas around. I’m currently patiently waiting, the universe has a way of delivering things when the time is right so let’s see.

Somethin Somethin (preview) – LW by Lee Webster

Any big plans for Sonar?

I actually plan to take it easy this year, keep it fresh. I’m sick of feeling hungover so I’ve decided to drastically reduce my intake of alcohol and other fun things. So I’ll probably float around a few select places but mainly I’ll be on the beach eating salads. I don’t want to burn myself out, I guess it’s a feeling that you get towards the end of your beloved twenties as you look back at the blur that was your life and realise it was spent mainly sleeping off parties! I’m considering moving out of the centre and getting myself a nice place where I can grow my own tomatoes and organise orgies.

Which leads me on to my last question, what is vagina music?

Vagina music is the name I gave to the movement of slow beats, deep chords and general sexual overtones, often found in my tracks. It’s a term coined for a genre that falls between romantic and pornographic and it’s aimed at freaky girls and boys who want to get their freak on. I try not to take myself or my music too seriously…

Check out more of Lee’s productions on his Soundcloud page HERE.

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