Late London is a critically acclaimed DJ and producer from Washington, DC, best known for captivating audiences with his irresistible groove and rhythmic house music sound. As a DJ, he has kept the party going with notable artists, including Camelphat, Danny Tenaglia, Deadmau5, Fisher, Lee Foss, Solardo, and Wale. As a producer, he gets his inspiration from the feelings and emotions he wants to share through his music. Late London is regarded as a favorite artist of real music lovers around the world.
EG caught up with Late London to learn more about the release of ‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol. 2’, his views on the state of the scene, High Class Nasty productions, and more.
EG: Hi Rez! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. Where are you based right now? How have you been?
Late London: Happy to be here! Right now I’m based in Washington DC, more specifically the hood of Arlington, Virginia.
EG: Congratulations on the release of your latest EP, ‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol. 2’! What was the reception like?
Late London: The reception has been amazing. So many big names that I look up to like Jamie Jones, Hannah Wants, Oscar G, etc. are in support of the EP. Jamie Jones actually just listed it as his ‘Song of the Week’. It’s pretty surreal because he’s the artist that I aspire to be like one day.
EG: So, how did ‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol. 2’ come about? What drove you to create these edits?
Late London: It’s kind of cool how organic it happened. We were DJing at our first get-together and he put this Oscar L song ‘Dibiza’ on and I layered it with ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’. We remember the crowd went ‘bananas’ when we did it. So we thought, “OK, let’s actually make a studio edit of this”, so it’s not just something sporadic. When we made it, we were getting some really insane reactions. So we started thinking “OK, let’s start writing lists of all the cool edit ideas we have, and play them at our HCN events”. At every party, we would have a few more ideas. We would mix live, come home, listen to the recordings of our sets, then come home and make edits/bootlegs of these ideas. From then on, we kept testing them out and we were like “OK, maybe we should actually release these since everyone is asking us for them”. Then BOOM, ‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol, 1’ came out. I’m very competitive with myself, sometimes to a bit of fault, so the following month, I was like “OK, these edits are cool, but I wonder how many of these I could knock out in a month”. I made about 7 or 8 more after HCN release 1, narrowed the EP down to about 4 songs, and boom here we are. ‘HCN Edits Vol. 3’ is actually finished now as well, Misha and I are just floor-testing the songs now to ensure they are perfect at the moment.
“It was a masterclass for me to figure out what it means to be “driving”…. There are no tutorials on how to be driving in music, maybe for techno, but not tech House or minimal”
EG: And, of course, ‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol. II’ is out via Cafe Disco, courtesy of High Class Nasty productions. How is High Class Nasty productions doing at the moment?
Late London: It’s going well, we have quite a few parties coming up, and we’re actually headlining an event in DC with Glow/Insomniac. We really appreciate how much they believe in our brand and want to grow with us. The event is on October 9th, 2022 (RSVP link here) for anyone who wants to make it out.
EG: How did you approach edits of classic tracks like the ones you’ve released?
Late London: I’m not giving away all the secrets on this release, because, conceptually, it’s fairly minimal, and the formula is deceptively easy, but there are a lot of mental decisions made on this release. One approach I will give away is that every single instrument I added had to be driving… I’ve always had an issue with this, so it was a masterclass for me to figure out what it means to be “driving”…. There are no tutorials on how to be driving in music, maybe for techno, but not tech house or minimal. Moreover, this was the first release I said to myself: “You know what? Fuck what everyone else wants to hear, I know exactly what I want and I’m not embarrassed to put it out there.” It was really a training class for me to go to the next level. These are just edits and bootlegs at the end of the day…. I’m excited for everyone to hear the originals I’m cranking on now as I truly believe they will change the game when they are out.
EG: Let’s take this one back to your origins. When and how did you come across electronic dance music? Do you remember what your first impressions were?
Late London: It was all thanks to my mom! I remember 90s radio being a big part of it, all the Jock Jams-style pump-up electronic songs were big for me. But my mom made me acquire my taste. She was a workout freak while we were living in Boston. She would ask my uncle to send her mixes, like ‘House of Pizacatto’. We would also go to Tower Records and look for high-energy CDs together. She was so strict on the track listing as well… Everything had to be upbeat and driving, she wouldn’t allow it in her car if it didn’t bump.
I remember when we got a CD burner, it was my job to make the CDs now. I would make these CDs and she would be so strict on the tracklisting. Like, I would have two songs in a row that were nasty, then the third one would be slow and she would be like, “You should make this again, the CD gets bad after this”. So I had to get really good at ripping through Napster, finding gems, and getting the tracklisting in order. It really helped me with my timing, and understanding my audience.
EG: What are your thoughts on the current state of the scene? What would you like to see more and less of?
Late London: Tech House in America has become absolute trash. I want to see more originality, labels need to start singing things that sound like the future or original, not what sells, what has “impact”… I love songs that slap, but my god, why don’t we have songs with messages, or concepts, or even songs that are funny. I really hope people hold me to this response 5 years from now. People need to go see someone like Jamie Jones back-to-back Luciano at Space. That’s tech house. That’s what we need more of.
“Tech house in America has become absolute trash. I want to see more originality, labels need to start singing things that sound like the future or original, not what sells, what has “impact”…”
EG: What’s next for Late London and High Class Nasty productions? What particular milestones are you looking forward to now?
Late London: Oh man… I don’t want to jinx anything… All I can say is, for High Class Nasty, we are eyeing some really big new opportunities with shows… We also have ‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol .3’ coming out soon. Misha and I will have a collaborative one on there, as well as some solo ones.
EG: Thank you so much for your time Rez! We wish you all the best for the future.
Late London: Thanks for having me 🙂
‘High Class Nasty Edits Vol. 2’ is out now. Purchase your copy here.
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