INTERVIEW: Fred Deakin

This week Best of House caught up with Fred Deakin, recently of British electronic artist duo, Lemon Jelly fame. We thought we’d find out what he’s currently up to as well as what lies ahead...



BoH - Let’s start with Lemon Jelly as a lot of us first heard your name through this medium. What are you trying to achieve now with your latest projects that perhaps you weren’t back then?

FD - I guess my aims are still pretty similar: I’m trying to make some unique music and put it out there in an interesting visual way.

BoH - What are the chances of a re-formation with Nick Franglen?

FD - My hunch is we’ll get our act together at some point: we’re still pals and see each other on a regular basis but our other projects have taken us elsewhere for the time being.

BoH – So do you have more spare time now you’re flying solo?

FD - No! Less if anything. I'm juggling a lot of balls at the moment.

BoH - You’re also into your art, having run your design company, Airside for coming up to ten years now. Can we expect to see more artwork made by you?

FD - I'm always working on something: my CD sleeves seem to be the main outlet for my visual style at the moment but Airside's varied output usually has some influence from me.

BoH - What are your great inspirations in and out of the music world?

FD - Hmm, where do I start? Visually Victor Vaserely, Bridget Riley, Ed Ruscha, Norman McLaren, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Studio Ghibli: musically Spirit, The Beatles, ACR, Tribe / Beasties / De La etc, D Train, Devendra, Lindstrom / Prins Thomas / Todd Terje, Jill Scott, Kimya Dawson, and that's today's list.

BoH - We heard you have a rather large record collection! How much vinyl do you have now?

FD - I used to have 20,000 records but I weeded it down to 12,000 - less is more! Having said that it's creeping up again.

BoH – Free music on blogs. Harmful or promotion?

FD - Promotion, definitely: having said that I still buy a lot of vinyl myself. Wading through MP3s is hard work!

BoH - If you were to choose just three house music tracks to take with you on a round-the-world trip, what would you pick and where would you visit?

FD - Kerri Chandler - Atmosphere (dub), Photon Inc - Generate Power, Pepe Bradock - Burning. Tokyo, Amsterdam, New York.

BoH – Oldskool! What does the long-term future hold for Fred Deakin?

FD - Death and decay. And chocolate!

BoH – Lastly, it’s 100 years into the future, and the mayor of London has decided to put a Fred Deakin statue up. What pose would you be in and where would you want it to stand?

FD - I would have my hands in the air reaching for the laser and it would be in Soho Square. But if Boris Johnson Jr. is the mayor then he can stick his statue up his arse.


Charming! So there you have it, Fred Deakin shares his thoughts with us. You can see him this coming Thursday (18th) at the Amersham Arms, London as part of the San Miguel Hidden Depths nights. Acts include Sam Sparro, Cosmic Fury (Fred and Tom Middleton) and more to be announced on the night.