DJ Ron Slomowicz: You come from a cabaret background; is that how you started DJing?
Larry Lush: Yes. My father owned a night club called "Diamond Lil's," which incidentally was the name of one of our biggest selling records on Rising High!, back in the 70's where he performed as an entertainer. He gave me a job at the end of the 80's DJing on the Friday and Saturday night. However I didn't last long as I wanted to play "The wrong kind of record…."
RS: What kind of musical training did you have?
Larry Lush: I guess all the musical training came from watching my father perform from an early age. Strangely however, I was convinced that I had no musical talent at all up until the age of 13. I had tried and failed to play the keys several times. It was not until after my parents had been separated for a while that one day whilst still determined to play something, as I guess I knew it was in there somewhere, I had been sitting in a music practice room at school. I sat at a piano and had this funny feeling come over me, it was like I was being possessed- it sounds weird, I know. However, I just sat and played, I guess my brain just decided to let go and flow! I haven't stop playing from that day on. That was 20 years ago…
RS: What made you come to London?
Larry Lush: I came to London after being very frustrated by the small town scene in Plymouth where my father's club had been. I had tried to make it as a DJ down there, but the music policies in all the clubs were very conservative. After playing and being sacked from about 4 clubs for, again, "Playing the wrong kind of record." I threw my slipmats in the air and decided enough was enough. I sat in the bath one Wednesday morning feeling that my life was going around and around in ever decreasing circles and I decided to hitchhike to London. I did that very afternoon, with a £10 in my pocket, leaving all my worldly possessions behind, including my record collection. It's a regret now - but hey, we all know how heavy that vinyl is!
RS: How did you get started in the studio?
Larry Lush: On arriving in London I knew only one person - a disabled singer now living in Canada, Bobby Style, who introduced me to his then manager Philip Earl. Phillip had a small flat in Shoreditch - a now-fashionable part of town and in one of the small box rooms was his "studio" set-up. This was the first time I had ever set eyes on anything resembling a studio and my eyes lit up. I had been so frustrated in Plymouth, with the scene and the music, and now here was the opportunity I had been looking for, a chance to make the music that I wanted to hear. I watched Philip at work and learned very quickly. He was a very patient man and I owe him and Bobby an awful lot.
RS: How did you find Rollo - or how did Rollo find you?
Larry Lush: It's quite a funny little story. Whilst I'd been holed up in Shoreditch trying to learn all I could about engineering I of course needed some income to support myself, so off I trotted to the local employment exchange. It was a lovely sunny day, even so I love to dress up so in I swaned in a long coat and scarf with bleached blond hair looking like god-knows what! Sitting on the other side of the counter working for the agency was Rollo Armstrong. He was near the beginning of his career, sharing a studio with then Kiss-FM DJ Judge Jules. He asked me what I did and I told him I was a musician. He invited me to his studio that day and from then on we became great friends and learned a lot together.
