Pop Levi

All Music Guide:

A British musician who played with Super Numeri and Ladytron before launching a respected solo career, Pop Levi is the progenitor of a unique breed of music that swerves from pop to glam rock to freak folk. Levi was born in London to a Jewish doctor and a gentile nurse, who encouraged their son to begin studying piano at age three. He joined a gospel choir at seven, started collecting records at nine, and wrote his first first song, "Through the Window of My Life," by the time he was 12.

As a young multi-instrumentalist, Levi had scant luck breaking into the music business; after a move to Liverpool in 1997 that found him working as an ice cream van driver and hair model, he set up a commune with Snap Ant, Karl Webb, and a host of other artists. There, in a dilapidated Victorian house, he formed his first band, the post-rock group Super Numeri. That band's early recordings found their way to London in 2002, which led to a signing with Ninja Tune Recordings. The debut single "The Electric Horse Garden" spawned a buzz that helped the subsequent album Great Aviaries and The Coastal Bird Scene EP infiltrate the English underground.

Months after that first spike in name recognition, Danny Hunt of Ladytron asked Levi to join his band on bass guitar; Levi accepted and spent 2003 and 2004 touring. He also used the tour as an opportunity to write and record material for a planned LP, Foxwatch, to be released on Hunt's Invicta Hi-Fi label. Foxwatch was never completed, but it spawned the first official Pop Levi releases. "Rude Kinda Love" hit number 25 on the U.K. indie chart, and the Christmas 2004 release "Reindeer in my Heart" reached U.S. airwaves.

When Levi completed the tour with Ladytron, he elected to form his own band; back in Liverpool, he recruited backing players and started performing live. Dates throughout the West Coast were instrumental in launching his U.S. career. He recorded a second Super Numeri record with Ant and Webb and briefly rejoined Ladytron, but by October of 2005, when third single "Blue Honey" was released on Invicta Hi-Fi, he was committed to going solo. It didn't take Ninja Tune Recordings long to sign him for his first album -- The Return to Form Black Magick Party was conceived at the end of 2005, and on an imprint created solely for Levi, Counter Records. That album, recorded in an abandoned warehouse and the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, picked up elements of '60s rock, disco, and folk, and was presented in a sound-collage format; more than a decade of home recordings dot the tracks.

Levi moved to the U.S. with his band in 2006, a year before The Return to Form Black Magick Party enjoyed a worldwide release, and the sophomore effort Never Never Love arrived in 2008. Levi's next two records, a collection of demos and outtakes titled Micro Sex Tapes and a third album alternately titled Records and Smack Musick, never saw the light of day, but by 2010 his songs began appearing in movies and TV shows, most notably Get Him to the Greek. In 2012, Levi finally released his third album. Medicine was recorded in Norway, Greece, and Levi's own Los Angeles studio and featured Levi playing all the instruments with help on some tracks from Bunny Holiday (vocals), Luke Muscatelli (bass), and Marius Simonsen (drums).

Wikipedia:

Pop Levi (born Jonathan James Mark Levi 22 September 1977 in Surrey) is an English singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and filmmaker.

Biography [edit]

Levi grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham and attended Shrewsbury School, a public school in Shropshire between 1991 and 1994 where he would skip church to write songs in the basement. In 1997 Levi re-located to Liverpool to study at LIPA and formed the experimental instrumental band Super Numeri with Karl Webb and James Morgan who signed to Ninja Tune in 2002 and released albums "Great Aviaries" in 2003 and "The Welcome Table" in 2005. During this period, Levi also played bass for Ladytron live and on the album Witching Hour.

In 2004, Levi released singles "Rude Kinda Love" and "Reindeer In My Heart" on the independent "Invicta Hi-Fi" label set up by Daniel Hunt of Ladytron. A planned follow-up single in 2005 entitled "Kissed Her Sister" was shelved along with the album "Foxwatch", and Levi formed The Emergencies with organ player Jake Field and Zukanican members, rhythm guitarist Dominic Lewington (AKA Domino), bass player Harry Sumnall and drummer James Pagella. The band played regularly around Liverpool as "Pop Levi & The Emergencies" including slots at the Merseyside Unity Music Festival and Unite Against Racism Festival. Now backed by The Emergencies, Levi released "Blue Honey", his last single on "Invicta Hi-Fi", before signing to Ninja Tune. After signing the new deal, Levi moved to Los Angeles which resulted in The Emergencies disbanding. With Lewington still on board, Levi recruited drummer Marius Simonsen and bass player Luke Muscatelli (AKA Lucky Beaches) and the band moved to the US, living together in the same house in Echo Park, Los Angeles. The new backing band was named "Woman".

In February 2007, Levi released his debut solo album on Counter Records, an imprint specifically created for Levi by Ninja Tune. The Return to Form Black Magick Party was self produced and recorded over several years, solely on a lap top, at Liverpool studio/rehearsal space The Kif (where previous Super Numeri albums were recorded) and whilst on tour with Ladytron in a number of different locations in "England, China, France, Greece, LA, New York" such as "on trains, in planes, in warehouses, on the top of Cathedrals, at the beach, in bathrooms, hotel rooms and tombs. I made sure to capture the first take of everything I recorded and then took the tracks to Sacramento to be mixed". The album was toured extensively across the US, UK, Europe and Australia, and was listed as one of Lauren Laverne's favourite artists to make it big in 2007 on BBC Two's The Culture Show.

In July 2008, Levi released the follow up album Never Never Love, which was preceded by the single "Dita Dimoné" which made BBC Radio 6's 'Record Of The Week'. Levi set out to make the follow-up, in contrast to the loose feel of the debut, sound artificial and soulless, that it sounded "like Japanese toys falling in and out of love with each other". The album was recorded at Westbeach Recorders and Westlake Recording Studios, in the same room Quincy Jones recorded Michael Jackson's Thriller and Off The Wall albums. Following the recording of the album, Simonsen returned to Norway and joined pop band Montée and Lewington returned to England, leaving Levi with no band to tour the album. Levi and Muscatelli played sporadic shows across LA as a duo, with Muscatelli shifting from bass guitar to synth bass. Aside from a handful of solo acoustic shows in London, there was also no tour to support the album in the UK either.

2008 also saw the emergence of Levi's World Empire, Inc. film and music production company. In September, the 37th Festival Nouveau Cinema in Montréal held the world premiere of You Don't Gotta Run, a surreal 37-minute docu-featurette directed by auteur Lucky Beaches and starring Levi.

A planned double album of home demos and outtakes entitled "Micro Sex Tapes", which was originally set for release in 2009 was never released. A stand-alone double A-Side single "Police $ign/Terrifying (For Kenneth Anger)" was released in June 2009, with a new lineup featuring drummer Hayden Scott. An early version of Police $ign was featured in the in-game soundtrack of Gran Turismo 5.

In 2009, Levi travelled to Norway where drummer Simonsen was now based to record his third album, tentatively titled "Records", which was intended to be live and raw sounding. The album was recorded in a mountain-top converted barn and re-titled "Smack Musick", however, after being left in a state of limbo for 2 years, with the last scheduled release date being March 2011, it was eventually shelved.

In April 2011, "Levitation Vol. 1" was temporarily made available as a free download via worldempireinc.com. The 14 track mixtape was recorded and mixed mostly in 2010-11 at The White Arc, Levi's studio in Los Angeles. The release was followed up by "Motorcycle 666" in July 2011, recorded during the "Smack Musick" sessions in Norway. The b-side "Rock Solid" was recorded at The White Arc. The single was backed by select dates in London and Liverpool, with a new lineup with Muscatelli now on guitar. Levi is currently signed to Ninja Tune/Counter Records for one more album.

Levi has also produced and performed with Canadian-born artist and American Apparel model Bunny Holiday in Los Angeles and on a five-city tour of China. In 2010 Pop Levi and Bunny Holiday directed the music video for former N.W.A. star Arabian Prince's "Let's Hit The Beach" single on Stones Throw Records. The duo also directed a music video for "The Look" to promote the 2010 VansStussy shoe collaboration.

Levi's song "Sugar Assault Me Now" was used in the trailers for the 2010 film, Get Him to the Greek and his music has also been featured in numerous television shows including Chuck, Entourage and 90210.

In November 2012, Levi released his third solo studio album Medicine, his last for Counter Records. The album was preceded by single "Strawberry Shake", featuring a remix by Tom Vek, and followed by 5-track EP "Starlight & Wonder Vol. 1". An album showcase gig set to take place at The Lexington, London was cancelled at the last minute due to change in artist management.

Filmography [edit]

Filmettes [edit]

The following are the short films directed & produced by Pop Levi.

Music videos [edit]

The following are the music videos starring and/or directed by Pop Levi.