When Lewis McCallum's debut album 'Wake' landed on my desk, I was intrigued. Stylish cover art, props from Nathan Haines and Mark de Clive Lowe, and that niggling feeling that his name was familiar all contributed to my curiosity.  Taking a listen to find out what had impressed Haines et al,  a few pennies started dropping. First of all, the album is a charismatic collection of contemporary jazz and beats ("J'n 'B"as Lewis later explains to me, tongue firmly in cheek), so no questions required of the high praise from high places.  Secondly, as I scan the press release it becomes obvious why his name seems familiar. A long list of impressive collaborations coupled with a very musical family ring all the right bells.

His father Mal McCallum is a very well respected singer-songwriter, his mother Linley teaches music at Westlake Girls High, sister Sarah is on the path to musical success in Sydney, coupling her lovely voice with a new take on electro-pop,  and brother Greg is a brass player of some pedigree, having played trumpet and French horn with Rodger Fox and the Queen City Big Band. With genes like that it's little wonder that even at a young age, Lewis knew he was a musician. "Yeah, I remember at primary school having an argument with someone who was saying that sports people earn more money than musicians. I'd only just taken up the clarinet, but even then I knew which one I was. I was insulted. I thought, Michael Jackson must make more money."

He moved into the production and beat programming side of things about five years ago ("making tunes on dad's computer... and stealing a whole bunch of other gear from him"), and started setting up his own studio in 2003. This has proven to be rather useful in crafting  'Wake' which he self-produced and mixed in the home studio (along with some help from Submariner). The album has been in the works for a good 18 months, and having a studio of his own gave Lewis a bit of flexibility when it came to putting things together.

 "I didn't say, 'Right we're gonna track for this month, and then we're gonna mix for this month', it was more bits and pieces, getting a track together, as I could." So not quite the same as booking three weeks in a studio and recording from whoa to go then. "That's something I'd really like to do next, is do an album that way around - preconceive everything, get the stuff written, have some rehearsals, go to the studio and record it in a week.  Obviously that would be a more live type of sound, so I'm not sure if that's what'll happen, but I'm definitely interested in that."

Although the album is certainly a product of beat processing and studio work, it does have a strong organic live element, courtesy of the strong vocal contributions and Lewis's own rich multi-instrumental talents. The night of the album launch, Lewis was accompanied by an 8-piece live band along with guest musicians, and Khuja Lounge was packed to bursting with some very enthusiastic and impressed punters. The live show had people tearing up the tiles, the vocals smooth and strong along with a stonking instrumental line up pulling out great solos keeping late night pulses high. It was as hot as a sauna in the small city venue, but an encore performance of Fly or Die was the embodiment of 'cool'.   

What is so evident on the album however, is his wealth of experience gigging, recording and writing with so many other artists. Having cut his chops with Mark de Clive Lowe at legendary club Manifesto, Lewis featured on de Clive Lowe's album 'Six Degrees', was a member of the renowned Relaxomatic Project, has collaborated with UK producer Phil Asher (producer for Nathan Haines), and played with Ray Charles. More recently he's been collaborating with a swag of New Zealand's up and comers - Julien Dyne (on his EP 'Phantom Limbo'), Hollie Smith (on 'Long Player') and earned himself a Silver Scroll nomination for his work with the Opensouls, namely on the track Rise Up, Part 2. 

One might reasonably think, having such a roll of credits, that Lewis would have been tempted to forge his path overseas. It was considered, but he ultimately made the decision that New Zealand had more to offer. "In the age bracket of musicians just older than me, there was the notion that you had to go overseas to really get anywhere, and that's changed in my age group. I made that conscious decision myself not to go, I mean I've travelled and checked out places, but I decided 'Here's where my network is and I want to actually get on with working here, and get my project off the ground'."

He has no illusions about the local music industry, acknowledging that the best his CD can expect to do is cover costs, but is interested in the way in which those  with jazz backgrounds here seem to be utilising those skills in making all sorts of music.
 "There's been this jump into an awareness of what's going on around the place, playing electronic music, and trying to absorb the new forms. So we end up with groups of live musicians playing like electronic groups. There's so many examples of jazzers playing 'beatsy' music - TrinityRoots, Shapeshifter, Opensouls, Solaa..."

The influence also works in the other direction, with his studio and beats experience leading to some innovations in his live jazz performance.

 "When we go and do jazz types of gigs, we'll approach them in different ways, by doing drop outs - dropping the bass out - which is something that you don't really hear on swing tunes. And that's an innovation that's grown out of the computer, because you just mute the bass line, and think 'Oh yeah, that actually sounds kinda cool', and then you turn it back on again 8 bars later. And that's something people didn't think of so much when they were just playing live."
 Lewis is surprisingly articulate about how he goes about writing his music.

"There's two ways I have of making tunes. The first way is where I'll find some chord changes that I like, and I'll write the A section and then the B section, put it in the computer, and listen to it for a bit. Develop a bass line out of the chord changes, and then fit the beat to it. But the other way round is to start with a beat, then I'll come up with a bass line or chord changes.

 I guess if I start with a beat,  I might not come up with a song form type of tune, it might be more DJ-based, like a terraced arrangement, dropping various instruments in and out, creating an arrangement rather than being a verse-chorus kind of thing. A good example of this would be Fly or Die. There's the same chord changes the whole way through, there's no chorus or verse, just sections."

So now that he has an album, studio skills and writing technique down to a fine art, what else is in the pipeline? A tour of NZ and Australia for starters, and then more recording.

"I've got more tunes on the computer already...I'd like to work more with Chris Cox. He just writes great beats all the time, so working with him, it's kind'a like a writing explosion. It's good to work with other people, 'cos I often find it's faster. There's less second guessing - they say 'Yeah that's great', and then I have to stop and think, 'Oh yeah, actually it is'.' I can second that.