Levl is the work of Dylan Brownsword (a.k.a DB1), Felix Krone (a.k.a Felix K), and Joe Baker (a.k.a Forest Drive West), three friends who first came together around Krone’s Hidden Hawaii. Founded in 2013, the Berlin label has since welcomed both DB1 and Forest Drive West, the latter in 2017 as he was just breaking through in the wake of an outing on Dnuos Ytivil, a sub-label of Livity Sound. Brownsword, meanwhile, has been a label staple: he’s put out his only album, Zwischenwelt, there in 2017, and he’s also collaborated with Krone on several occasions, exploring various strains of ambient, drum & bass, and techno. “It felt natural to start working on tracks together given we are all interested in the same types of sound,” Baker explains.

Working remotely via a shared Dropbox folder, the trio began sharing files and ideas with one another, and this resulted in their debut: LEVL#1, a bass- and breaks-heavy affair out via Warp Records’ own Arcola sub-label, and limited to just 500 copies. Just a few months later, out popped LEVL#2, this time via Krone’s Nullpunkt, parent to Hidden Hawaii, but once again with minimal fuss or fanfare. 20 white labels quickly disappeared in Hardwax, Berlin, enough to justify a full release in January.

Beyond the releases, Brownsword, Krone, and Baker are also beginning to DJ together, performing all-night-long back-to-back-to-back. They began at Corsica Studios earlier this summer and have several more dates in the pipeline. In the meantime, they’ve delivered an XLR8R podcast, aimed to showcase the Levl project and give a snapshot of what you can expect from one of their sets. Across the 70-minute playtime, you’ll hear much of the Levl catalog plus solo releases from its members. There are only a handful of tracks from outside of the trio, and they’re positioned to represent the music that inspired them to launch Levl.

What have you been up to recently?

Our first three-way back-to-back was at Rupture in June which we really enjoyed, it was great to be given a platform like the main room at Corsica Studios to really go wherever we wanted with complete creative freedom. Shortly after that, our first 12″ came out on Arcola, a sub-label of Warp. Our next 12″ will be out on Nullpunkt in the New Year.

What’s the story behind Levl—how did it come together?

The three of us have been good friends for a long time now, linking up around the Hidden Hawaii project. It felt natural to start working on tracks together given we are all interested in the same types of sound. We started a basic Dropbox to share ideas, and from that the first tracks came together really naturally and quickly. The collaboration works in completely different ways on each track, on some it is all three of us, on others it might be just be just one of us, but given how well we complement each other the output always feels coherent.

What can we expect with the Levl project?

It could be anything. Techno, beatless, drum & bass, whatever. The project certainly isn’t genre specific, being more built around our shared ideas and the crossover between our individual projects. Technically the three of use fairly different production approaches, so there is lots of scope for the sound to evolve.

When and where did you record this mix?

The mix was recorded separately across three locations: Deptford, United Kingdom; and Friedrichshain Plaistow in Berlin, Germany, through November 2019.

How did you choose the tracks that you included?

The mix showcases the first two Levl releases, along with recent tracks from our individual projects, other collaborations, and a few older tracks that have influenced us collectively.

What does the future hold for Levl?

Who knows. We all have busy individual projects going on, but when the time is right and given how well the whole project came together there will be more music for sure.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Tracklisting

01. Babe Roots “Work Hard” (DB1 remix) (Echochord)
02. FLXK1 and DB1 “Transitions A2” (Hidden Hawaii)
03. DB1 “Late Night” (Molt)
04. LEVL “Arcola_#3” (Arcola)
05. LEVL “Nullpunkt_#4 (Nullpunkt)
06. DYL+DB1 “Uniformity of Nature” (Detach)
07. DYL+DB1 “Forma” (The Collection Artaud)
08. F&E “Thesis” (Nullpunkt)
09. F&E “Morast” (Nullpunkt)
10. LEVL “Nullpunkt #1” (Nullpunkt)
11. LEVL “Nullpunkt #3” (Nullpunkt)
12. Felix K “Deconstructor” (Nullpunkt)
13. Ed Rush & Nico “Neutron” (No U-Turn)
14. Jah Shaka “Real Dub” (Jah Shaka Music)
15. Forest Drive West “Num” (Nullpunkt)
16. Crossing Avenue “Santica” (Spazio Disponibile”
17. Double O “Straight 98 vip” (Rupture)
18. mM001 A “Unknown Amen” (Martianman Recordings)
19. Source Direct “The Cult” (Metalheadz)
20. Paradox “A Certain Sound” (Drumworkz VIP Mix Remix) (Renegade Hardware)