Nightmares On Wax - Early Career

Early Career

Before the popularity of Nightmares on Wax, George Evelyn was raised listening to soul music. His father and sister specifically led him to be influenced by Quincy Jones and Curtis Mayfield. Later, as rap music became more popular, he was fascinated by the likes of Rappers Delight and Buffalo Gals. In 1988, DJ EASE was joined a breakdance crew where he grew close to Kevin Harper. They created a team today known as Nightmares on Wax. "We wanted to do tracks that had hip hop beats but experimented with ideas”. This technique is used by many other artists including The Forgemasters, LFO, and Unique 3.

In 1991, NoW released A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter. The album was built in Leeds, where Evelyn compiled the samples that were recorded on two sets of tapes. To explain his process, Evelyn described NoW’s composition strategies stating, “I just built the tracks around these ideas that I’ve had for the last four years. The only thing that changed was bringing in live musicians and editing.”