Pop Levi

Levi grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham and attended Shrewsbury School, a public school in Shropshire between 1991 and 1994[4] where he would skip church to write songs in the basement.[5] 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[6][7] 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.[8][9]

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.[10] A planned follow-up single in 2005 entitled "Kissed Her Sister" was shelved along with the album "Foxwatch",[11] and Levi formed The Emergencies[12] 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"[13][14] 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.[15] After signing the new deal, Levi moved to Los Angeles which resulted in The Emergencies disbanding. With Lewington still on board,[16] 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.[17] The new backing band was named "Woman".[18]

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 & D16 recording machine, at Liverpool studio/rehearsal space The Kif[17] (where a previous Super Numeri album was recorded) and whilst on tour with Ladytron[19] in a number of different locations in "England, China, France, Greece, LA, New York"[20] 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".[21] 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[22] and Westlake Recording Studios, in the same room Quincy Jones recorded Michael Jackson's Thriller and Off The Wall albums.[23] Following the recording of the album, Lewington was asked to leave, returning to England to pursue solo projects, while Simonsen returned to Norway[24] and joined pop band Montée,[25] 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.[26] 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.[27]

A planned double album of home demos and outtakes entitled "Micro Sex Tapes", which was originally set for release in 2009 was never released.[23][28] A stand-alone double A-Side single "Police $ign/Terrifying (For Kenneth Anger)" was released in June 2009,[29] with a new lineup featuring drummer Hayden Scott.[30] 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[31] 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[32] and re-titled "Smack Musick",[33] 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.[32]

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.[34] The release was followed up by "Motorcycle 666" in July 2011, recorded during the "Smack Musick" sessions in Norway.[32] The b-side "Rock Solid" was recorded at The White Arc.[35] The single was backed by select dates in London and Liverpool, with a new lineup with Muscatelli now on guitar.[36]

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.[37] 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.[38] The duo also directed a music video for "The Look" to promote the 2010 VansXStüssy shoe collaboration.[39]

Levi's song "Sugar Assault Me Now" was used in the trailers for the 2010 film, Get Him to the Greek[40] 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,[41] 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".[42] An album showcase gig set to take place at The Lexington, London was cancelled at the last minute due to change in artist management.

In November 2013, Levi released "Secrets" under the pseudonym Jr. Hi[43][44] via Neon Gold Records, featuring guest vocals by The Weeknd.[45] Levi's management Roxwell had previously confirmed that Levi had been working with a number of artists including The Weeknd, Kimbra, Switch and Robert DeLong.[46] In February 2014 a second track "Trillion Girls" was released, featuring guest vocals from Childish Gambino.[44][47]

In December 2013, Levi wrote and produced the Childish Gambino song "The Party" for the album Because the Internet, which was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards.[48]

In September 2014, Levi and Bunny Holiday formed the Industrial/Electronic duo crush_DLX, releasing through their SoundCloud 1 track a day for 370 days in an Audio Series format called MICRO SEX TAPES 370º.[49] The series has produced collaborations with Ariel Pink[50] and Cabaret Voltaire founder Stephen Mallinder.[51]

In 2020, Levi signed to Toronto based label Boiled Records. On 2 December 2020, he released the album Mark Of Paradise.[52] This was quickly followed up by Juicy Diamond on 17 March 2021.[53]

In February 2022, Levi started a new band with Muscatelli under the project name "The Big Kill".[54]

• You Don't Gotta Run documentary (dir. Lucky Beaches) Hand-numbered limited (50) edition DVD (2008, World Empire, Inc.)

• The song "Wannamama" from the album Never Never Love was featured in the second-season episode "Chuck Versus the Best Friend" of Chuck.
• The song "Wannamama" was on the soundtrack to the movie American Reunion.

• Pop Levi Official Website
• Pop Levi at World Empire, Inc.
• Radio Brain Wave Interview with Pop Levi, April 2021
• SF-EP-025 - Interview Series: Pop Levi Special Features Podcast, 11 November 2012