The Livity Sound co-founder Joe Cowton aka Kowton is set to release his debut solo LP this April. Titled Utility, the release also happens to be the debut long player for the label-cum-performing trio set up by Kowton and his Bristol cohorts Peveralist and Asusu back in 2008.

"The name Utility came from a series of conversations I had in the build up to finishing the record; what feels most prescient to me right now is writing concise music with purpose and direction – visceral music that’s uncluttered both sonically and theoretically,” says Kowton of the title. “I wanted to create an LP that works on the floor but is nuanced enough to justify repeat listens and self-aware enough to sit properly as a complete album.”

Currently residing in South London (a destination he landed at via Bristol), the producer grew up in Lake District, which had his early musical education carved out of quarry raves and 1990s print magazines such as Jockey Slut and Muzik. “In the late 90s the way we consumed music in the Lakes was incredibly different to anything that happens now,” says Kowton. “We’d buy tape-packs from Eastern Bloc in Manchester, or loan Metalheadz and Moving Shadow CDs from the local library. There were the monthly magazines and people’s older brothers, but our knowledge of scenes as a whole was patchy. As we got older there were always quarry raves going on but the music there was hard techno and if we ever got a warm-up slot it wouldn’t last long.”

Despite this being Kowton's first LP, his back catalogue has been steadily filling up over the last half decade, with numerous 12"s on labels such as Keysound, Idle Hands, Hessle Audio and his own label Pale Fire, on which he put out the singles Des Bisous (2012) and H-Street/Helsinki Sunrise (2013).

Utility will be released 15 April on Livity Sound. You can pre-order now via Bleep. Kowton and the rest of Livity Sound were featured alongside Bristol based collective Young Echo in The Wire 355. Subscribers to the magazine can read the feature via the online archive. Utility is reviewed by Rory Gibb in the current issue #386.