G-FORCE: Lewis Lowe (UK)
It’s Silverstone weekend baby! A race that we absolutely couldn’t miss in our calendar. 🏁
Things are getting real juicy with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen continuing to go head-to-head for the top spot. It’s nice to see Max finally feeling the pressure again but it’s looking like a friendship may be heading down the drain as his signature bullish race behaviour is back with Lando as his target which left us screaming at the TV (or at the track like Patricia was) last weekend. This is not helped by the media stirring the pot during the post-race interviews - are they hired by Drive To Survive? Let’s see if this friendship lasts the season. Due to this rivalry, George Russell ended up in the winning seat at Austria and we finally got to see a happy Toto Wolff. Estie Bestie is continuing his chaotic ways - may be worse now he doesn’t have a seat for next year - things are not looking good. Charles Leclerc is back in the stress zone. Lewis Hamilton finally got his first podium of the season at Barcelona. Ollie Bearman has just been confirmed for a F1 seat next year at Haas - we’re very excited to have some fresh faces on the grid. Let’s hope the car holds out for him. Carlos Sainz is straight chilling with no rush to announce his plans for 2025.
Taking the wheel for the Silverstone race we have Glasgow-based DJ, producer and Redstone Press label founder Lewis Lowe. Looking to the past, Lewis sets his sights on the 1999/2000 season, his favourite era of F1 when Ferrari went from not winning a championship to dominating the sport via Schumacher. The mix is filled with the raw energy that season had to offer.
The home of British motorsport, Silverstone hosted the first World Championship race since 1950 and has since staged the British Grand Prix more than 50 times. It’s one of only four Grand Prix from the first year of the World Championship to remain a part of today’s F1 calendar (the others being Monaco, Spa and Monza). Lewis Hamilton currently holds the most pole positions (7) and most wins (8) - in 2020 Lewis won the race with only three fully inflated tyres. There is yet to be a British Grand Prix at Silverstone in which all of the top three on the grid finish the race in the same order as they started. And some of the most iconic images in F1 were produced at the conclusion of the 1991 British Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna had run out of fuel at the end of the race and was stranded on the circuit as a result. Race winner Nigel Mansell stopped for the Brazilian and gave him a lift back to the pits on the side of his Williams car.
Introduce yourself?
My name is Lewis Lowe, I’m based in Glasgow, from the north east of Scotland originally. I busy myself with running a record label called Redstone Press, DJing, organising parties and occasionally making music. That and trying in vain to watch all the races and not get spoilers from Chanel/my F1 groupchat.
Who’s your favourite driver?
From this current crop, I would say Lando Norris. He is really starting to show some consistent form and maturity as a driver but also is still a weirdo and hasn’t let the press/media training make him a robot yet. He seems like a very genuinely lovely person, which was compounded by his first win and literally every driver going up to congratulate him. Loved that moment!
What’s your favourite race? And if you had to pick a track to sum up that race what would it be?
For me Spa is the best, a proper racing track with lots of fast overtaking options. The starting straight into that insanely fast uphill corner always blows my mind. It’s one of those rare moments you can actually gauge the speed the cars are actually going. Also it often rains which throws everything into chaos which makes watching it way more fun too. The song is CJ Bolland - The Prophet. Firstly they are both Belgian but mainly because it’s got those hard intense fast drums and these crazy synths and acid lines that I could totally hear dubbed over an in car video of Hakinen/Schumacher driving the circuit. Like proper grainy in car footage style!
What is it that draws you to Formula 1? Do you find yourself drawing influence from the sport?
It started with my dad being a total petrol head when I was a kid. He’s raced cars for as long as I can remember and so I’d be on track at races with him or helping him in the paddock and so naturally looked up to F1 as the pinnacle of all of that. These days it’s still that feeling, plus seeing the very cutting edge in technology used to create these cars, that then is used in lots of everyday stuff we use.
I guess so, I haven’t really ever thought about it in that way. Maybe the fact that they are so absolutely collectively focussed influences my motivation to emulate but within music stuff?. Maybe without all the infighting, allegiance swapping and ridiculous amounts of money though… haha!
What are some of your favourite memories watching Formula 1?
Growing up my stand out memories are of my dad grumbling about the stupid questions they would ask drivers on the grid walk or after the race! I still laugh when I hear similar questions now as it reminds me of my dad. In the last few years I’ve been watching it with my group of friends in Glasgow and via a wider ranging group chat. Sitting with your pals on a Sunday and watching the race after a couple of late nights out is the perfect cure.
As we’re putting you in the driver’s seat for this series, what would be your go to hype track or mix to listen to before a race?
Rage Against The Machine - Bullet In The Head. It starts out chill and builds and builds up then explodes. Zack de la Rocha’s voice is so distinctive and builds the tension throughout and you can tell it’s going to go nuts but it's balanced throughout. That’s the energy I would be bringing to the race, for good or bad!
Every driver has their own pre-race rituals from Max Verstappen playing FIFA on the morning of race day to Michael Schumacher peeing his race suit before the race started. When you are about to head to a gig or to the studio, what helps you get in the headspace for the environment you are about to enter?
I have to shout out Alice Gordon on this, I was super nervous before a gig a few years ago and she told me to do these made arm swinging movements and breathing exercises and it totally worked! I do that for particularly nerve wracking moments. That and a quick toilet break just before.
During intense touring periods or dealing with creative blocks, what is your favourite way to disconnect?
I have recently started going to the gym a lot and have a personal trainer (shout out Henry Morris of Field Maneuvers/Secret Tory fame). It’s something that takes all my focus so all other issues cease to exist for that period of time. I usually have solved the problem subconsciously by the time I leave or am in a far better headspace to approach whatever it is that’s causing me problems.
Do you usually have a go-to solution for when you’re feeling creatively tired?
Yeah I stop completely, step away from it for a period of time and do something nice for myself. Can be anything really as long as it’s nothing to do with music. I used to just push through but it wasn’t a sustainable way of doing things. Much better to take a break and come back with energy/motivation than do something half arsed, especially when working creatively with others, like artists on Redstone Press. All fine and well doing something half baked for yourself but it’s not fair to bring that energy to a collaboration.
What was your approach to creating this mix? Any anecdotes related to the soundbites used within it?
This mix is focussed solely on the 1999/2000 race seasons. It is a specific time I remember well and my favourite era of F1. It’s the transition period when Ferrari went from not winning a championship to dominating the sport via Schumacher. All of the music in the mix is from 1999/2000 and I wanted it to kinda match my memories of the type of energy/vibe it was during that time. It felt a lot more raw, I guess because I was 9/10 years old haha. The soundbites and music follow the story of those two seasons, broken up by a pre-season interview with Michael Schumacher that kinda tees up the next few years. I also wanted to include Murray Walker as his voice is one that is instantly recognisable from that era.
What are you most looking forward to for the 2024 season?
For sure the faltering of Red Bull… I love it when it’s far more competitive and there are more than 1 or 2 teams battling for first place. It’s already kind of begun and I’m hoping it continues. It also helps me to loosen some of the built up dislike of Verstappen hahaha.