ShareJeremy ‘Jez’ Cunningham, (seen here on the left), bass player and founding member of the English folk rock band, Levellers, chats with Kevin Cooper about playing The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, starting their own festival, Beautiful Days, the release of their latest album, Levellers Collective/Live and their 2025 tour of the UK.
Jeremy ‘Jez’ Cunningham is bass player with English folk rock band, Levellers, formed in1988 and taking their name from the 17th century political movement, Levellers.
They released their first EP, Carry Me, in 1989 and their debut album, A Weapon Called The World in 1990 which went platinum. In 1991 they released their second studio album, Levelling The Land, which saw them attract international success.
The band were amongst the most popular indie bands in Britain in the early 1990s and they performed at The Glastonbury Festival, first in 1992 and then again in 1994 where they performed as the headline act on The Pyramid Stage to a record crowd of 300,000 people.
In 1994 the band purchased a derelict factory in Brighton and created a self contained headquarters that housed their offices, fan club, rehearsal area, a bar and a recording studio that was initially equipped with gear bought from Tom Robinson.
In 2003 the Levellers founded their own festival, Beautiful Days. The festival is now an annual event, taking place each August at Escot Park in Devon.
Levellers have released a total of fourteen albums and have recently released an acoustic album called Collective/Live which was recorded at The Hackney Empire London on 24th May 2023.
They continue to record and tour, and whilst busy rehearsing Jez Cunningham took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.
Jez good morning, how are you today?
I’m good thank you Kevin, how are you?
I’m very well thank you and before we move on let me thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.
No worries, it’s a pleasure.
And just how is life treating you at this moment in time?
It’s alright thank you (laughter). I’m managing to keep myself busy (laughter)
We have to talk about the upcoming tour but first, can we speak about the latest album, The Levellers Collective / Live.
Of course, go for it.
Well I have to tell you that I love it.
That’s great to hear, thank you.
Are you all happy with it?
Me personally I am really happy with it, yes. To me it was just another live gig but having said that, I did help out with the editing of the album. Also, I had a hand in the video and I have to say that was a lot of work but no, it really was great.
I think that the album totally captures the essence of the band. Would you agree with that?
Yes I would totally agree with you on that. Plus, I have to tell you that there is no studio trickery going on; it is what it is and you get what you get, you know. It is just how it was on the night so it is really old school in that sense.
I was going to ask you if there were any overdubs on the album.
No (laughter). We do this with our live stuff; we usually just live with it, in fact, all of our albums are recorded live in the studio. Having said that we do overdub them, stuff like backing vocals, but we are all very much into live recording.
So whose idea was it for you to record a live acoustic album?
I think that would have been Steve who runs our record label. It was Steve who also directed the video.
The thing that struck me when I was listening to the album was the sound quality; it really is fantastic.
That’s all down to the mix by Charlie (Heather) who is the percussionist in the band, and Jonathan ‘Jon’ (Sevink) who plays the fiddle and violin. They mixed the album and I have to say that they took a long time doing it and they got it sounding as big and as fat as they could.
Are there any songs not on the album that you now wish they were?
I think that the whole gig is on there so no, for that one show we managed to capture everything.
You have a provisional release date of Friday 7th March, is that still ready to go?
Yes, it is. The album will be coming out just as we start our tour.
Once the album is finished and you have a release date, are you ever tempted to go back and meddle?
No, not unless it absolutely has to be done. Before those mixes were finalised, and sent out to everyone in various states, we all have a voice in the final product. So, usually everything that needs doing is done before. We all have very similar tastes in just how we like things to sound. As you know I take care of the artwork side of things whilst John takes care of all the music side of things. I know that if he has got it then he is going to make a good job of things. He will either do it himself or he will give it to someone who he trusts. I have to say that I trust him to get the bests results.
Do you have a favourite track to perform live?
It would most probably one of the tricky ones; Wheels is really hard to play in that acoustic arrangement. I quite enjoy that especially as it is a challenge. Thinking about it my favourite would have to be England My Home. That, to me, is a typical Levellers song, with all of its iterations. So I would most probably have to say that one.
On Friday 14th March you are here in Nottingham playing at The Royal Concert Hall. Do you enjoy your time spent here in Nottingham?
Yes I do but this will be our first time at the Royal Concert Hall. I have driven past it loads of times but I have never actually been inside (laughter). We usually do pretty well whenever we play Nottingham so what can I say, I’m not worried about it (laughter).
Do you still get that buzz out of touring or has it become a necessary evil?
To be totally honest with you, I actually feel as though I love touring more now than I ever have done funnily enough. I think that I am more grateful now than when I was young. I feel that I took it for granted when I was young, simply because it really is a young man’s game, touring really. We try to keep it at a level where we all can still do it and enjoy it basically. We no longer flog ourselves to death with really long tours. The forthcoming tour is probably the longest that we do, some three and a half to four weeks. So I am actually enjoying it more than I ever have done.
What can we expect?
What can I say, the usual type of Levellers show really. What I will say is that we won’t be playing the same set list as is on the album, although there will be some tracks the same obviously. We will be playing a totally new set list. Having said that we are currently in discussions to finalise exactly what tracks will be going on that. So, it will be a mix of the acoustic albums and now the live one so three acoustic albums in total plus two or three songs that you have never heard before, in that iteration. We will be rearranging some of the old stuff as we go (laughter).
Is there any new material in the pipeline?
Yes, there is. We are just revving up to get things started now as we speak. So, basically we are all currently talking about it (laughter).
You co-formed the band back in 1988 now some thirty- seven years on, if someone had told you back then that you would still be writing, recording and performing today, what would you have said to them?
That’s easy; I would have said “you are absolutely crazy” It’s only The Rolling Stones that do that sort of thing (laughter). Now everyone is doing it so why not the Levellers (laughter). I have been doing this since I was 22 years old, and I don’t know how to do anything else. I am totally institutionalised in the music game and I have to say, very happily so (laughter).
Putting you firmly on the spot, at what point in your career did you feel the most musically satisfied?
Good question, just where did that come from (laughter). To be totally honest with you it is really hard because probably it would have been right at the beginning; probably when we recorded our first ever single, Carry Me, and then right after that when we did our last album, Peace. I really like the bookends of it; the first album and the last seem to be my favourite ones.
In your opinion what is the secret to the bands longevity?
I think that it is partly down to just being aware that the noise that we make is bigger than the sum of its parts. Plus we made some really good decisions back in the day when we were young like when we decided before we ever made any money, because we didn’t make any money for two or three years, we agreed that if we did ever make any money, everybody was going to get paid an equal share. Regardless of who was writing the songs and who was doing what, everyone gets paid the same. So that decision took arguments about the money out of the equation right from the very beginning. That is what we did and that is what we still do. So we don’t argue about money which is what breaks up most bands.
Looking back do you have any regrets?
I try not to have too many regrets. Having said that I regret having used so many drugs, as you know I did have a really bad drug problem for a while, I regret that a bit. I often sit and think ‘is there really any point in having regrets’ so I don’t regret it in a big way, but if there was anything that I could change, it would most probably be “just say no kids” (laughter).
What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?
That would most probably have to be the Levellers starting our very own festival, Beautiful Days. It was Mark (Chadwick’s) idea, and being honest with you I thought that he was totally insane (laughter). I honestly thought that he was mental, but I could see just how excited he was about it so I thought I’m not going to strike him down, I was just going to see where it goes. To be honest I wasn’t expecting to see it go anywhere. And it did go somewhere, and after the gig he actually pulled all of us aside, and said “come on let’s all watch the fireworks together” and so we all left the stage and went off to watch the fireworks together.
He said to us, “this is something to be really proud of, we have held our very first festival” and I was like “fuck me, we have” (laughter). It was no thanks to me, thinking that it would be a total disaster (laughter). So thinking about it, I would have to say that is one of our lasting achievements.
And what about 1994 when you played The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury with three hundred thousand people watching you that must come close?
Yes, I have to say that was good (laughter). I’m not going to complain about that (laughter). I have to say that I am kind of chuffed when you Google who has had the biggest crowd ever at Glastonbury and our name comes up (laughter). That is never going to change.
I have to ask, just how did you get involved with designing all of the Levellers Art Work?
Stupidly enough I actually volunteered my services (laughter). When I met Mark and we started the band I soon realised that the words that we were singing I could really design some art work to enhance the songs. Mark has a very good artistic eye, and he reins in my excesses and keeps the Levellers stuff easy to understand (laughter). If you look at the painting that I do under my own name it’s fucking crazy and Mark didn’t want it going as mental as that (laughter). Which I have to say is absolutely right.
So between us we came up with what you now see as the Levellers style. We knew from the start that we were never going to have a ‘band look’, we were never going to all be wearing the same suits or anything like that but we were aware that we needed a really strong image which people could grab hold of and copy easily. That is how the art work style came about.
What was the first record that you bought?
That was English Civil War by The Clash.
Who did you first see performing live?
That would have been AC/DC on their Highway To Hell UK tour. They played at The Brighton Centre which really was a right result. Let There Be Rock is still to this day one of my top five albums. It was one of the first records that I bought and I still love it, that and Give ‘Em Enough Rope by The Clash. They are still my two favourite guitar albums. They knew how to put on a fucking good show those fellas.
What was the last song or piece of music that made you cry?
Fucking hell, just where did that come from (laughter). My cat passed away just before Christmas, and I was really fucking upset about that. In fact, I still am because he was my only companion for the last ten years. And for lots of reasons Harder Than You Think by Public Enemy really did get to me. It made me shed a tear or two for the old days.
On that note Jez, let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me today, it’s been brilliant. And just to let you know, I will be photographing and reviewing the show here in Nottingham.
(Laughter) in that case Kevin let’s hope that we are not shit. It’s been good talking to you. Take care and make sure that you come and say hello when we get to Nottingham.
