Mo’ Wax — Where Are They Now: Step (1993)
Mo’ Wax was a record label started by James Lavelle in 1992, which closed about ten years later. Initially they released 12" singles and licensed a compilation from Japan of Japanese Hip Hop, until 1994 when they began releasing albums of their artists original work. While some of these artists such as DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, and Money Mark continued releasing music after Mo’ Wax closed, others have seemingly disappeared from the music scene. In this series I will look at each artist on Mo’ Wax and try to find out where are they now…
In the beginning of 1993 Mo’ Wax had released its fourth release, and continued to put out 12" singles by artists such as Federation, and Mistura, primarily still within a Jazz sound, as well as releases by RPM, Palm Skin Productions, El-Malo, and DJ Shadow, which were more Hip Hop influenced. This was the beginning of a shift from Mo’ Wax’s Acid Jazz roots towards what would become Trip Hop. But for its final release of 1993, and their 16th 12" single, Mo’ Wax released If by Step, a Jazz 12" with remixes for the clubs.
Step, as the promo explained, was a new group and not associated with anyone else by that name. The group was made up of Tom Rust and Nigel Goulding, and was their only collaboration as Step, with their Discogs showing that If was the only song the group ever released. I reached out to Goulding in May 2020 and he explained how Step came about:
We got involved with Mo Wax after Tom went into James Lavelle’s record shop in West London with our demo tape. We only released one song because there were musical differences between Tom and I when we started recording the next songs for Mo Wax. This was a studio project and we never performed live unfortunately.
He went on to explain that If was the culmination of three years of writing demos between the pair, but that unfortunately it became their only release.
Outside of its 12", If was released on the Japanese compilations Mo’ Wax Record Presents: Mo’ Groove Vol.1 in July 1993, and The Best Of Jazz Not Jazz 1993 in December 1993, and in the UK on Mo’ Wax’s Royaltie$ Overdue in 1994. While these all contain the same song, the 12" contains four different versions of If:
If (7/8 Klub Version)
If (4/4 Radio Version)
If (Perc & Drum Mix)
If (Accapella Version)
The promo describes the 7/8 Klub Version as “a long, complex piece of polyrhythmic pleasure that’s well worth taking the time to get to know intimately.” While noting, “it may well daze and confuse in places on initial hearing but played loud, long and strong it will provide maximum pleasure and aural euphoria.” The promo calls the 4/4 Radio Version a “shorter” and “tighter” radio friendly version, but again suggests that people go straight to the 7/8 version, and this is the version which appears on 1994’s Royaltie$ Overdue and the Japanese compilations.
The promo notes don’t reveal much more about the release, and explain that James Lavelle, “a man who usually has a whole lot to say about his musical merchandise…has been uncharacteristically quiet about” Step. Little else is known about If, other than that the song did well outside of the UK, particularly in Japan according to Tom Rust, and that Mo’ Wax released the 12" in two colour variations. Reviews from the period were high with praise for Rust’s vocals, with one review describing the song as “an absolute stunner, even judging by Mo’ Wax’s high standards.”
While this was the only released collaboration between Nigel Goulding and Tom Rust, it wasn’t the last time either of them worked within the music industry, with both continuing to release music over the decades and both have been active recently, touring, collaborating, and releasing music.
Nigel Goulding first shot to fame in 1987 when he reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart with I Wanna Be Your Drill Instructor. The song was a collaboration with Abigail Mead, aka Vivian Kubrick, and it appeared on the soundtrack for her father Stanley Kubrick’s film Full Metal Jacket. Goulding also makes an appearance in the film, his sole acting credit on IMDB. His next release would be on Step’s If, followed by his work with Jazz singer Rose Tait. Tait had taken a songwriting class by Goulding in 2004 and continued taking piano lessons from him before they began writing songs together which became her debut album, The One. The album was released in 2011 with Goulding contributing keyboards and percussion, as well as producing, arranging and working as Music Director.
In the 1990’s Goulding had met the artists Dorte Østergaard Jakobsen and Jakob Berg, and they began collaborating, with Goulding providing soundscapes for Jakobsen’s installations, and in 2012 Goulding’s soundscapes accompanied Jakobsen’s work in galleries in Norway and Denmark. Goulding has continued working Jakobsen, composing music for Jakobsen’s exhibitions. In 2013 Goulding released an album of piano solos entitled Unfinished Spring, which were developed from improvisations and inspired by “Eric Satie, Ludovico Enaudi, Thomas De Hartmann & Gurdjieff and Arvo Part”. This was followed in 2020 by the singles Blot and Under Over Fladen, both of which originated as peices for Dorte Østergaard Jakobsen’s exhibitions of the same names.
Tom Rust meanwhile had been signed to Atlantic Records in his twenties before meeting Nigel Goulding and forming Step. In 1994 Rust released a song called Small Area which appears on the Groove Oil compilation, and in 2000 he released his debut album Saints & Singers with the Malcolm Edmonstone Trio, which was followed by Are We There Yet? in 2010. Rust has become popular singing at private events, and in the Spring 2011 issue of Confeti he discussed performing on a private yacht in Abu Dhabi, several private parties and weddings, as well as performing in the VIP suite at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Most recently in 2019 Rust has released a new single Mr. P, and he continues to tour and perform at weddings and private events.
Note: This story was updated with additional information regarding Step on May 24 2020 after Nigel Goulding replied to an interview request.
