First look at new mural celebrating world-renowned musician and his 'love letter' to Leeds music history
The mural was commissioned as Nightmares on Wax releases his latest album, which is a nod to the city’s pirate radio scene
- A new mural has appeared on the side of Hyde Park Picture House, celebrating one of Leeds’ most world-renowned musicians.
- Nightmares on Wax has released his latest album, a love letter to Leeds, including the pirate radio scene of yesteryear.
- The picture house was chosen as it represents one of the few formative venues in the musician’s youth still standing today.
One of the UK’s most influential electronic producers is currently being celebrated with a mural adorning the side of an equally influential Leeds establishment.
A mural dedicated to George Evelyn, known to many as Nightmares on Wax, has recently been completed on the side of Hyde Park Picture House, in honour not only of the group’s history with the city but as a ‘love letter’ to the history of Leeds’ music scene.
The producer's latest album, Echo45 Sound System, directly references his youth and the pirate radio culture that defined his early career.
As Evelyn has explained: “Some people have this sliding doors moment in their lives, and mine was discovering this speakerbox. Everything stems from it; it’s the lynchpin behind my whole career.”
The ‘Echo45’ name itself is a nod to a battered speaker box he bought as a teenager, inspired by the enormous reggae rigs of his childhood. Growing up in Hyde Park, Evelyn was deeply influenced by local reggae sound systems, particularly Messiah, which was run by Clifford Smith.
Evelyn recalls watching the crew build their monumental speakerboxes in a lock-up opposite his school, and listening from outside as the deep dub and reggae bass rattled the windows of local youth clubs.
The illegal airwaves were equally important to the burgeoning electronic scene. Pirate radio stations like Dream FM (1992–1995), known for broadcasting House, Techno, and Jungle, and Peoples FM , which championed Soul and Reggae, provided the crucial, unfiltered platform for music that the mainstream ignored.
The album is styled as a pirate radio broadcast, weaving in vocal drops from UK scene elders to pay homage to this pivotal era.
The mural ties into this local history, given that the Picture House is one of the formative venues from Evelyn’s youth that is still standing today - and is even included in a recent video from the album, ‘True’ featuring Sadie Walker.
Evelyn's work, which began as a group project in 1988, has been fundamental to the UK electronic music landscape. He is Warp Records’ longest-serving artist, creating music that is often credited as pioneering downtempo electronica and trip-hop.
Albums such as Smokers Delight (1995) and Carboot Soul (1999) cemented his reputation as a master of atmosphere and groove, weaving together chill-out textures with deep, soulful rhythms.
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