20 Questions: Simian Mobile Disco Talks Robert Johnson, US Customs, Pioneertown, and the Meaning of “Whorl”

Somehow, Simian Mobile Disco has only gotten better with age. Initially emerging alongside—and somewhat unfairly lumped in with—the electro-house movement of the mid 2000s, the pair (consisting of synth-obsessed Londoners James Ford and Jas Shaw) has evolved at its own pace, forging a path which eventually landed on Unpatterns, the duo’s spellbinding 2012 LP and most accomplished release to date. In the two years that have followed, the group has only continued to gain momentum, as Simian Mobile Disco has refined its heralded live show while steadily releasing intriguing one-offs and collaborations via its own Delicacies imprint. Now, the pair is set to return to the full-length format, with its upcoming Whorl LP dropping in September via Anti–. The result of a live performance recorded earlier this year in Pioneertown (just outside of Joshua Tree National Park in the desert of Southern California), then mulled over and mixed back at SMD’s headquarters, the next chapter of the outfit’s saga is just around the corner. In the meantime, we’ve tapped Ford and Shaw for a quick session of 20 Questions, in which the pair talks about the sound at Robert Johnson, the headache of going through US customs, and the completely illogical location where Whorl was recorded.

1. Where were you each born?
Jas Shaw: Orpington In Kent.
James Ford: Leek in Staffordshire. Both are small boring towns.

2. As kids growing up, what was the first record that absolutely blew your mind?
JS: Mine was Michael Jackson’s Bad.
JF: Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze.

3. What were the first instruments you learned how to play?
JS: Violin
JF: The flute.

4. What would be your dream collaboration be?
JS: Nina Simone

5. Name a track or artist that you think is criminally underrated.
JS: Broadcast

Simian Mobile Disco setting up for a jam session in the desert.

6. What possession have you owned for the longest?
JS: My bike and my first guitar.

7. Of all the places you could have recorded the building blocks for a new album, why a saloon located in Pioneertown, California?
JS: We have been asked this a few times and, honestly, there is no logical reason. It just seemed like a good idea. It was inconvenient, expensive, made no sense, and I’m really glad we did it. It gave us a deadline and a focal point.

8. Is there a meaning behind the name of the album project, Whorl?
JS: There are many meanings to “whorl.” The one that led us to the word is that it’s a pattern of spirals or concentric circles which relate pretty easily to cyclical sequencer patterns.

9. Though you only used one synth and one sequencer for the recording of your upcoming record, is there a particular piece of gear that has been instrumental to building the SMD catalog?
JS: The bit of gear that’s been on the road with us the longest is one of the modular synths that we tour with.

Whorl

10. What is the worst thing about visiting/touring the US?
JS: US customs. Guys, we know you have a job to do but be gentle with our kit, please.

11. What’s your ideal day off?
JS: A day on.

12. Do you have any pre-performance rituals?
JS: No one actually does that stuff. It’s all lies.

13. From start to finish, how long does it usually take you to complete a song?
JS: Not too long actually, but that’s not taking into account all the tracks we ditch. We like to make lots of stuff quickly, and then choose the best tracks later.

14. Do you have any techniques for moving past creative blocks?
JS: Ditch it and do another. Don’t be precious.

15. What non-electronic records have you found yourself listening to lately?
JS: Murder ballads.

Recording Whorl in Pioneertown (photo via Nick Willis/Thump)

16. What would say is your ideal listening environment?
JS: Robert Johnson—small and perfectly designed.

17. If you went back in a time machine and played the 2007 versions of SMD the music you’re releasing now, what would they say?
JS: I think they would get it.

18. Are we alone in the universe or is there something or someone else out there?
JS: Like woah! Statistically, it’d be odd if there wasn’t other stuff out there. I don’t think they’d bother traveling all that way in a Jetsons-style flying saucer just to abduct hillbillies though. Seems a bit silly.

19. What was the last thing you Googled?
JS: We recently tricked someone into googling “gnat’s chuff.” They are definitely on a list now.

20. What’s the first thing you’ll do after answering these questions?
JS: Get back to mixing our record.

Jon Phonics “Face of Spades”

In the hands of Jon Phonics, the funk is very much still alive. The London transplant—who also runs the Astral Black label/club night—is set to issue his White Neckle EP next week, from which “Face of Spades” has been pulled. Spanning over just two minutes, the track is led by a walking bassline, which sags just behind the tune’s slightly skittered drum programming. To this base, the producer adds thick analog chords, which pulse and swell languidly around the funk-swung beat. Set to be appear in 7″ vinyl form, Jon Phonics’ White Neckle EP is out on July 7 via the First Word label.

Face of Spades

Robert Hood Details Upcoming 12″ as Monobox

With Detroit techno veteran Robert Hood‘s M-Plant marking its 20th anniversary this year, the label has seen a flux in output over the past few months, including a forthcoming 12″ of Protein Valve re-edits and a recent Floorplan remix record. Now, details have surfaced for an upcoming release under Hood’s Monobox moniker, due to drop at the end of the month. According to an interview with RBMA earlier this year, Hood’s Monobox project aimed to “approach minimalism from an alien, futuristic perspective.” It’s been 11 years since the former Underground Resistance member’s last release under the alias (for French label Logistic), but the two-track 12″ will reintroduce his earlier productions “Rectangle” and “Film,” the latter of which is also set to appear on Berlin techno mainstay Marcel Dettmann’s forthcoming Fabric 77 mix.

M-Plant will release “Film” b/w “Rectangle” on July 28, and artwork has been posted below.

Stream Jerome LOL’s and Samo Sound Boy’s Debut LP as DJ Dodger Stadium

Friend of Mine, the debut LP from Los Angeles producers and Body High co-heads Jerome LOL and Samo Sound Boy (who together operate as DJ Dodger Stadium) can now be heard in full.

After showing us around their studio last week, the pair’s upcoming full-length effort is streaming via Pitchfork Advance, with its 10 lean club constructions accompanied by grainy footage of an afternoon in LA. Set to drop in Mid-July via Body High, DJ Dodger Stadium’s Friend of Mine LP can be heard in its entirety here.

Preview Tuff City Kids’ Upcoming Remix 12″ for Numbers

Tuff City Kids (a.k.a. Running Back label head Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer) have been tasked with reworking “Portland,” a track originally released in 2002 by Glaswegian producer Dave Clark’s Sparky moniker, and which was reissued (alongside a remix from Ricardo Villalobos) by the Numbers imprint last year. Soon, the forthcoming Portland (Tuff City Kids Remixes) 12″ will offer a pair of reworks of the track from Janson and Lauer, with the a-side’s “Looney Mix” focusing on acid lines and sci-fi textures, while the b-side’s “TB Mix” buries its acid tweaks beneath thick, filtered chords.

Before the 12″ sees an official release on July 28, the two new remixes from Tuff City Kids can be previewed below.

Download a “Live Analog Jam” from Throwing Snow

With the release of his Mosaic LP via the Houndstooth label last month (a record we spoke at length with the producer about for a recent Deep Inside feature), Throwing Snow has kept himself busy, dropping a new mix earlier in the week and now providing a free download of an analog jam session. A live reinterpretation of Mosaic track “As You Fall,” the new production is said to incorporate the Korg Volca Beats and Keys units alongside a Kaoss Pad, the Arturia MicroBrute, and Ableton’s Push controller. Spanning just over six minutes, Throwing Snow’s new free offering can be streamed below and downloaded here.

Hanssen “Solar America”

A long-active member of the Pacific Northwest’s electronic music scene, Seattle resident Bob Hansen will issue his debut full-length album as Hanssen later this month (July 28, to be exact) via hometown label Hush Hush. Entitled Seven Years Week, the record is set to explore eight dense electronic hybrids, one of which being “Solar America.” Built around a sparse kick-and-snare pattern, “Solar America” is kept buoyant by a seemingly endless stream of synths, its opening arpeggio sequence combined with swirling pads and glassy melodies to result in an expansive landscape of rich electronic tones.

Solar America

Mike Paradinas to Release New EP as Mu-Ziq

After reestablishing his solo career in recent years, boundary-pushing IDM pioneer µ-Ziq (a.k.a. Mike Paradinas) has revealed plans to release a new EP via his own Planet Mu label next month. Titled Rediffusion, the forthcoming six-track effort will serve as the UK veteran’s first official release in 2014, and will see Paradinas focus on modern beats clad in a veneer of ’90s sonics which have been described in the press release as a “a thing of joy and hazy childhood memories.”

Rediffusion will be released in both digital and vinyl formats on August 11, but before then the tracklist and EP art have been included below.

A01 Taxi Sadness
A02 Rimmy
A03 Prg
B01 Blem
B02 Smeester
B03 Tambor

Marcel Dettmann, John Roberts, Martyn, KiNK, Oneohtrix Point Never, and More Added to Decibel 2014 Line-Up

Seattle’s Decibel Festival will return for its 11th edition this September, brining five days of ambitious electronic performances together for what has become one of the Pacific Northwest’s most essential annual gatherings. Having already announced that the likes of Kode 9, Simian Mobile Disco, Andy Stott, Falty DL, and Riche Hawtin would take part in the 2014 edition of the festival, a second wave of performers has now been revealed.

Of the 60-plus names added to the Decibel line-up are Berlin mainstays Marcel Dettmann and Steffi, Dial affiliate John Roberts, DC-based artist Martyn (pictured above), Bulgarian producer KiNK, and NYC experimentalist Oneohtrix Point Never. In addition, Matrixxman, Recondite, Tensnake, South London Ordnance, Max Cooper, Natasha Kmteo, and Max Cooper have also been added to the bill. Taking place from September 24 to the 28, the complete list of so-far announced acts for the 2014 edition of Decibel can be found on the flier below.

Dopplereffekt and Objekt Announce Split Single for Leisure System

Leisure System, the shape-shifting Berlin label and club night, has shared details of an upcoming 12″ set to feature both legendary Detroit outfit Dopplereffekt and Hessle Audio affiliate Objekt. Entitled Hypnagogia, it is said to have been “borne of mutual inspiration,” with Drexcyan co-founder Gerald Donald returning to the imprint after last year’s Tetrahymena EP. Here, he submits lead cut “Delta Wave”, while the ever-exciting Objekt is on hand to provide “Ganzfeld” on the flip.

There are no clips available at the moment, but it is slated for release on September 1 with the tracklisting included below.

01. Dopplereffekt – Delta Wave
02. Objekt – Ganzfeld

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