Mount Kimbie: Interview

Last week i had the pleasure of watching Mount Kimbie perform live for the first time in my hometown, the grim n gritty, northern city of Liverpool. I hadn’t expected that i would be able to get close to them prior to the show, but as i stood eagerly waiting for the support acts to finish over a pint and some conversation in the smoking area of The Shipping Forecast. In the corner of my eye, i spotted Kai talking to a fan and i became aware of the chance to conduct an impromptu pre-show interview, right then.

Dashing around to find writing material, i hastily penned some questions that had already dawned on my mind about Mount Kimbie.

So, conducted in the drafty storage room on the top floor of the club, (props toAbandon silence for the set-up) i held down my first interview.

Both Dom and Kai are seriously easy-going, freindly to talk to and very humble about their work despite such attention they have received over the last months. We begin the interview and they were more than happy to talk and discuss the questions with me but also with one another, bouncing questions back and forth between themselves that made them appear to be very passionate about what they do and interested in engaging with their fan base.

I believe this is your first Liverpool show, have either of you been here before and how are you feeling about the show tonight?

Kai answers on behalf of Dom, ‘He’s been here before for when he was younger with his mates i think, but i’ve not ever been here myself but I’m quite excited for tonight, the crowds are always different wherever you go in the UK’, Dom responds, ‘Yeah, I’ve not seen the place much though, it was winter time and really cold but strangely, still all the girls were wearing little clothing’. I laughed and told them thats just how the girls are round here whatever the weather.

So, how is the tour going so far, this is your first organized tour right? Has it been a great experience?

Kai answers, ‘So far, the tour has been really successful, we’ve been doing a lot of shows around Europe and were quite surprised how popular they’ve been. We did a month long tour in the US and that was well received, a lot of the fans were grateful and always thanked us at shows, just in recognition of the distance we had travelled to play for them’. I then ask,

How do the shows across the water compare to playing here in the UK?

Dom added, ‘I don’t think it was something we really expected, but the US was very accommodating, the live shows in the UK are getting better every time, the audiences are always a lot steadier here than overseas and it’s good because it can be a difficult scene to break here, as so many decent artists are getting known at the moment’.

I’ve read an interview where you mention that some of the acoustics were recorded in a tunnel in Brighton where the natural reverb was really heavy, i had my assumptions that it would be the grotty underpass along the beachfront, is that right?

At this point there is a slight pause, i get some rather bewildering looks from the two of them, they stare at each other and try to fathom an answer, i knew it was a stupid question to ask but Dom responds,

‘You know, actually it was an underpass in my hometown Saltdean that gives off this really eerie impression, The both of us and James Blake were drinking one night and were singing when we ended up walking down there and were amused with the sound and then we came back a few weeks later with guitars and took down some recordings that really worked, so we used them’.

Do you have any favorite producers coming out of the UK scene at the moment, any particular DJs perhaps?

Both Dom and Kai appear to be very selective of who they choose to name drop and I’m certain they must share very similar tastes as they both agree and mention almost simultaneously that they don’t currently listen to much dubstep or dance music, but they do like Deadboy, which reminded Kai of something he had forgot to do earlier, and so he rushes off to get Deadboy on the guestlist for their show as apparently he was also in town. When Kai returns, Dom mentions…

‘We’ve both been really keen on Wu Lyf at the moment, a group from Manchester that are producing really good music, we are also into some bands from Australia’, Kai Nods and adds, ‘We’re always updated on whatever James (Blake) is doing as well, we caught up with him at his show in Poland recently, he was mixing with vinyl as opposed to his live performance shows.’

Ive heard a lot about the differences between James Blakes’ live shows and his DJ sets, many people i’ve spoke to say his live performances are much more interesting.

Dom answers, ‘I suppose James is a lot more technically able with using software like Ableton, obviously his shows are a lot tighter when he performs this way but his DJ sets are also getting a lot cleaner’.

James Blakes output is multi-faceted, producing music under a different moniker as well as having a background in more traditional musical approaches, maybe it is what makes his performances different each time?

Both Dom and Kai agree to this point, Dom adds ‘James is also a very emotional musician, if he’s not feeling up for a live show, he won’t play it, he does what he feels like and if he’s happy or sad, it comes out in his choice of performance’.

You both seem very close with James Blake personally, at once he featured in your live performances, is their ever going to be a return to this, are there any collaborations in stall for the future?

Kai makes a point of saying that, ‘Time constraints mean it’s very difficult to work together at current times, we’re no longer being able to pass music back and forth to work on ideas together, and as well James is very busy with his own music and touring, especially with the promo for his new album’. Dom adds, ‘It’s possible in the future we may do the live thing again, there’s nothing planned so far for producing a track together though, but it will definitely happen’.

So, what’s next for Mount Kimbie, what can we expect in the coming months?

Dom says, ‘Were having a few weeks off over the new year period but then we’re back touring again up until end of February and then we will start to question what’s next. So far though, we haven’t got plans to be releasing anything over the next few months’.

I can tell Kai is itching to get back in the club, or at least to get a drink at this point and as he fiddles around with his phone, i manage to ask one last question.

What advice do you both have for new producers or DJs trying to break into the UK bass scene currently, how did it happen for you?

Kai was very certain on his answer to this question and suggested that, ‘If your consciously trying to ‘break into’ any scene, your probably going about it the wrong way, always do your thing, keep making music and performing for people, give it time and if your getting the elements right, people will take notice, but don’t push it’, Dom nods, and it’s clear that there is a very clear unity in mind and ideas between them both.

I WRITE ELSEWHERE!

Today im very proud to say im an official writer for Kid City blog, it mostly features material about left field electronic music but has a great list of resources and a snazzy visual aesthetic to the site. Im extremely excited to be a part of this project and i hope you will all take time to read my posts, when you can. This is my first, thanks.

Thrillhouse

The PS2 has sold 145.4 million units worldwide as of June 30, 2010, making it currently the best selling console. It reached UK shelves in 2000 and went on retail at £300, i bought mine at a respectable price of £200, or thereabouts, mostly still content with my old PS1.


Im somewhat like Millhouse nowadays, content with simple games like the cup & ball, I no longer use the console so today i took it back to the very shop i purchased it from and traded it back for cash, its a shame and a testament to the relentless pace of technology that the pocket money i received in exchange was less than 5% of that price i originally paid for. I suppose i shouldn't really be so discontent that gaming technology has moved on so rapidly, it was this pace that brought about such a console, so im glad im still not playing them if its an indication of technology in the future of gaming consoles.


This is the receipt, as you can see i received £6 for the console including a controller, 50p each for various games, one game at £1.40, an official 8MB memory card for £1 and a ridiculous 10p for an official controller.

The Tomorrow People

The Tomorrow People, was a kids sci-fi TV series broadcast in the UK on ITV (can you beleive it?!) in the 70's, it was way before my time but besides the point as i recently watched a few early episodes on an old VHS i found. Apart from the obvious feelings of jealousy i had from not being brought up in a time where mainstream television was educational and interesting, i was also in awe of the opening credits and it appears someone else it too, so they uploaded it onto youtube for us all to applaud its glow-light sci-fi psychedelica. Kids wouldn't be allowed to be exposed to this type of program these days, i would think it would make them think funny things.

Amsterdam 2 Berlin

For the last 4 weeks i have been hitch hiking, couch surfing and hostel tramping in the Netherlands and Germany, its been a fantastic adventure, many genuine friends have been made and i have plenty of inspiration to draw upon. I would like to be able to detail all the nuances of the trip but i doubt it would make for a very interesting blog post to people who didn't share the experience.

Here are a collection of some of my favorite photographs from my recent travels:

Elliots tobacco tin, my sunglasses and our final destination.

Take the free ferry to Amsterdam Noord, ten minutes across the water you get the feeling that this is where the hip locals really hang about, its mostly free from tourists and has a great abandoned industrial feel, there is an MTV headquarters oddly enough sitting between heaps of strange re-appropriated sculptures, an indoor skatepark, all sorts of old buildings i presume are currently being squatted, many many walls where local writers have battled for supremacy and an unusual bar restaurant named cafe noorderlicht. on the way there you may catch a glimpse of this old war sub that some absolute don has had the courage to put up a quick one. If you want to act like you know, know how to act.

There is tons of information on street art in Berlin by people who know heaps more than i do, so i wont be posting up all my lo-res shots of famous pieces. In addition the streets are usually dressed in mounds of fly posters that compete constantly for every little space available, some of them more sincere than other, i liked these, i doubt the artists are trying to sell me anything.

I was fortunate to be staying close to the TV tower so navigation at night was easy, it wasn't the darkness that made it difficult.

If you ever wondered why so many Germans are always looking through bins, its because for every plastic and glass bottle, they can make a certain amount of money, so for those who don't have any social superiority issues or may be hard up for cash it makes sense to collect. This guy was my personal favorite (notice the pot belly, kid rock t-shirt and hot pants),  there is also a man who cycles round the Kreuzberg district of Berlin with a tricycle that reads "kings of the bottles". No wonder Germany has such a fantastic environmental track record.

I doubt such a scheme would exist, or have the ability to exist in the UK. In Hamburg i noticed a few street bookshelves that are filled by the public with old books, the idea is that if you find a book you like, you can take it in exchange for an old book you might not want. Restores for faith a little to know that somewhere in the world there is property left on the street that isn't seen as an opportunity.

Ever heard about the story of the father who battered his son to death with a baguette? This man had the recipe for the best bread in the land, inherited it from his father and it had been in the family long before that. One day a wealthy businessman tried to bribe the recipe from the man for a large sum of money, in which he refused but once his son had overheard his father reciting the recipe he facebooked the businessman to negotiate over the price of the recipe behind his fathers back. Needless to say he got the dough in the end!