We like Tri Angle Records… We like them quite a lot.
So much so in fact, that we made them our Top Label of 2011 and made an exclusive t-shirt and digital compilation with them.

With this in mind, we are quite keen to see what they get up to in 2012. And they already seem to be doing a lot…

They have already announced a European Tour showcasing some of the label’s brilliant roster including Balam Acab, oOoOO, and Holy Other.

02/02/12 – Berghain / Berlin
03/02/12 – Trouw / Amsterdam
04/02/12 – Secret Warehouse / London
08/02/12 – AB Box / Brussels
09/02/12 – Point FMR / Paris

Playing at Tri Angle’s London showcase is their latest signing, The Haxan Cloak.
We decided to catch up with the man himself and discuss his approach to music….

Bleep: Your work seems to have a very cohesive sound palette and atmosphere, what inspired your project The Haxan Cloak?

The Haxan Cloak: The Haxan Cloak comes from a vast array of influences. I seem to have some inclination toward the darker aspects of society and culture. I think this is a main theme that permeates the music I make.

B: Coming from a sound art background, there seems to be a real physicality to your music, what are your interests in sound, and what experience are you trying to convey to the listener?

THC: My interests in sound are absolutely very textural. I feel much more compelled towards tone than I do toward rhythm. I don’t really consider the role of the listener when I am making music, however, I do often hope, in hindsight, that listeners are able to be as engrossed in the sound as I am.

B: Your works seems to build the bridge between the organic and the synthetic, from live instrument recording to digital manipulation. What role does technology play in your music. Does it enhance or hinder?

THC: Technology doesn’t necessarily enhance or hinder, it merely facilitates. I’m not really a huge ‘gear’ person. I like to have as few implements as possible when it comes to making music. The most difficult part of making music is a clear concept. If you don’t have a strong idea that you believe in, no amount of technology can cover that up.

B: How do you approach transferring your music in to a live environment?

THC: I appreciate that an audience likes to hear familiar material, however, I’m not such a huge of fan of recreating my record faithfully in a live context – you may as well listen to the record at home. I take elements of my recordings and essentially remix them live. In this way, the audience still gets a snippet of something they recognise, but they also get to experience something completely new within this familiar framework.

B: You have just signed to Tri-Angle Records, what other contemporary music do you feel inspired by? Is there anyone out there you would like to collaborate with?

THC: I don’t know if I feel inspired by much contemporary music. Some artists I like, off the top of my head are: Actress, Grouper, Eddy Current Supression Ring, Alexander Tucker, Death Grips, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Theo Parish, Hype WIlliams, Beyonce, Lil’ Wayne…I could go on…

I’d like to write music for Matthew Barney, Bela Tarr or Harmony Korine.

B: What have you developed since your album on Aurora Borealis, what should we expect from your upcoming release?

THC: I’ve developed a stronger sense of who I am as an artist and a clearer vision of how I’d like to develop and challenge myself. The next release will be a continuation of textural themes explored on my previous record. It will be more rhythmically driven than the last and will be very different, however, still undeniably mine. I hope.

Holy Other – Feel Something (The Haxan Cloak Remix) by TriAngleRecords

The track above ‘Holy Other – Feel Something (The Haxan Cloak Remix)’ is available to buy now exclusively on Bleep.

In 1996 Blue Angel Recordings (later Blue Planet) an imprint of the legendary Rising High label released the Drum ‘N’ Bass for Papa album by Plug AKA Luke Vibert. In early 2011, Luke Vibert told Ninja Tune that he found some long-lost never heard before DATs dated 1995-1998 from his Plug moniker.

Ninja Tune have none done the graceful thing and just recently released a collection of tracks from the same era with the brilliant “Back On Time” album. It’s pretty brilliant so we decided to have a few words with the man about his Plug side…

Bleep: Has re-listening / re-visiting the Plug project influenced your current music making?

Plug: No – it feels like a different person made it…

B: How has your music making process changed from when you first made Drum ‘n’ Bass for Papa?

P: I used hardware then, sequenced by an ancient Atari, and now I just use my laptop, so it’s pretty different…

B: Is the recording process / production process different from your other material under different monikers?

P: No, I just use whatever I have at the time… I can’t make the music of Plug anymore [or I would!] but it was hours of going through samples then hours of putting them together/cutting them up/arranging them etc… I don’t really have that kind of time these days.

B: Who do you listen to these days?

P: Same old shit as always really…Funk, Jazz, Moog music, Easy Listening, Disco – anything interesting. I hardly ever listen to anything new (perhaps cos I spend so much time making it).

B: Can you envisage producing under another moniker in the future?

P: Sure…especially if I start making stuff that doesn’t really sound like anything I’ve done before (which admittedly hasn’t happened for a while now!). Although my usual reason for new monikers was cos I’d signed with a new record label and had to make a new name up!

“Plug – Back On Time” is available to buy now on “Bleep“

We recently were lucky enough to come across the work of a man called Felix… Felix makes machines and with these machines, he makes music. He has collaborated with Plaid and he has just recently released an EP of his work entitled… Felix’s Machines.

We caught up with the man to ask him about his machines and he also supplied us with a brilliant video showing exactly what the machines do…

Bleep: Who is more responsible for the music, Felix or the Machines?
Felix: The machines are hand-built devices that often create some unexpected mechanism noises. I compose MIDI sequences on a laptop but their physical location and condition determines how they sound, which impacts the way I write the music. As an ensemble of instruments, timings and timbre need to be adjusted to suit specific spaces. Essentially, I write the music but the state of the machines provides a set of rules. I find it helpful to work with this limitation as a guideline for composition.

B: Tell us a bit about the growth of the machines…

F: I started using a rudimentary set of materials. These were taken from wooden piano mechanisms, and I used springs and solenoids salvaged from scrap electronic devices such as typewriters. Over time I’ve got better tools and have added more metallic parts to the machines. I’m gradually learning about materials and ways they’re engineered, and as I do the machines are upgraded.

B: What influences would you say have brought you to where you are today?

F: Melodic/chaotic electronica has influenced me. In particular Plaid, Autechre, Aphex, Squarepusher, Venetian Snares. Visually I like Kinetic sculptures, Futurists, Cubists and Surrealist styles.

B: What is the on the Machine’s rider?

F: Depends on the performance space. For a gallery all the sounds are acoustic and the setup can take a range of forms. Live amplified setups require a selection of mics and careful mixing to ensure there’s no feedback. It takes a day or ideally two to setup. And it needs to be dark.

B: Who would you and the Machines most like to collaborate with?

F: I’ve collaborated in two live performances with Plaid and we’re looking to do more. It would be great to hear other artist’s music composed for the machines, but it can take a while. The machines definitely have a their own characteristics, probably a bit like learning an instrument. Aside from the music side I’d like to expand my designs by collaborating with a company who build drum kits.

B: What plans have you got for the future?
F: My time has recently been taken up with various commission work for brands, but at every given opportunity I keep building and recording the machines. I hope to start putting together another release next year with newer more powerful machines.

Find out more at www.felixsmachines.com
Buy Felix’s Machines EP on Bleep

This week, we are celebrating the 10th birthday of Lex Records… We have even put together an exclusive 50 track bundle of the best tracks of Lex. If you need a little background on the label, have a look at our quick Q&A with Lex below….

Bleep: If you were describing yourselves to someone that knew nothing about Lex Records, what would you say?

Lex Records: 10 year old independent music company based in London and NYC, distributed worldwide. Quality over quantity, focused on artists rather than genres…

B: What have been the highest points of running Lex Records these last 10 years?

LR: Packed out Lex shows in London back in 2003, Danger Mouse splicing Jay-Z with Beatles to create The Grey album in 2004, working with many of our favourite musicians worldwide. Lex 5th anniversary party with Ghostface Killah (who is back in the house with DOOM for our 10th anniversary on Saturday November 5th at the Roundhouse), various festival missions including Coachella and Fondation Vasarely with Boom Bip… it’s been an interesting decade.

B: What has been the lowest point of running Lex Records these last 10 years?
LR: Dodgy distributors, warehouse fires, late artwork, the eternal battle between flagrant rappers and federal agents, the death of John Peel, the turning point when various people began making decisions based on quantity of MySpace plays / Facebook Likes rather than just using their ears.

B: What do you have planned for 2012?
LR: We’ll be moving into film, online content, books and art projects with new projects from most of our core roster of artists including Alan Moore (of Watchmen / V for Vendetta fame), DOOM, Doseone, Jneiro Jarel and Boom Bip… hopefully something Neon Neon shaped too.

B: Where do you see Lex in 10 years time?
LR: Operating from a burning spaceship on the shoulder of Orion with a three-boobed Martian lady on each arm feeding me duck pancakes and char sui buns, Intergalactic FM on the stereo, Pimms in the crunk cup, experiencing Alan Moore’s new film in 4-D hologram format directly piped into my brain… Like tears in rain.

A few weeks ago, we were delivered the fifth album installment from Luke Slater’s Planetary Assault Systems on Ostgut Ton. We decided to catch up with the man himself to discuss where he is at with his music…

Bleep: You have been quoted as saying you promise to ‘create new sounds which are not otherwise present in club music at this time’ on your new album. Can you explain this idea a little further?

Planetary Assault Systems: I think thats a promise I made to myself. Planetary has always been about moving sound around beats, motion and rhythm in unexpected ways that either still work on the dancefloor or work at a pure listening level. My aim is to manage both at the same time. If it works in a club and is valid on a listening level then i’m good. It’s something I always found in early electronic dance music and somthing that makes sense to me. There’s no point in releasing a mediocre record. Do it right. Feel it, let it breathe.

B: What do you think of the current techno landscape? Are there any other artists you particularly admire right now?
P.A.S.: This is a good time for good electronic music, it’s being embraced by people. Like I’ve always said techno is the foundation stone for electronic dance music, whatever happens, people find it and embrace it after fads wear out. They find the groove and the mindset, and as a writer, its inspiring. New guys like Shifted and Sigha and many more are thinking the right way. Pay attention to the music, write good music. Don’t do it for the wrong reasons. Do it because it makes sense…

B: Planetary Assault Systems, L.B. Dub Corp, Morganistic, Offset and 7th Plain are just a few of your mysterious music-making monikers. Why produce under so many different aliases?
P.A.S.: It’s all about P.A.S right now really. That’s where I’m at…

B: You’ve been a Berghain resident for a while now and are a firm part of their Ostgut Ton label. What attracted you to Ostgut in the first place and what does your relationship with them mean to you?
P.A.S.: I do have a long standing relationship with Osgut the club going back many years. It’s something that developed natually through the music and their commitment to only that. It made total sense to release my music on the label on many levels.

B: Any future plans that you can share with us?
P.A.S.: Right now things are very busy with the live P.A.S show that’s been going down immensely well, there is always some sonic and visual surprises involved with the shows on an artistic level. I think P.A.S is now doing what it should have done 15 years ago. Aside from the live show and DJing, I’m busy with remixes and Part running Mote-Evolver with Heidy. There are some great releases forthcoming on Mote-Evolver, so stay tuned…

Planetary Assault Systems – The Messenger is available to buy now on Bleep.com.

This week, a brand new label emerged. Promising in output and vision, the name of the label is Public Information. It is run by Alex Wilson (who you may know from our very own Bleep podcasts) and good friend and former colleague – Lionel Skerratt. We decided to speak to Alex about what we can expect in the near future…

Bleep: Can you tell us the story behind Public Information? From what den of esotericism did the label spring from?

Alex Wilson: Public Information started as a germ of an idea about eighteen months ago, sitting in the bowels of a global Sound Archive. Four million records, the nation’s collection. Many never heard of, never found, never blogged about, never released… sounds that had to rise again. We have some of these lined up. But we also love New Music, so I enlisted the help of close colleague – Lionel Skerratt…

We are thrilled by the possibility of a catalogue that sits electronic tape-loops from 1957 beside next-wave 4/4 techno. Sweet Somalian pop music from 1982 in a cat-number frisson with blackest sci-fi drone, 70’s Library Music nestled on the shelf with contemporary cut-paste disco… subconscious links across decades, continents, tones, textures.

Public Information Influences:

B: What statement of intent best sums up the Public Information music policy?

AW: A survey of electronics… noise… psych… industrial… house… dub… wyrd-pop… library… techno… art… design from the last seven decades… 1950-Tomorrow. New-Archive. Light-Dark. This may be a good starting point, but this is not the end. If it feels good, sounds right, genre means little to us.

B: How did the collaboration with Gatekeeper’s Aaron David Ross come about?

AW: We approached the brilliant Elon Katz of (Whitecar, Streetwalker) about reissuing a micro-run cassette he made called The Pylori Program (Catholic Tapes) a little while ago. During such discussions he hipped us to a record his friend from Chicago was making. Whilst we were fans of Aaron’s Gatekeeper material the stuff he submitted as ADR was much more suited to Public Information. Perfectly as it turned out…

ADR- Solitary Pursuits by Public Information

B: Why the name “Public Information”?
AW: A long, long, arduous process in Hackney hostelries… torn up bits of paper… spilt beer…strange combinations of words… periods of gestation… terrible combinations of words… some more gestation….
Then one dark, wet Tuesday night… two words felt right / gathered the least laughter from our associates. Public Information.

It was either that or ‘Warboys’…

B: Were you in any way inspired by Mordant Music’s exploration into Public Information films from the 70s and 80s when choosing a name for the label?
AW: Labels and artists that we admire greatly such as Mordant, Ghost Box, Café kaput, Broadcast, are devout followers of that classic wave of Public Information films from the 70’s and 80’s. Undeniably creepy images, great soundtracks, a golden era of unease…

However we were too young to be freaked first-hand, inspired by these films. Youtube serves as our only portal, not memory. In all honesty, Prodigy sampling the Charly Says… Public Information film was probably more of a direct influence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOu-dWhTTWw&feature=related

We’re personally more drawn to the images of a time longer ago, way before ours… the 50’s and 60’s of Lindsay Anderson, John Krish, John Schlesinger, the films of the C.O.I. To the sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, The Philips Studio, Scott, Morricone, Ortolani, Moog, re-shaped, landcruising down a rain slicked Detroit highway.

B: Following on from the ADR release is an EP from Canada’s No UFO’s, can you tell us a bit about that release and what else the future holds for Public Information?
AW: No UFO’s is a young man from Vancouver who first piqued Public Information’s attention with his incredible Soft Coast cassette of 2010. Very much in a similar vein he presented 7 tracks of mixtape-concrete-wyrd to us… we fell in love. Mind Controls The Flood is set to land in late October… It’s like Madlib was raised on Kosmische.

No UFO’s- Mind Controls The Flood EP by Public Information

Following that, a flight to Krakow for the Unsound festival where we host a stage with Jonny Mugwump’s Exotic Pylon featuring The Haxan Cloak, Stellar Om Source and Ekoplekz.

The latter is to drop an EP in January 2012 for us, but before we have a jaw-dropping archive release from a peer of Derbyshire, Oram, Baker by the name of Fred Judd. We have been given full access to his rarely/never heard before life’s work. It is a truly special. Watch this space…

http://public-info.co.uk/

Public Information’s first release is out this week and available to buy on Bleep.
ADR – Solitary Pursuits

To mark the release of ‘ISAM‘, the much anticipated seventh album from electronic pioneer Amon Tobin, the vaults of the Crypt Gallery underneath St. Pancras Church have been transformed into a fantastical underworld made up of unnerving yet beautiful scenes of alien-like life forms. The installation, part of a collaboration between Tobin and the British artist Tessa Farmer, unites elements of the forthcoming album together with Farmer’s detailed sculptures made from dead insects, bones and other natural materials to create an immersive experience that questions our preconceived ideas on how familiar materials can be used. The concept speaks as a response to Tobin’s explorations in to the synthesis of field recordings, acoustic modelling and multi-sampling techniques.

Farmer’s delicate creatures hover mid-air suspended from the ceilings whilst tracks from ‘ISAM’ play out to create a bewildering atmosphere. Various rooms depict tracks from the album, such as ‘Kitty Cat’, a track in which Tobin’s voice has been radically distorted to resemble that of an elderly lady and where Farmer responds with her interpretation of a cat’s carcass that has been invaded by an army of creatures including tarantulas and sea urchins to form an arresting image.

BLEEP Q&A WITH AMON TOBIN:

Bleep: How did the collaboration with Tessa Farmer come about?

Amon Tobin: She came to me in a dream. Like Joan of Arc towering over me, her flaxen locks fluttering in the wind against a glowing backdrop of molten lava. she spoke to me in a voice like thunder and said “hey like we should totally get together and do a show or something”. I was all like “totally”.

Bleep: The organic element and ideas such as situationism are themes that arise in both yours and Farmer’s works, can you explain in more detail what relation her work has to your new sound explorations?

Amon Tobin: We both try and make impossible things from ordinary materials. there is a great deal more to Tessa’s work but this is something I think we have in common and is why it made sense to me to collaborate. Aside from that, I just find what she does to be very beautiful.

For my part I see a lot of potential in building something unfamiliar from familiar materials. It’s what first got me into sampling when I first started making music. this album takes things further out along those lines. The instruments and sounds are made up into things you can play. They are grounded in traditional models for instruments but they often do things real instruments can’t do. e.g. I took my own voice and modified it for the harmonies and vocals on the record to sound female.

Bleep: In ISAM you have moved on from sampling to focus more on the synthesis of field recordings. Can you tell us a little more about the production process behind the album?

Amon Tobin: It’s all still sampling to me really because sampling was never about the source material as much as it was about the new role a sound or a break played when put in an alien context. There is this conflict between where the sound wants to go and where you take it that produces a strange dynamic and this is what I’m really interested in.

ISAM is music first but also a combination of ideas on how to make new sounds. one process was based on spectral synthesis. An audio source is analysed into it’s spectral properties then assigned various morphing, pitch and timbre variables that react to cc events on a midi controller.

It’s not all about synthesising my own recordings though, I used a range of things. Sometimes I used multisamples instruments which preserve the tonal quality of sounds far better than when you synthesise them. Sometimes I used plain old synthesisers and plug ins too. I usually get the best results when I mix different approaches to anything together.

BLEEP Q&A WITH TESSA FARMER:

Bleep: Amon Tobin and yourself share much common ground, for instance in the way you both explore how familiar materials can be put to different uses aside from what we are accustomed too. In comparison with much of your past work what elements have you had to adapt in order to imagine this collaboration with Tobin?

Tessa Farmer: Myself to an extent- i am a bit of a control freak, very protective of the world i create and was nervous about letting other people in! I developed a narrative in response to the album, which is not something I’ve done before/ in advance – this normally happens and evolves as I make the work- i try not to plan too much ahead, as materials (mostly found, scavenged) so often influence what happens.

Bleep: Aside from the collaboration with Tobin what forms of music inspire you and your work?

Tessa Farmer: When i work i listen to Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Leonard Cohen, Ella Fitzgerald, Queen and ABBA.

Bleep: The majority of your work is so minuscule that only a magnifier can show the viewer the depth of detail and craftsmanship that has been carried out. Can you talk us through a little about the process that brings your creatures to life?

Tessa Farmer: I actually don’t use magnifiers in the exhibitions any more- I like the viewer to work! I think close close inspection provides a deeper engagement, and i want the viewer to see beyond craftmanship, that’s not what the work is about – i want them to engage in the story, in the world of the fairies.

But on a practical level, I build the fairies out of plant roots, using tweezers, scissors and superglue- much like a 3D jigsaw- the skulls are made from bits of earth, soaked in glue, carved into a cranium shape with facial bones made from roots stuck on.

Bleep: Can your work be seen as a conscious comment on the relationship between nature and humans and therefore a statement on the neglect and destruction of nature or is it purely fantastical?

Tessa Farmer: For me it’s purely fantastical- the reality is the wonder of the natural world, not a comment on our destruction of it… nature is wonderfully, beautifully harsh and shocking at times- my work reflects this and the struggle for survival that it an alien concept for most humans – i am fascinated by how life has evolved to adapt to every niche on the planet… there is simply so much to learn it is mind boggling and truly engaging.

ISAM: Control Over Nature installation runs from 26th May – 5th June at The Crypt Gallery.
ISAM is available to buy now on Bleep.

Words / interview by Laura Humphries
Photos of exhibition by Laura Humphries / Margot Didsbury

Recently, we ran a ticket competition for a forthcoming Unknown to the Unknown party in London hosting a performance by Dopplereffekt… We don’t know much about Unknown to the Unknown other than that it is run by producer DJ Haus of Hot City, also known as… errr… Unknown to the Unknown.

We decided to speak to the man himself to see what this is all about.

Bleep: Can you tell us how UTTU came about and the idea behind it?

UTTU: Sure, well it’s influenced by science fiction, squidgy black, Amsterdam and my new drum machine. It’s a multi-faceted (is that a word?) thing. The tracks are intended as snap shots of ideas, whereas Hot City is produced in a studio where I can pump shit out loud, the UTTU is the sound is more of a lo-fi / sci-fi rougher sound
specifically for you tube…

Which leads me on to my youtube channel which is probably the thing that’s most exciting me right now, more than making music or DJing.. I’m posting tunes from various artists whose permission I have such as Dem 2, Surkin, Slackk, Brassica, Ali Renault + many more. You can check the YouTube playlist I made for Bleep here: Just hit play and it plays all the songs continuously, you can also listen on a iphone or smartphone..

Then there’s the soundsystem which I do with my mate mackaveli… we have done club takeovers from Coccon Frankfurt , Geneva to Ibiza and our first London show is coming up on the 3rd June with Dopplereffekt+ many more. You can buy tickets for that here.

UTTU Bleep playlist:

B: The first release was a collaborative effort between you and Drexciya DJ, Stingray. Can you tell us how this happened and how you go about making the tracks?

UTTU:It wasn’t really a collaboration, I’d booked him to play in London but he had to pull out, so he ended up doing a remix for the first EP, and that has led to us meeting up in London at the UTTU Boiler Room show.

Then we ended up collaborating on a couple of tracks which I’m currently finishing off, they’ll be coming out in the summer I hope. Writing at 150 bpm is fucking tricky for me so it was good fun and I got pretty high.. the whole thing was pretty surreal actually…

B: We’ve heard a rumour that there’ll be a release from cult Chicago-based producer. Marcus Mixx. Please tell us more!

UTTU: One of Marcus’s best friends Vern English AKA Alias G, who has released some hip hop albums on TRAX back in the 80s laid down some hot vocals on the last UTTU release ‘Mystery Dragon’…

It was never the plan to release other people’s music, but when you have the opportunity to release songs about cheese and oral sex from a drunk Chicago house legend that‘s pretty hard to pass on…

B: Have else do you plan to collaborate with / release music from in the future?

UTTU: I have what I think has the potential to be a really big record from Capracara called Silvia Solar, backed with a Hot City remix dropping in June + an EP from Dubbel Dutch and more DJ Haus & UTTU tracks.. Me and Ali Renault have started some bits, just trying to find enough time to fit it all in..

Apart from that the new Hot City ‘Soundz Of Da Clubb’ EP is something I’m really proud of, first and foremost the majority of music I listen to is UKG & House music… I’ve been listening to Detroit techno & electro for yonks but only recently have I started to really obsessed with it all on the level that I am with UKG.. I love how you can suddenly become obsessed with something that’s been around you for ages but never fully grabbed you before..… that’s really what UTTU is about I guess….

BLEEP: You made a welcome return back to recording after 14 years with the release of the Faults EP in September 2010. Can you give us your reasons for such a long hiatus?

Mark Clifford – Seefeel: Originally we just got a little tired and frustrated so we decided to have a break. We did occasional sessions between 1996 and 2000 but I never really felt that anything new was happening so each time it got shelved again. I think its only really interesting to myself and Sarah if we feel we are creating something new and it wasn’t really happening at that time.

B: 14 years is an extremely extensive period for you to have evolved and matured. Can you tell us what you got up to in that time – both professionally and personally? And how has your approach to making music changed because of it?

MC: We’ve both been through ups and downs really which i think has made us better people. We’ve both continued to make music but without really a focus maybe but at the same time those processes have added to our musical outlook so we have a better arsenal now. Also we have grown up because we were quite young before and we didn’t communicate very well and we didn’t deal with stressful situations. we are much more rounded people now.

B: What motivated you to reform and to release new material?

MC: ‘Quique‘ was reissued four years ago so i was forced to listen to it again and also to dig out unreleased recordings and for the first time in a long time I realised that actually we were good. We had something special. So when Sarah and I got together to do some interviews we decided to exchange ideas. It was refreshing because we both had a new outlook. It was also coincidental that it was Warp’s 20th anniversary and we were asked to play their Paris event so we had the motivation also.

B: You’re back with two new band members – Shigeru Ishihara aka DJ Scotch Egg and Boredoms drummer Iida Kazuhisa aka E-da – what can we expect from the new band formation, and how have the two new members individually contributed to the new material both in terms of musical output and concepts?

MC: The most obvious thing was that having new members in the band gave us a completely new dynamic. Old tensions weren’t there anymore. Shige especially brought a new vitality. In the past I had very much had to think about every element of the music whereas now i can start a track with Sarah and very much leave the bass to him and he always has a twist that then makes me think about what i am doing in a different way. Its feed myself up every much.

B: Today is the release of your eagerly awaited self-titled album. Can you tell us what to expect from it, and a little about what went in to the production process behind the new record?

MC: It was a very easy record to make. Its quite a mixed bag really because we started recording very much as we re-started the band and we grew very quickly and are still growing and the album reflects that. So generally the first half of the album are much newer recordings than the second half. The album is us finding our place again, not least Sarah i think who grew in confidence over the recording process. But myself also. It was a mixture of home and studio recording, built songs and improvisations.

B: You’re soon to be embarking on a tour, starting tonight in London on the 31st January and taking in the UK, Europe and Japan. In the past you have voiced your dislike for touring, is this still true? And if not, what has changed?

MC: Touring was not really enjoyable in the past largely due to the technological constraints. we were very much tied to backing tracks and it was very unflexible and stressful because we were at the mercy of machines that really were not very reliable. Obviously technology has moved on greatly since then and we are much more liberated as a live band, much more open to improvisation or deviation and this is something we hope to take advantage of more and more as we develop as a band.

B: What does the future hold for Seefeel?

As happy as we are with this record I do think its a small step for us to better things. we have already written new material which i think surpasses what we have done till now…

Seefeel’s self-titled album is out today on Bleep.

BLEEP: Why did you start InFine?
AGORIA: This is something that we thought about 7 or 8 years ago with my friend Alexandre Cazac. We are sharing the same points of views on music but with different backgrounds. The meeting we made with Francesco Tristano, a young and talented pianist motivate us to do the first step and to start running a label.

B: What do you think of the current state of electronic music today?
A: That’s a big question… there are so many things to say… The model of the music industry is dead and the new model is still to be invented. It reflects what happens in a world, which is in transformation. We are at a crossroads. Everybody can make music, and everybody releases so many records that nobody can pay attention to it all. It’s time to look for rarity and think twice before releasing a record and most of all about how to release it. I have the feeling that we are back at the time when there was no money in the dance record industry, but with an underground spirit, so the music will definitely be better. The fact that now the artists are not making music with any commercial stress or hopes should help the music to be more audacious and relevant. This period is really exciting between old generation who just want to release music on vinyl, and new generation which is more spontaneous, listening to music everywhere, skipping artists and music really fast.

But in both cases it s becoming really difficult to find a music that could pleases you. On one hand vinyls are in really low quantity, and on the other hand it’s hard to find music with such a huge amount of music offered. Electronic music has been mostly made by DJs, engineers and producers in the past years, so when artists with a classical background will give their own imprint I guess we’re gonna have very good surprises. In the meantime, kids born in a bath of technology will definitely use it differently than I do, so yes I guess the best is yet to come…

B: What is the InFine A&R policy?
A: Selling more and more… Just joking, there are no A&R policy in fact. We can sign all kind of music if we are into it. No matter what are the rules, no matter what are the trends, no matter if it’s electronic or not. We just want to release music that people should listen everyday all their life long… I expect, people to listen a record of InFiné no matter who the artist is, just trusting our choice!

B: What has been your greatest success?
A: For my own Agoria records? i guess it’s not out yet! “Inpermanence” on InFiné will be for sure the most downloaded, streamed and shared album !

B: Where will dance music be in 20 years time?
A: Already hard to say in three years. Would it be connected to holograms? How it will change the music ? All will become dematerialized? We’ll share this new opera all together interacting with the artists? Or maybe a global computer crash will erase all and we ll end up dancing around the fireplace?!