Influences: Fort Romeau

 
Music

Fort Romeau's inspirations stretch far beyond sound into the visual and aesthetics of images, photographs and films. No doubt in part down to his studies in music and visual arts, these sonic influences have shaped his approach to production, equipping him with the tools to capture a certain mood or give him structural cues in his compositions.

Since his debut on 100% Silk in 2012 with Kingdoms, his releases have taken him to Running Back, Spectral Sound, Permanent Vacation and Ghostly International as well as his own Cin Cin label, exhibiting his melodic and celestial sounds and his inquisitive nature in the craft of producing music.

Ahead of his set at Junction 2 this year, he shares his biggest influences with us…


Follow Fort Romeau. Find out more about Junction 2.

Herbert - I Hadn't Known (I Only Heard)

A stone cold modern classic and one of my all time favourite house tracks. I love the swung garage percussion and minimal vocal treatment. Matthew Herbert is one of the most interesting and individual voices in house and techno, no doubt in part due to his personal manifesto in which he vows only to ever use sounds he has created from scratch. No drum machines or samples allowed. Something some of us lazy producers could learn a lesson from!

  • Herbert - I Hadn't Known (I Only Heard)

    A stone cold modern classic and one of my all time favourite house tracks. I love the swung garage percussion and minimal vocal treatment. Matthew Herbert is one of the most interesting and individual voices in house and techno, no doubt in part due to his personal manifesto in which he vows only to ever use sounds he has created from scratch. No drum machines or samples allowed. Something some of us lazy producers could learn a lesson from!

  • Pink Floyd Bbc 1 1967 "Astronomy Domine" Unedited

    Still one of the most achingly uncool groups of all time. I’m always shocked at the amount of people making or interested in electronic and experimental music who say they hate Pink Floyd. I think it must be that people simply haven’t listened to them properly, if at all. Their music from 1968 – 1977 contains some of the most out there and innovative sound design and compositional techniques in mainstream pop and rock music. Without them and their peers in psychedelia there’s no The Orb, no Future Sound Of London. The first ever trance track samples “Time” and “On The Run” is basically a proto-acid track!

    Check out this early BBC video from 1967 of “Astromine Domine” with an unbelievably shady intro from musicologist Hans Kellner. Imagine seeing such a damning preamble like this on TV today. incredible!

  • Bbc Radio 1 Essential Mix 1993 The Future Sound Of London

    It’s no secret FSOL are one of my all time favourite groups and their first essential mix from 1993 is an incredible mix of found sound, acid and techno all thrown into one melting pot without prejudice or conceit. For me it encapsulates the true spirit of techno and electronic music.

  • Tool And Henry Rollins In The Studio With Producer Sylvia Massy

    As with all histories of art in the patriarchy, the contributions of women to electronic music and particularly audio engineering and production has been largely overlooked or marginalised. Synthesis Pioneers like Suzanne Ciani and Delia Derbyshire are rightfully getting more attention in recent years with reissues of great albums such as Ciani’s “Seven Waves” finding new audiences. Sylvia Massy’s daring and unconventional approach to production and recording, while definitely more in the rock and live recording realm, always inspires me to try and think of different ways to approach a problem. I highly recommend her fun and accessible book “Recording Unhinged” if you can find a copy. Here’s a vintage clip of Hank Rollins recording a vocal on Tool’s classic album “Undertow” which Massy produced.

  • Myrrhman - Talk Talk

    This is something that I’ve only discovered recently. I remember listening to “Spirit of Eden” several years ago and dismissing it largely because it features the harmonica which, along with crash cymbals, is one of my least favourite sounds!

    It’s rare to come to an album later in life and for it to have a truly profound impact on you and this one certainly has. It sounds like the death of music, like the end of the road. I totally understand why Hollis essentially quit making music after this album, where is there left to go?

  • Orbital - Halcyon And On And On

    I don’t think you would have to be a genius to make a link between this song and anything I’ve made. Orbital were one of the first electronic/techno groups that really resonated with me particularly the album “Orbital 2”. Their approach to working with the voice has made a lasting impression on my own taste and aesthetic.

  • The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover

    As I’m sure is the case for many musicians, visual art has as much importance to my work and aesthetic choices as other music does. I find often that I’ll look to a film or painting or photograph for inspiration not just for its “mood” but also for formal cues regarding structure of composition. Peter Greenaway’s “Cook, Thief….” is one of my all time favourites, it’s unbelievably rich and has an incredible colour language that I find endlessly inspiring.

  • Francis Bacon Fragments Of A Portrait - Interview By David Sylvester

    Bacon was an incredible painter and an artist really out on his own, his largely figurative work was considered very unfashionable for most of his career when his peers were all about simple abstraction. His singularity of vision and approach to the formal elements of the paint and composition for me have deep parallels with the fundamentals of techno and electronic music. His extensive interviews throughout the years With David Sylvester give a great insight into his thinking.