Influences: Simian Mobile Disco

On Simian Mobile Disco’s last album, Whorl, Ford and Shaw took a defined, conceptual approach. They used a minimal setup consisting of only two modular synthesizers, two hardware sequencers and a mixer to both write and record the album, as well as to use in all subsequent live shows. This new compilation of tracks, Welcome To Sideways, frees the duo from that circumscribed setup and brings together several months work at the beginning of 2016 after an extended break for James and Jas.
James had been working back-to-back on production for a number of other bands whilst Jas had moved out of London to spend months converting a barn into a brand new recording studio. When they returned both were unsure as to what would end up being created, but both knew they wanted to make music for clubs again, for them to play out. After working on nearly 20 tracks, testing them out, releasing six as singles and, finally, bringing some of those together along with additional unreleased material, Welcome To Sideways, an 9-track exploration into the psychedelic relams of techno, was born.
To celebrate the release of Welcome To Sideways on 11th November on Delicacies, we caught up with Jas to find out where this has all come from.
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Much has been said about the radiophonic workshop and rightly so. It’s one of those improbable stories that is so heartwarming it makes you sad to know that it could never occur under Sky and that it would be a seriously difficult sell to the BBC now. A group of technicians and academics with an interest in music, concrete and sound design, before it was a well established thing, got funded by the UK taxpayer to make batshit synth and tape experiments for use as jingles or mood music. This was not just for the virtuous late night highbrow stuff either, it was used on kids shows, on stuff that had the highest ratings. This is the equivalent to seeing Matmos do the sounds on Bake Off. I would love that, and they would do a top job of it too.