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Wait Less Suspense Interview
Drum and Bass | Thursday 5th September 2013 | Jenny
It’s an incredibly exciting year for Hospital Records’ younger sister label Med School, and the quality of releases have been reflecting the natural progression of its artists. Album announcements from two of my favourites Lung and Etherwood couldn’t have come at a better time. Whilst Etherwood (real name Woody Allen – really!) will drop his debut offering in November, this month sees the turn of Welsh producer Lung.
James Ellaway hails from Cardiff and was snapped up by the imprint in 2011, when my attention was first drawn to him via the release of ‘Relapse’ on New Blood 011. ‘Rollerball’ featured on Hospital’s Sick Music 3 the following year and he collaborated with High Contrast on ‘Not Waving, But Drowning’ as part of Barrett’s 4th studio album.
It was earlier on this year that I was blown away by his level of production with his first Med School EP ‘Why Does Anyone Ever Do Anything?’ A stunning 4-track release exploring break-filled Dubstep, twinkling samples and emotive vocals, the title single features the wonderful voice of Rachel K Collier. It appeared in Etherwood’s Fabric Promo Mix and the VIP was made available as a free download.
Now having taken the time to work through various styles and sounds, the 14-track ‘Wait Less Suspense’ is a seriously high quality piece of work and collaborations include Phaeleh, Sun Chase and Paper Aeroplanes. From the surging and glitchy ‘Time Just Gets Away From Us’ to the garage-filled vibes of ‘Stars, Hide Your Fires’ ft. Tiiu, the collection reflects curiosity and versatility whilst maintaining a constant flow. ‘Open Palms’ with Collier and Phaeleh is quietly glimmering and ethereal and ‘Sunday Drivers’ is my personal highlight – strained vocal samples, pulsing bleeps and an addictive beat. Gathering live bookings at both Hospitality events and festivals this summer, make sure you keep your eyes firmly out for this guy; a testament to the Med School platform.
Guestlist Network: Was music something you had a keen interest from an early age?
Lung: Music has always been a part of my life from a young age. My parents would play music on car journeys and I'd remember all the lyrics and melodies, etc. Both my parents played in bands when they were younger, too. So, really I didn't have much choice in the matter - hearing music in the car or in the kitchen or wherever was just a day-to-day thing and I think my interest in music was buried in my subconscious as a result. It wasn't until around the age of 11 where I first started to find my own musical feet, if you will. Getting into different bands and eventually learning to play guitar when I was 13 - it just felt natural to me.
GN: If you could name three tracks that have continued to inspire you throughout your career, what would they be?
L: That's a really hard question to answer. I'm inspired by a lot of things outside of music too. To be honest, I try not to let the music I'm interested in dictate or influence my own music too much. For instance, I can't say I listen to much drum and bass at all outside of the club - I find it can be really counterproductive when it comes to putting my own musical ideas together. As a producer you run the risk of imitation (whether intentional or not) and I find I'm much more inspired when I listen to music outside the realms of d&b or dubstep, or the like. I'm a million times more interested in a good song - something with a bit more substance than something written solely for the dance-floor - which, of course is to be expected within d&b - and rightly so, but it's just not my cup of tea. Some producers I feel can really capture the best of both worlds, however - e.g. Bachelors of Science (i.e. "Can't Let Go"), of course, Phaeleh - and also Med School's recent signing; Etherwood. All of whom know how to take songwriting to the dance-floor side of electronic music. I'd chose something along those lines over "the-next-big-dance-floor-smasher" any day, but that's just me! I realise I haven't really answered your question here, so I'll tell you three of my favourite songs of my life so far: The Lotus Eaters - The First Picture Of You, Prefab Sprout - Bonny and finally, George Michael - Cowboys & Angels (not even kidding - incredible piece of music!)
GN: The album seems to have a really purposeful feeling behind it. Was there an initial concept you had in mind?
L: Not a concept as such, but building on what I said in answer to the last question, I was really keen to get across the songwriting side of things from which my "musical endeavours" began. The album came about quite organically out of frustration at not being happy with what I had written in the 6 months or so prior. Nothing was really exciting me so I decided to cut it all back and just write what came to me naturally (as much of a cliché as that may be). I ended up with around 4 or 5 tracks within the space of a month which included "Nervous Wreck", a sketch of "Sunday Drivers", etc. I was much happier with what I was writing at this point and after compiling a few tunes, I realised some of the previous tunes worked quite well alongside them, such as "Time Just Gets Away From Us" which I wrote with Rachel K Collier (a demo of which had been on my hard drive almost 6 months or so prior to this). From then on it sort of ended up writing itself - I was in a much better (or more comfortable) place musically and could see the album piecing together into the finished product that we have now. One of the most enjoyable aspects of working on the album was being able to work with such talented songwriters, singers and producers on a number of tracks. I find the process of writing with others so much more interesting - instead of just one pair of ears and one set of ideas, you have so much more thrown into the mix and the end result is something of which you might not have been able to reach completely on your own. It was a real pleasure to be able to sit down with such talented people and write music together. So massive shouts to Anastasia, Alex, Matt, Sarah, Rich and Rach for their collective input!
GN: Your production throughout is full of depth. Which track/s are you most proud of on the album and why?
L: Thank you! We took a lot of time taking the initial track ideas and turning them into the final tracks that went on to form the album. I had some great sessions with Ash and Tom at Med School during the writing process and learned a great deal throughout - not just technically, but about myself and where I wanted to go with the music, also. I think my favourite tracks would have to be "Sunday Drivers" and "Stars, Hide Your Fires!". I remember starting both of these tracks and really struggling to take them beyond an intro through to a breakdown. They were two of the toughest tracks to get right, both technically and musically - but I'm so happy with the finished versions. I'd wanted to work with Anastasia (aka Tiiu) for a long time, and having tried working on a few tracks previously together (but never quite finishing them or getting the strongest of ideas) I really feel like she captured the exact "feel" of what I was going for with this track. When she first sent me the vocals, I was totally blown away - Ana has such a distinct voice and was the perfect addition to the track - her vocals really make it something special and I couldn't be happier with the end result. Sunday Drivers, was slightly different in that I really wanted it to have a "live" feel throughout - all of the drum hits are acoustic samples and I wanted it to sound as if it were being played by a drummer. Whether or not that comes across is, of course, down to the listener's opinion! But for me I feel like it was achieved as best as possible given my current equipment! I can't put my finger on exactly why I like this track so much in particular - I just do. Perhaps because it was such a pain to get right that it was far more rewarding once it was completely finished. The mix down was really enjoyable as I spent the day at Dan Nu:Tone's place in the beautiful Cambridge countryside and he helped me to get it sounding "big" without taking away from the overall live feel of the track. Something I'd been struggling to balance for quite some time prior!
GN: Could you sum ‘Wait Less Suspense’ up in 3 words?
L: Insert witty remark
GN: How did the collaboration with Phaeleh come about?
L: I've known Matt for a fair few years now. We have a mutual friend from Holland (Rik "Alan Partridge" Myrkur) who used to play our respective earlier material on his Sub.FM show, and got chatting as a lot of producers do and always kept in touch. Matt's a great producer and stylistically his music is right up my street - it's something I'd wanted to do for a while and it was really great to get in the studio with him after so many years and write something together. We're both musicians (first and foremost) as well as producers and I think in a lot of ways we run along similar mental paths when it comes to the way in which we write our music. We both had some time available so we made it happen over a few hazy weekends in the Bristol sunshine (or at least what we saw of it from within the studio) and the end result was just as magical as I could have hoped for (He's going to absolutely rip me for saying that!). I don't like to write with anybody and everybody, but the select few collaborators on the album, Matt included, are all musicians and producers who I find particularly interesting on both a musical and personal level and for those reasons alone it felt right to get them involved. Hopefully there'll be more further down the road!
GN: What has been the best piece of advice you’ve been given as a producer?
L: Matt's a good one for the advice, too! He'd encouraged me to push for exactly what I wanted to achieve as an artist and basically not to let anything get in the way of, or deter from, the vision you have as an artist when writing your music. Something of which I think, personally, he has nailed with regards to his own output, he's built up his own "signature sound" if you will, over many years - I think that's all any musician or producer could ever hope for, really - fulfilment of your own artistic expression, and it's the same advice I would give to anyone! Having other people interested in your music is just an added bonus (but one we all greatly appreciate!)
GN: In terms of your DJ sets, where has been your most enjoyable event to play recently and which track is your current secret weapon?
L: I had a great time at Global Gathering last month. I opened the Hospitality Tent at 12pm and was expecting to be playing to around 10 people or so, but to my surprise it filled up pretty quickly. I wasn't playing your usual "big stage anthems" as such, either - so it was awesome to see people digging the slightly more experimental side of things! It's always nice to play to a crowd that will ride along the peaks and troughs with you and enjoy listening to different sounds! Was really refreshing.
GN: What’s next for Lung?
L: I have a nice schedule of gigs lined up from the end of September and I can't wait to get out to as many different places as possible and showcase the fruits of the last year! I've been working closely with a friend on some video material to coincide with the album, playing on the visual aspect of the album artwork, etc. Most of all, I'm really looking forward to writing some new material and experimenting with a few different styles - I'm looking to take things more in the "live" direction so I'll be attempting to play a lot more instruments on the newer stuff I write. The most important thing for me is to keep learning and challenging myself in new ways - so that's what I intend to do!
GN: A beautiful album, thanks so much for your time!
