We caught up with Manchester pioneers Autechre to delve into the influences that have shaped their journey – from Northern Soul, graffiti, and electro to the rise of DJ culture, Madchester raves, their enduring partnership with Warp Records and the evolution to live stage performances for instant digital releases, with Tokyo emerging as their biggest fan base on Apple Music.
Autechre discuss collaborations with icons like The Designers Republic and Chris Cunningham solidified Warp's legacy well into the 21st century. As they continue touring with their signature blackout shows, we explored how sensory deprivation can create a more immersive listening experience.
You both were influenced by graffiti, electro-funk, and acid house during the 80s.
Sean Booth: It started in the early 80s with electro. I got into it around 1982-83, but I didn’t start collecting records until about 1984, when I was eleven. It was the music everyone around me was listening to. I remember starting secondary school in 1983 and seeing guys breakdancing on the field, rolling out lino and doing moves like the caterpillar and moonwalk. I was drawn to it, not just for the music but also for the style, the look those kids had. They were a bit older, and there was something cooler about them.
I assume that’s when you were into some DIY at home, experimenting with your gear?
Rob Brown: We started making tracks in our bedrooms after we met. Sean was great with tape edits, and I had two turntables, so I was blending and beat matching. A friend introduced us, and one day Sean came over with a bag of records, and we spent the afternoon mixing. Sean would chop tracks into tighter mixes, and that’s how we started. Our own music took off when I got a drum machine, and Sean got a sampler. We didn’t have much money, so we’d share and buy one piece of gear at a time.
Sean: It was all analogue, syncing with tape, just two tracks. We’d mix onto one channel, put a sync code on the left, music on the right, then redo it onto another tape, adding live elements. We realised we could do this on stage, so we started looking for gigs and connecting with promoters.
Sean: It was all analogue, syncing with tape, just two tracks. We’d mix onto one channel, put a sync code on the left, music on the right, then redo it onto another tape, adding live elements. We realised we could do this on stage, so we started looking for gigs and connecting with promoters.
When did you start playing in Manchester?
Rob: 89–90 in Rochdale and Manchester.
Sean: The first place we DJed professionally would have been Pirate Radio in 88 actually. They might be an emerging pirate station, they're always aspiring to get bigger to get a local artist that no one's heard of is quite good.
Sean: The first place we DJed professionally would have been Pirate Radio in 88 actually. They might be an emerging pirate station, they're always aspiring to get bigger to get a local artist that no one's heard of is quite good.
Such an iconic time to be in Manchester.
Sean: Maybe a bit different you'd think because it was all American music. I mean, there was a lot of The Smiths and stuff locally at the time, but we were really into the imports, like the electro that came from America, like New York and LA.
Rob: Yeah, from our parents a bit. Northern Soul was like your mate’s older brother generation. They've been like they invented raving more or less but the whole thing of going out, staying out all night and doing loads of speed and dancing all night and not being out to get a woman or a guy. Just being out dancing.
Sean: And the figure of a person playing records, a DJ, yeah, they didn't have that before.
Rob: Yeah, from our parents a bit. Northern Soul was like your mate’s older brother generation. They've been like they invented raving more or less but the whole thing of going out, staying out all night and doing loads of speed and dancing all night and not being out to get a woman or a guy. Just being out dancing.
Sean: And the figure of a person playing records, a DJ, yeah, they didn't have that before.
How do you recall the emergence of the DJ scene in Manchester?
Sean: When we were young, Manchester radio had DJs like Mike Shaft on Piccadilly Radio, and later the BBC, who brought in guest DJs like Greg Wilson and Chad Jackson. They’d mix mostly American hip hop with a bit of British music. Even local bands like Section 25 and New Order were heavily influenced by American tracks.
Rob: Greg Wilson was one of the first, coming from the late 70s club scene where disco was evolving. He got into electro and started playing it a lot, so it was everywhere around us.
Sean: Everyone knew someone with an older sibling in that scene.
Rob: Greg Wilson was one of the first, coming from the late 70s club scene where disco was evolving. He got into electro and started playing it a lot, so it was everywhere around us.
Sean: Everyone knew someone with an older sibling in that scene.
Are you guys familiar with Mark Leckey? He created the documentary Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, which features real footage from Northern Soul and acid house raves.
Sean: People like Jeremy Deller observe the scene from a cultural perspective, which adds value. I have a more subjective view, having been involved peripherally and present at many of those nights, so I know the story firsthand.
What can you tell me about those early clubs in Manchester during the rise of the DJ scene?
Sean: There weren't many clubs where you could hear that sound.
Rob: We created our own experience, recording late-night radio shows: acid house, hip hop, under the duvet, then sharing tapes at school. We were too young for the clubs, so it was more about the headspace, walking to school with our Walkmans.
Rob: We created our own experience, recording late-night radio shows: acid house, hip hop, under the duvet, then sharing tapes at school. We were too young for the clubs, so it was more about the headspace, walking to school with our Walkmans.
Before the release of Amber, you openly pushed back against Michael Howard's conservative policies and the authorities' misguided approach toward rave and techno music. Looking back, how do you reflect on that period and its impact on the scene?
Rob: There were no age restrictions. You didn't need to be in clubs to connect with the culture. By the time raving took off in 86–87, it was already big at my school. At first, it was just music for the cool kids.
Sean: By 88, it spread more, with influences coming from London. Manchester had house nights and DJs as early as 86, but London didn't catch on until about 88.
Sean: By 88, it spread more, with influences coming from London. Manchester had house nights and DJs as early as 86, but London didn't catch on until about 88.
Were you actively playing records or performing during that time? How did those experiences shape your perspective on the emerging rave and techno scene?
Rob: We were trying to get gigs, but I was only 15. We met in 87 through a friend in the graffiti and breakdance scene. He bumped into Sean on a bus, tagging in another part of town, random connections like that happened through bus and rail networks.
Sean: I met a guy on a bus who asked if I was a tagger, and we got chatting. He wanted to show me graffiti in Rochdale, where Rob was also connected.
Rob: We lived a few miles apart, so it was through mutual friends. By 90–91, we started going to clubs that played the music we liked. The rave scene took off, but some people were only into it because of ecstasy. It felt like it wouldn't last, as many weren’t genuinely drawn to the music.
Sean: I met a guy on a bus who asked if I was a tagger, and we got chatting. He wanted to show me graffiti in Rochdale, where Rob was also connected.
Rob: We lived a few miles apart, so it was through mutual friends. By 90–91, we started going to clubs that played the music we liked. The rave scene took off, but some people were only into it because of ecstasy. It felt like it wouldn't last, as many weren’t genuinely drawn to the music.
Were raves and clubs popular regardless?
Rob: I think Manchester had a healthy club scene, for sure. We were just getting a bit pissed off because all the people just arrived on it late and blew it up. It got into a direction that wasn't that good anymore.
Sean: There's levels to it. You've got the Northern Soul lot and the disco lot and the kind of gay scene when house happened in 86, all them people came together. You had these old soul guys who'd been in the scene for a long time and like young gay guys who were just really into house. Then you had the black kids and they were putting on their own parties and playing house and doing jazz dancing to it. So by 88 all those people would come together. It just exploded. It was a massive thing.
Sean: There's levels to it. You've got the Northern Soul lot and the disco lot and the kind of gay scene when house happened in 86, all them people came together. You had these old soul guys who'd been in the scene for a long time and like young gay guys who were just really into house. Then you had the black kids and they were putting on their own parties and playing house and doing jazz dancing to it. So by 88 all those people would come together. It just exploded. It was a massive thing.
Was The Haçienda the most popular club at that time in Manchester?
Sean:Yeah, it's the most well known outside Manchester.
Rob: We were there a couple of times. You'd go on a Wednesday and on a Friday. You wouldn't go on a Saturday because it was kind of a bit passé by then. You’d go to the weird nights like Greg Wilson would do on a Wednesday night and you'd see sort of rappers on stage, you'd see someone like Adamski or other popular names coming through.
Rob: We were there a couple of times. You'd go on a Wednesday and on a Friday. You wouldn't go on a Saturday because it was kind of a bit passé by then. You’d go to the weird nights like Greg Wilson would do on a Wednesday night and you'd see sort of rappers on stage, you'd see someone like Adamski or other popular names coming through.
I remember when MTV, especially the show Party Zone with iconic VJ Simone Angel, was hugely influential. You had the chance to be interviewed back then.
Sean: We did a lot of TV around them. We did a couple of London programmes that were these funny little programmes that had featured like 3 bands [that] week. We did quite a bit of TV in the UK and then in Germany we were on Viva as well. Was all in sort of 93–94. That Simone interview was a bit later like towards the end of 94, I remember being quite wow by being there 'cause a friend before that was one of the first people to have satellite TV, we used to go round his house late and watch loads on MTV. I had seen fucking Simone Angel probably for three years before we met. It was so fucking weird man, Simone Angel talking to me (he smiles).
Rob: We met all these people Simon Angel, Ray Cokes, James Hyman, the guy who did the music programme for MTV, [he] was a huge fan of ours. He was into Aphex Twin too.
Sean: I remember that fucking calamity of a show Ray Cokes had (laughs).
Sean: Definitely to be in Simone’s show was an outlier.
Rob: We met all these people Simon Angel, Ray Cokes, James Hyman, the guy who did the music programme for MTV, [he] was a huge fan of ours. He was into Aphex Twin too.
Sean: I remember that fucking calamity of a show Ray Cokes had (laughs).
Sean: Definitely to be in Simone’s show was an outlier.
This was a prolific time for you, marked by milestones like appearing on John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show. How do you feel about the evolution of the music industry and media today with platforms like Spotify and YouTube? Do you think things have changed for the worse, with artists losing out the most in this shift?
Sean: It felt like [it’s] coming full circle. As a kid, I listened to John Peel and Annie Nightingale, who played a mix of mainstream and weird tracks. Getting invited to do a John Peel session was surreal because we never changed our style to fit in. He just wanted us to be ourselves, which was a huge achievement. We were self-sufficient in those first five years, running our own nights and doing pirate radio. The Manchester scene had its own ecosystem, so if you were doing something, people noticed. We’d hire venues for £25 a night and just make it happen.
Rob: It was more expensive to print flyers than hire the venue (laughs).
Sean: Nowadays you got like levels, things like Bandcamp Friday where everyone is, just fucking millions of artists every week. I don't know how you're supposed to keep track of it.
Rob: It was more expensive to print flyers than hire the venue (laughs).
Sean: Nowadays you got like levels, things like Bandcamp Friday where everyone is, just fucking millions of artists every week. I don't know how you're supposed to keep track of it.
I agree, it’s too much. There’s no filter.
Sean: These artists can't be selling more than a few 100 copies of each thing. Most of the music I'm buying on Bandcamp are people nobody's heard of and there's fucking millions of these things coming out. So much of it's good, but nobody knows about it because there's so much of it. So it's just how do you [find the] needle in a haystack? You know, how do you even find things now? Then you've got the next tier up is like, your boom cat artists. When we were coming up where you could get to #1 in the indie charts with a good electronic reference. Nowadays you need the height behind you before you even get the thing out.
For a band like Autechre, it must be somewhat of a relief to have moved beyond all this. How does it feel to have established yourselves without relying on these channels?
Sean: For us now, it’s pretty simple, we just upload the files to the store, and that’s it. We don’t really need to promote much. Our gigs serve as the promotion, and people find the music because they want it. There’s no extra work needed on that front. But for younger artists coming up, it’s a completely different game. I’m speaking from a position of privilege, and I’m fully aware of that. We were in the right place at the right time, we came from the early 90s, it was the fucking Wild West.
Rob: Now it's a business. Everything's corporatised and fucking set in stone, you've got to please the right people and make them believe that you're worth investing in. We're lucky that we can be outside that and arrogantly just put the stuff out there.
Sean: When we were younger you could have a scene be five years old, but only in one city, whereas nowadays within weeks a scene starts everybody in the world knows about it and feels like they can do Wikipedia level research on it (laughs) then it becomes a thing and it's sort of gone again, a few weeks later, they're onto another scene that they found in some other country or some other place. You don't get the opportunity to grow really before they get exposed to it.
Rob: Now it's a business. Everything's corporatised and fucking set in stone, you've got to please the right people and make them believe that you're worth investing in. We're lucky that we can be outside that and arrogantly just put the stuff out there.
Sean: When we were younger you could have a scene be five years old, but only in one city, whereas nowadays within weeks a scene starts everybody in the world knows about it and feels like they can do Wikipedia level research on it (laughs) then it becomes a thing and it's sort of gone again, a few weeks later, they're onto another scene that they found in some other country or some other place. You don't get the opportunity to grow really before they get exposed to it.
To what extent do you think Warp Records has shaped your artistic identity and the evolution of Autechre's sound?
Rob: They've allowed us to shape our own path, and we value their suggestions because they bring a different perspective. We pursued Warp Records, seeing them as the best label for us.
Sean: We stalked Warp and eventually worked with Rob Mitchell, one of the founders. The process of eliminating tracks was unsatisfying, so we didn’t sign a long-term deal initially. After a few years, we started delivering albums directly to Steve Beckett, who had a more hands-off A&R style. Amber was the first album, and with Tri Repetae, we realised we could do what we wanted.
Rob: Rob passed away, and there was a shift as people changed positions, but we've developed a stable relationship over the years. Kev, one of the originals, is still there running the business side. We're one of those acts they don’t want to let go of.
Sean: We stalked Warp and eventually worked with Rob Mitchell, one of the founders. The process of eliminating tracks was unsatisfying, so we didn’t sign a long-term deal initially. After a few years, we started delivering albums directly to Steve Beckett, who had a more hands-off A&R style. Amber was the first album, and with Tri Repetae, we realised we could do what we wanted.
Rob: Rob passed away, and there was a shift as people changed positions, but we've developed a stable relationship over the years. Kev, one of the originals, is still there running the business side. We're one of those acts they don’t want to let go of.
Have you adjusted your terms with Warp in response to the label's transitions?
Sean: We just signed a new deal with him now and I said to him, I wanted to sign a deal and not have any recording commitments, which is just a bizarre thing to ask for. Basically what it means is that they'll work for us regardless of what we give them. Normally when you sign a deal, you have to deliver some number of tracks within some time period, they'll give you an advance against that. What they're doing is they're giving us advances against nothing. So they're just saying here's some money, go away. If you want to give us some music, then we're good.
Rob: They've got a fall back because we've been putting records out for so long. There's a back catalogue. There's no question they've got that.
Rob: They've got a fall back because we've been putting records out for so long. There's a back catalogue. There's no question they've got that.
Do you have a personal relationship with any other iconic Warp artists?
Sean: I know George Evelyn – Nightmares On Wax, and I know Aphex [Twin]– Richard.
Rob: We knew Mark Bell LFO, Mark Clifford – Seefeel. I used to live with him for a bit.
Rob: We knew Mark Bell LFO, Mark Clifford – Seefeel. I used to live with him for a bit.
Do you speak about music or it’s like not much of a thing?
Rob: Creatively, we keep our areas separate, we mingle and mix from time to time and respect each other, appreciate each other.
Sean: We all have a mutual respect. I know me and Richard might not always like each other, but we’ve massively respected each other.
Rob: We are on our little missions and don't want to influence the others like you don't want to interfere with anyone else's trajectory or plans and vice versa.
Sean: I'm pretty proud to be on Warp, I've got to be honest. Up to the 2000s when they started doing guitar music, I fell off it a bit, I don't know what Maxïmo Park sounds like. They just weren't on my radar at all.
Rob: It does bring people together just having a common label, like we could be in Tokyo, for example, and there's no harm in bumping into [people], saying what you getting (laughs) and just having that mutual nice to meet you, whether we get into each other's music or not. I've got all these records and you might have some of ours. These people are from across the world and part of different scenes.
Sean: For example: Oneohtrix Point Never, I never met him, but we know each other a bit musically. You could tell if he's going places.
Sean: We all have a mutual respect. I know me and Richard might not always like each other, but we’ve massively respected each other.
Rob: We are on our little missions and don't want to influence the others like you don't want to interfere with anyone else's trajectory or plans and vice versa.
Sean: I'm pretty proud to be on Warp, I've got to be honest. Up to the 2000s when they started doing guitar music, I fell off it a bit, I don't know what Maxïmo Park sounds like. They just weren't on my radar at all.
Rob: It does bring people together just having a common label, like we could be in Tokyo, for example, and there's no harm in bumping into [people], saying what you getting (laughs) and just having that mutual nice to meet you, whether we get into each other's music or not. I've got all these records and you might have some of ours. These people are from across the world and part of different scenes.
Sean: For example: Oneohtrix Point Never, I never met him, but we know each other a bit musically. You could tell if he's going places.
I’d love to talk about your collaboration with The Designers Republic. Taking a trip down memory lane, how did that partnership originally come about?
Sean: We just had a couple of releases, and they were a bit weird, and they didn't really know what to do with us at first. When we first walked into Designers Republic, this would have been 93 when we were doing the Incunabula sleeve, we were just massive fans. Because we loved all the graphic identities that they'd built for Warp already. We just found it super exciting and cool.
Rob: The fact that it was kind of all Designers Republic made Warp have a certain feel and a look. And it seemed like they were the super group, the super team. The best artwork, the best music, the best approach to distributing it. It was always the best music on the radio around ours, and the best music in the clubs and the warehouse parties around ours. So they were just like the best, state-of-the-art, I suppose. But we knew that we could improve their game if they had us on board because we just knew that they were still a little bit formulaic and we knew that we were a little bit weirder than that.
Sean: We just went in there and we were just two kids telling them who to sign and what music was good.
Rob: The fact that it was kind of all Designers Republic made Warp have a certain feel and a look. And it seemed like they were the super group, the super team. The best artwork, the best music, the best approach to distributing it. It was always the best music on the radio around ours, and the best music in the clubs and the warehouse parties around ours. So they were just like the best, state-of-the-art, I suppose. But we knew that we could improve their game if they had us on board because we just knew that they were still a little bit formulaic and we knew that we were a little bit weirder than that.
Sean: We just went in there and we were just two kids telling them who to sign and what music was good.
I really like the covers of your last two albums. After all these years of collaborating with The Designers Republic, how does the creative process between you work? Do they suggest ideas first, or do they present a finished cover that you instantly connect with?
Rob: It was weird because [back in the day] we went into the office and met the team, Ian and Nick. We were just kids with fizzy soda and crisps. He just thought we were these funny, trashy kids. We explained, we had strong ideas, visually. And he would take a lot of those on. We'd come back after a trip and say, I'm really into buildings in harsh contrast, you could flatten them with your eyes and it'd look like 2D, but it’s a 3D pattern. And he was all into that sort of thing. He loved breaking down dimensions and fooling around with assumptions. Messing around a lot. But also very, very considered and disciplined. So he's a bit classical like that.
Sean: Normally we can just let him get on with whatever he's doing. Obviously it helps that we've got a huge amount of respect for him. We like his style and the way they think about form and everything and we have a lot of things in common, in terms of taste and design of things that have gone past, like corporate identity. Ian used to do flyers and stuff back in the early days.
Sean: Normally we can just let him get on with whatever he's doing. Obviously it helps that we've got a huge amount of respect for him. We like his style and the way they think about form and everything and we have a lot of things in common, in terms of taste and design of things that have gone past, like corporate identity. Ian used to do flyers and stuff back in the early days.
Similarly, you’ve worked with Chris Cunningham — another iconic artist associated with your label — on your music videos. Could you briefly explain what it's like collaborating with him?
Sean: I met Chris basically because my girlfriend at the time was friends with his girlfriend. So I met him just socially first. At the time, he'd been doing drawings for a comic called 2000 AD. He'd done a little bit of work on the Judge Dredd film. He'd designed the Hammerstein robot. Me and him got talking, and he said that he'd be interested in doing a video for some electronic music, because he saw that as a vehicle for his science fiction visuals. I decided I'd do a track for him.
Did your collaboration with Cunningham not come through Warp then?
Sean: I introduced Chris to Warp.
Rob: Sean talked Warp into getting a budget together for doing this thing that Chris was going to work on.
Sean: It was his first video for us on £6,000, which is just crazy to me now thinking that he did that. He was very DIY, using equipment and we even were involved in the edit. I consider Chris to be a good, strong collaborator. We've affected each other a lot, that's the thing. He's a really cool person to work with, and I really get on with him. we were hanging out and swapping ideas and sounds, and he'd give us drawings and things. So, when we were doing the music for Anvil Vapre, I had a load of his drawings around. Trying to do this very mechanical-sounding thing that would fit with what he was doing graphically. So it really did kind of inform the music.
Rob: You're enriched by these other ideas from people. So it's definitely co-influenced.
Sean: There were no meetings, but there was a lot of me going round to his house and smoking ungodly amounts of weed and dropping acid. That work kind of came out of a real relationship. He was an Aphex fan, he really desperately wanted to work with Richard as well. So it was only natural that he fell in with Warp.
Rob: Sean was the facilitator. Enabler (laughs).
Rob: Sean talked Warp into getting a budget together for doing this thing that Chris was going to work on.
Sean: It was his first video for us on £6,000, which is just crazy to me now thinking that he did that. He was very DIY, using equipment and we even were involved in the edit. I consider Chris to be a good, strong collaborator. We've affected each other a lot, that's the thing. He's a really cool person to work with, and I really get on with him. we were hanging out and swapping ideas and sounds, and he'd give us drawings and things. So, when we were doing the music for Anvil Vapre, I had a load of his drawings around. Trying to do this very mechanical-sounding thing that would fit with what he was doing graphically. So it really did kind of inform the music.
Rob: You're enriched by these other ideas from people. So it's definitely co-influenced.
Sean: There were no meetings, but there was a lot of me going round to his house and smoking ungodly amounts of weed and dropping acid. That work kind of came out of a real relationship. He was an Aphex fan, he really desperately wanted to work with Richard as well. So it was only natural that he fell in with Warp.
Rob: Sean was the facilitator. Enabler (laughs).
It's interesting to hear about your passion for visual aesthetics and design, yet for several years, you've been performing in complete darkness, which seems like the opposite approach. How did this concept come about?
Sean: The blackout. We're both fairly synesthetic. I see sound naturally, especially if I close my eyes. Quite often if I'm working at home and I'm really in the music, I've got my eyes closed and I'm in some zone with it, slightly hypnagogic or drug-induced. I like that. I like the way that music opens up the mind.
I personally don’t like screens very much, they're okay, I like cinema and I like people using screens in a good way but if I'm playing on stage, I don't want a bunch of people who are just kind of looking at an object that's over there where that becomes the object of their attention.
Rob: [A screen] is flat, isn't it? It doesn't surround you. Music's different because it's everywhere. So it's just kind of the space that you're in. So you become enveloped by it.
I personally don’t like screens very much, they're okay, I like cinema and I like people using screens in a good way but if I'm playing on stage, I don't want a bunch of people who are just kind of looking at an object that's over there where that becomes the object of their attention.
Rob: [A screen] is flat, isn't it? It doesn't surround you. Music's different because it's everywhere. So it's just kind of the space that you're in. So you become enveloped by it.
Are you suggesting that, by removing the visual element, it enhances the focus on the listening experience?
Sean: Yeah, I think honestly that the brain just gives it more processing over to the audio side when there isn't any visual information that manifests as a kind of synaesthesia where I start to see this out. And I'm hoping that some members of the audience get to experience something a bit like that when they're there.
I think it's easy for people to become attached to the two things at once, seeing and hearing. And it literally can, like you said, borrow a load of resources emotionally and mentally, metaphysically. You're going to be transformed slightly. I'm sure everyone has, at some point, closed their eyes and simply listened to music but maybe doing it with other people is the weird bit. 3,000 people all in the dark.
I think it's easy for people to become attached to the two things at once, seeing and hearing. And it literally can, like you said, borrow a load of resources emotionally and mentally, metaphysically. You're going to be transformed slightly. I'm sure everyone has, at some point, closed their eyes and simply listened to music but maybe doing it with other people is the weird bit. 3,000 people all in the dark.
Since when have you been doing this type of show?
Rob: 25 years?
Sean: Early 2000s, we started doing the lights off. We've had a few [shows] where we've had lasers. We did one in Manchester and we let them do that because I like lasers. It was a special event. They let us curate the whole evening, so we selected all the music. We had like Graham Massey, A Guy called Gerald, LFO, us. In return, we let them use the lasers because they were like, we want this to be a hype thing.We've done a couple of weird one-offs where we've let the venue do their lighting plan, but almost everything else [is dark].
Sean: Early 2000s, we started doing the lights off. We've had a few [shows] where we've had lasers. We did one in Manchester and we let them do that because I like lasers. It was a special event. They let us curate the whole evening, so we selected all the music. We had like Graham Massey, A Guy called Gerald, LFO, us. In return, we let them use the lasers because they were like, we want this to be a hype thing.We've done a couple of weird one-offs where we've let the venue do their lighting plan, but almost everything else [is dark].
Let’s talk about your last two records, what do you think are the most significant factors or differences that have influenced your music or the way you write and work around it compared to when you first started out?
Sean: It’s a totally different process, but there's some elements of it that are the same. I'm quite often trying to access that space that I was in before I knew how any technology worked, when I was hearing records and imagining what the sounds might be. That to me is a really valuable thing.
Rob: It's a bit of a chase.
Sean: Pretty much our whole career has been us using old equipment. In 1986 I bought a cheap sampler, a Casio SK-1. It was just good for re-triggering breakbeat sounds and stuff like that.
Rob: It's one of the things with hip-hop culture that I think people get lost [in] now. It was a very DIY culture. So you were just using anything that was in the house. If you had a cassette deck or a turntable or whatever the thing is, you'd use it, and you'd make tracks. Drum machines for £50. The 606 cost us £50 back then. I kind of think like that now.
Rob: It's a bit of a chase.
Sean: Pretty much our whole career has been us using old equipment. In 1986 I bought a cheap sampler, a Casio SK-1. It was just good for re-triggering breakbeat sounds and stuff like that.
Rob: It's one of the things with hip-hop culture that I think people get lost [in] now. It was a very DIY culture. So you were just using anything that was in the house. If you had a cassette deck or a turntable or whatever the thing is, you'd use it, and you'd make tracks. Drum machines for £50. The 606 cost us £50 back then. I kind of think like that now.
You are not huge hardware collectors then?
Sean: We literally got a very minimal set-up.
Rob: We weren't like, let's buy a big fucking synth that's worth a fortune and then let's keep it and create a museum. Like, Korg used a different voltage system to Roland. It'd be inverted, but it meant that we could do literally upside-down bass lines because we had that keyboard, we needed to use it, and we'd programme all the stuff and it would do the gaps in between at the opposite optic, and we'd just work around it. It's just adapting and then plugging in certain things that weren't meant to be together and realise that they could actually work and then finding glitches. You'd have these flips between the point and analogue where you could get it just on the cusp and it'd be flicking between the two settings and that would give us a vibe of a track and we'd just put it down.
Sean: That's what I've always been about, is just get the little thing and fucking max it out. You know, get it doing shit that other people aren't doing.
Rob: We weren't like, let's buy a big fucking synth that's worth a fortune and then let's keep it and create a museum. Like, Korg used a different voltage system to Roland. It'd be inverted, but it meant that we could do literally upside-down bass lines because we had that keyboard, we needed to use it, and we'd programme all the stuff and it would do the gaps in between at the opposite optic, and we'd just work around it. It's just adapting and then plugging in certain things that weren't meant to be together and realise that they could actually work and then finding glitches. You'd have these flips between the point and analogue where you could get it just on the cusp and it'd be flicking between the two settings and that would give us a vibe of a track and we'd just put it down.
Sean: That's what I've always been about, is just get the little thing and fucking max it out. You know, get it doing shit that other people aren't doing.
What are your thoughts on laptop music?
Sean: I'm not going to be like, oh, I can't use a laptop because some fucking weird reason. Are you mad? Literally somebody's handed you this multi-tool that you can do fucking anything with and you're going to be like, no, I want to play a keyboard because I'm a musician. I'm not checking my emails on stage (laughs). It's just all about fucking appearances. It is just a fucking sick tool.
Rob: You want to build objects. MaxMSP, it's a bit like Lego bricks. Together, they make this crazy, really powerful, deep architecture. Musical architecture.
Sean: The last two records were a fork, what I call a fork. So, basically, everything was ported to Ableton Live and those tracks were done in there, mostly.
Rob: You want to build objects. MaxMSP, it's a bit like Lego bricks. Together, they make this crazy, really powerful, deep architecture. Musical architecture.
Sean: The last two records were a fork, what I call a fork. So, basically, everything was ported to Ableton Live and those tracks were done in there, mostly.
Since the release of your debut album Incunabula in 1993, you've consistently released new albums every 2-3 years, which is impressive. However, your last two records, SIGN and PLUS, came out in 2020. Have you been working in the studio lately, and are there any plans to release new material soon?
Sean: I'm honestly not that interested in records anymore. The concept of what a studio album is seems outdated. For instance, if I create a track on my laptop while on a train, does that qualify as a studio album? No one would know it was made there. If I use my laptop on stage, does that still count as a studio record? It’s different because there’s an audience. But if I’m in the studio with friends while making a hip-hop album, is that an audience too? These terms become confusing.
Rob: The downside is that you often have to promote an album for a year before its release. Our approach is to perform on stage, record the sessions, and then release those recordings. We just get a mastering engineer if we release something on vinyl.
Rob: The downside is that you often have to promote an album for a year before its release. Our approach is to perform on stage, record the sessions, and then release those recordings. We just get a mastering engineer if we release something on vinyl.
Does it mean you won't be working on a new release?
Sean: These live shows are everything.
Rob: We've been doing this since 2022, calling it 2022 dash. We could keep it going for another ten years. Traveling and meeting people is something you can’t replicate in a studio.
Sean: Why would you think our live material is worse than studio recordings? My focus is on performing and sharing those experiences. We selected our best sets to release, and after our previous record deal ended, we renegotiated with the label earlier this year. We’ll release about 4-5 hours of new material, not just one album.
Rob: We're happy with Warp. Our files will be available on our online store, where people can buy high-quality versions or listen for free.
Sean: This is genuinely our best material.
Rob: We work with Steven at Warp, who’s based in the US, so meetings can be tricky, but he’s involved and helpful. They trust us with what we deliver. It’s somewhat of an experiment, and we’re already making money from our back catalogue. The quality of vinyl pressing has improved significantly. People want a better experience now. Maybe still a bit niche but some kids are getting vinyls for their birthdays, yeah (laughs).
Rob: We've been doing this since 2022, calling it 2022 dash. We could keep it going for another ten years. Traveling and meeting people is something you can’t replicate in a studio.
Sean: Why would you think our live material is worse than studio recordings? My focus is on performing and sharing those experiences. We selected our best sets to release, and after our previous record deal ended, we renegotiated with the label earlier this year. We’ll release about 4-5 hours of new material, not just one album.
Rob: We're happy with Warp. Our files will be available on our online store, where people can buy high-quality versions or listen for free.
Sean: This is genuinely our best material.
Rob: We work with Steven at Warp, who’s based in the US, so meetings can be tricky, but he’s involved and helpful. They trust us with what we deliver. It’s somewhat of an experiment, and we’re already making money from our back catalogue. The quality of vinyl pressing has improved significantly. People want a better experience now. Maybe still a bit niche but some kids are getting vinyls for their birthdays, yeah (laughs).
