Jon Hopkins

There was a lot more freedom in the making of this one, a lot more trusting in the subconscious and less worrying about the big picture. On a practical level, I used different instruments, a different software – Ableton instead of Logic, which changes the presets a lot because it allows a lot more improvisation, it allows you to follow the train of thoughts as you have them. In the end, it was a more enjoyable process as well. I think you can hear that in the album.

Yes, I would agree to this. I think that, overall, it’s a more hopeful sounding album than the last ones. It’s a bit less claustrophobic. Maybe it’s a little bit less negative. Yes, I love the freedom I felt to explore more epic moments. But for the next thing, I think I’ll have to move away from that and go smaller because I feel can’t make bigger sound than in Everything Connected; it’s the limit really (laughs).

It’s very accurate. Over the last ten years, particularly between 2013 and 2015, I was doing all the stuff for Mute and I started getting burned out: too much touring, not enough sleep, etc. – very common among musicians. So I took some time out. This album, in a way, reflects that journey from being a bit crushed to being reborn into something (hopefully) stronger.

It’s not an easy thing to do. I consciously try to have psychedelic experiences, be it through meditation or encouraging substances. You just have these experiences and they will find a way out into the music, whether you like it or not. Your music is always influenced by what you live and feel.

I don’t think it really personally affected that much. I think to some degree everything you do affects the music you write but, equally I can’t hear a classical influence particularly. There is a misconception slightly by my trained because, yes, I did technically train in classical music but it was only to play the piano, I wasn’t trained in composition specifically. With this kind of music in particular, figuring it out yourself it is really the best way.

Neither, really. There are some tracks that already existed because I made them seven years ago, for example. But they are not recycled, they’d just never been heard. I sometimes work on tracks or ideas for some years, and then leave them alone for some more. For example, the title track for Immunity originally started in 2005, but I didn’t finish it until the album came out because there was no rush. The same happened with Everything Connected, which I started in 2010. I tried to make it work for Immunity but couldn’t figure out the drums properly. Now, some years later, the tempo changes and a lot of new ideas made it work.

That’s true. The title came out in 2003 approximately. Even the idea of having a circulation: starting from a tiny point, growing from there, and eventually coming back to it but from the opposite direction (mood-wise). I came up both with the idea and the title a long time ago, but there was no music written for it until 2010.

Just give every track what it needs; it doesn’t really matter. There’s no need to stick to four minutes as a standard length. A track of spiritual music will often be half an hour. I give each track what it demands, really.

No, I don’t use anything as complicated as that (smiles). I find those kinds of open sources and programming languages pretty none of my business – I don’t have that kind of brain. I just use Ableton and lots of plugins. I spend a long time going quite deep into that aspect, but nothing as complex as that.

I don’t really bring synths; they are really old so I can’t tour with them safely. I do bring with me an Arteria midi controller keyboard and a really good Live Lite controller, which is like a blank canvas from Ableton, and three Kaoss pads. I’ve been using those Kaoss for years; it’s a performance thing, still no substitute, because it’s all audio. You can actually hit, drum, etc. It’s just amazing. I love it.

That’s interesting because with this one, for the first time ever, I could really focus. With the previous ones, I had to do other things at the same time. When you’re a self-employed musician, you can’t really say no to work. But Immunity was more successful than other records and I did more shows, which meant I was in a financial position that allowed me to say no to things. So, this time, I didn’t do anything else. It was an amazing challenge to go really deep into the music.

Much better. But it’s not like I compromised in the previous ones, it’s just that I felt like shit by the end of the process. When I finished Immunity I felt exhausted. But with this record, even if I’d worked just as hard and for a longer period of time, I felt good because I was able to concentrate on what matters most to me.

It was about two years in terms of time lapse. I didn’t spend two years on it but like fifteen or sixteen moths – something like that.

I learned a lot about feeling freer in music, about disrupting my own process. You start noticing that you do the same thing quite often, that you repeat yourself, and he’s really good precisely because he stops you from doing that. When improvising with him, he’ll stop you from using the sound you gravitate towards by writing down some chords on the whiteboard and pointing them randomly. It brings an external influence that makes you stop doing the same thing over and over again; I apply that to what I do.

His music is very soulful and beautiful. We co-wrote some things for Holy Pictures and it was great; it’s been a while since I last saw him but he’s been very supportive throughout the years. I am very fond of him.

Like I said, the recording of Singularity was all about focusing. I’m open to doing some collaborative writing, maybe. Production and film score is not something I’m looking to do right now though. It would be nice to make some tracks for other people because both this album and Immunity were very focused albums, like big works. I can’t imagine going straight into another one. I’d like to do some collaborative singles.

They are a great label. They are so supportive. They never rushed me on this one and helped me with all the visual art I needed to support the record. They really care, and that’s the best thing.

I don’t know. A good Pitchfork review is a really helpful thing, of course. I like Pitchfork because they write really well, they have really good journalists and get to the heart of my albums. The Mercury Prize is an amazing chance to expose your music to lots of people. Normally, it helps with sales and you need that to support yourself to do more music. I don’t personally care about fame or a claim, it’s not the point of this, but you need it to keep going. If you get a terrible review and no one will listen to it, you can’t keep doing it. It’s a practical thing for me, really.

Yes, maybe it is part of a trilogy (laughs). A bit early to talk about that but it’s not a coincidence.