You guys know I'm obsessed with Black Ghosts. I don't have to say too much about that. I posted a track that we Americans haven't had the chance to get our hands on quite yet about a week or so ago... and now I have the follow up interview for you guys. Simon Lord, 1/2 of The Black Ghosts, took some time to do an interview here which hopefully will hopefully tickle your pickle! AND on top of it just being fucking way cool this also commemorates the 150th post for Arcadia! Hope you guys have enjoyed the ride so far... hopefully I just have more and more quality to bring to you going forward... anyway... enjoy the interview!
ISoA: Hello Simon, thank you for taking the time to speak with us! Quite the
honor...
I have to say you guys outdid yourselves with that mixtape. Every
single track on it was fire especially the new live version of
"Something New". What made you decide to redo it for this release?
We wanted the mixtape to represent what we do live/DJing. The version of 'something new' with Lindstroms 'i feel space' was something we figured out live and has become a cool part of our show so it had to go on there!
ISoA: It's a tried and true banger that's for sure. As is the remix you guys
did for Frankmusik... do you have any idea when that might see release
outside of the mixtape? Because that's like the musical equivalent of
Superfriends or something. It's perfect!
Yeah we're really happy with that remix and Vince (Frankmusik) is too, we're both mutual fans, but i'm rubbish with knowing about release dates and things like that so i have no idea if or when it'll get a 'proper' release... though these days i think the whole notion of a release has changed, as soon as you make it available on the internet it becomes available to everyone! (except old people with no computer who hate that music anyway...)
ISoA: That mixtape had so many Arcadia favourites I can't even tell you! Now
you can ignore this question if you like but... We've seen serious
quality releases from you guys in the last 18 months, are we going to be
seeing a full length album in the near future? I see the lyrics up on
the site for songs I haven't heard so I know they are there!
YES! We actually finished our full length album what seems like (and actually is) ages ago but our record company wanted to build up to it with a bunch of single releases first. I understand why they wanted to do it that way, to introduce us slowly to the public, but we've been desperate to get the album out because we're proud of it and want to get it heard. This summer the wait should be over, phew...
ISoA: Fair enough. Now you have an extremely exciting resume. We've got
amazing songs from the Simian era (one of which, "Never Be Alone", can
be cited as the genesis of a huge portion of the current quality dance
music landscape), the Black Ghosts, Lord Skywave... your voice and your
songs are the cornerstone of inventive pop music since the beginning of
this decade and they are still having an serious impact in the current
landscape. 20 years from now when people look back how do you want
people to view your contribution to music?
hmmm you're flattering me, stop it, i like it... that's a weird question to answer, I guess if people remember me as keeping alive the spirit of creative pop song writing (and as a decent singer) then i'd be happy.
ISoA: Awesome. If you would can you explain what the difference is between
your Black Ghosts output and Lord Skywave output?
The Black Ghosts is me collaborating with Mr Theo Keating, combining our strengths to create modern pop/electro/soul/whatever music. Lord Skywave is more of an audio diary for me and charts my experiments in sound over 2007... it's more experimental and utilises old recordings of my grandmothers music, my dad's home-made synthersizers and influences from the London scene especially dubstep.
ISoA: And you are also doing production work as well... a very busy man...
anything that we should keep our eyes and ears open for?
erm, i haven't done as much production recently because i've been keeping busy with performing and writing but i've literally this minute been working on some tracks with littleboots that i hope might see the light of day sometime.
ISoA: I've read your bio info so I know some of your influences... but what
are some of current influences (this can be film, art, literature,
biological warfare, or obscure things that don't actually exist but
sound like they do)?
Currently I've been amazed by the new Bjork video for her single called wanderlust. It's a cool track anyway but combined with the video it is incredible... it's one of those things you watch in silence and just wonder how the hell they did it. It's technically amazing but at the same time beautiful and graceful.
ISoA: Who right now is occupying your headphones at the moment? You guys
obviously have great taste if you're enlisting people like Plastician
and Skeam, Rustie, and Boy 8 Bit To work with you... what artists are
you into most right now?
I'm really into a new remix of 'oops'- tweet by Hudson Mohawke and a track called 'need you' by Darkstar. It's important to keep an ear on what's fresh production-wise but also to keep handy 'behind the scenes' so I've also been enjoying getting the acoustic guitar out again!
ISoA: Anytime you do a mixtape like that there end up being artists that you'd
like to put on but don't fit the format or feel of the mix... I've got
this friend JDSY who I would love to put on a mixtape but most of his
stuff doesn't fit into that format of a four-to-the-floor-mix... who
are some artists that you wish you could have put in a mix?
We really like a new swedish singer called Lykke li, it would have been cool to put one of her songs onto our tape... we're into all sorts of weird non-club music, electronic and otherwise. There's quite a few tracks on our album that are more for home listening than raving.
ISoA: You just played Fabric here the other day how did that go? Did you guys
DJ or was it a live show? I love those Fabric...
At the moment we've been doing all our live shows as DJ shows but then i bring along a laptop and controller so i can sing live and make loops and edits live, so our shows mutate between a live set and a DJ set.
ISoA: Speaking of gigs you guys have had some awesome ones in the last couple
years... what was your favourite crowd recently?
Recently we played over at SXSW in Austin. We played at the Mad Decent party which was on the roof of a big car-park. Our set was timed perfectly for the sun going down and everyone had a great time, that was one of our favourites.
ISoA: Lastly, you guys just recently released a blazing hot new single 'I Want
Nothing' and every mix is truly quality. We don't have it here in
America yet but thankfully your management was willing to give the
blogosphere a little taste out of that to appease your American fans!
Thank you guys for that. Not to dig too deep into the creative process
but what was this song born out of?
When writing that song we were definitely were thinking about clubs. I really like the iggy pop song 'nightclubbing', it sums up the narcissism and intoxicated feeling that surrounds going out.
ISoA: Ok well thank you for your time... Black Ghosts will always get support
here at Arcadia and I anxiously await more output from you guys
The Black Ghosts- "Let's Get Physical"
The Black Ghosts- "Let's Get Physical"
Check out more from Black Ghosts over at eMusic and check back for more of your favourite British tunes...
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