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Mount Kimbie on the secrets behind their debut album
The post-dubstep newcomers talk loop pedals, BMX samples and wind tunnels
Si Truss, Wed 21 Jul 2010, 2:43 pm BST
"When we started making music we wanted to make dubstep," explains Dominic Maker, one half of Mount Kimbie - one of the UK's most exciting new electronic acts. "It was a total disaster. We just weren't any good at it. We made four or five tracks and they were terrible, we had no idea how to make bass."
Don't read too much into this admission of failure; Mount Kimbie are one of the most accomplished, unique sounding acts to have come out of the UK's ever diversifying electronic music scene of late. Their sample and loop driven music is packed with shifting moods and the kind of emotion that isn't always evident in computer-based music.
"It just felt fresh to have this palette of sounds which are totally your own."
Despite their initial difficulty with it, dubstep has become a key part of what Maker and collaborator Kai Campos do. Their stunning debut album, Crooks & Lovers, is released this week on one of the genre's most forward thinking labels, Hotflush Recordings, and the last year has seen the band winning numerous fans at raves and gigs alike.
Since their initial failed attempt at bass music back in 2006 Mount Kimbie have crafted out a unique sound that sits somewhere on the peripheries of dubstep. With its electronic beats, ambient field recordings, mutilated vocals and looped guitars Crooks & Lovers shares traits with the moody beats of Burial while incorporating live instruments and taking cues from the more left-field end of rock and the soulful moodiness of trip-hop.
Following on from two impressive EPs, Maybes and Sketch On Glass - both released last year - the album has certainly helped Mount Kimbie generate a lot of positive attention. Being the inquisitive types we are we just had to find out the secrets behind its creation.
"We've both got home studios which are really, really basic," Maker tells us. "Kai uses his front room, and I've got one downstairs in my garage. Kai's got a Mac and I just use a desktop PC, but we both use FruityLoops (these days known as FL Studio). We send clips and ideas back and forth to each other, so that if one person gets stuck the other person can take over."
The first proper tune the duo created was Maybes; a track undeniably dubstep in feel but based around a stretch-out guitar part and an unintelligible, yet hugely melodic, vocal line. The duo posted the track to dubstepforum looking for feedback and the only person who got back to them was Hotflush owner Scuba, who promptly signed them for an EP.
Mount kimbie - would know
