Interview & Playlist: Sunless ’97

Get out your insulin everybody because you’re about to receive three doses of joy straight from Sunless ’97. Via intravenous injection (or reading) we can offer you not only an interview with the trio but a Youtube playlist of their loves and influences AND a free download of the Palmistry Remix of their track ‘Body Weather’. Phew. And yes, the playlist confirms that their taste is achingly cool and totally impeccable.

What makes you different to all other electronic acts out there at the moment? 

Guess thats up to you! Haha. there is a wealth of new and very different electronic artists at the moment. We dont have one particular vision about what kind of music we would like to make. We hope that we move and adjust with each new song we write. We want to be listening and learning from as much as possible, then trying to apply the things that have moved us, hopefully in an original way, to our own recordings.  So maybe sometimes you will place us somewhere but hopefully we will challenge that with the next song you hear from us. We want to be constantly moving.

How did you start out as a band?

We’re old friends that love listening to music together so decided to try and make it together.

How was working with Kwes on your Making Waves EP?

It was good, he is a special guy with a great an intuitive talent. He has a lot of vision, and the technical skills to apply that to music. We learnt a lot from him.

Kwes is part of this blossoming south London scene of electronic music (people like Micachu and the Shapes and The xx). Do you consider yourselves a part of this or do you make sure to be immersed in music from all scenes/genres?

We love all of those artists but no i dont think we are part of any scene. London as a whole is really vibrant musically at the moment and we feel happy to be witnesses to it. Its a great inspiration to have things like NTS radio and its open genre programming happening in the city you live in! It makes you realise that a passion for the diversity in music can be a common ground, none of this ” its not my thing” talk. Its like a lot of people in London are just feeling really open minded and keen to share, so maybe genre specific scenes are fading a bit and things are crossing over more.

You’re playing, and have played already, a number of festivals this summer. Are there any you’re particularly looking forward to? Do you do anything different when playing live as opposed to what the listener will hear on record?

We played Field Day, which we were excited about. The show wasnt our best but it was kind of a turning point, as every show since has been a lot better! We had a lot of technical difficulties to start wth, as we moved from live drums to a more electronic set up. Now we are way more comfortable with our new set up and it has given us a lot of scope to really make the songs a live experience, experimenting with the effects parameters and recreating parts and sounds with new instruments, so that the songs are different each time we play them. We have also been developing our set and writing music just for playing live so that it is constantly adapting and not just recreating the songs from recordings.  We want our live shows to be a separate entity to our recordings, hopefully we are slowly getting there. We are looking forward to Beacons and Bestival Festivals, they both have great line ups!

Who are your favourite new artists?

Darling Farah, Brey, Sophie, o F F Love, Beams and Palmistry are all doing great things…we like a lot of new music.

What’s your favourite record’s of 2012 so far?

Lone Galaxy Garden, Bullion Love Me, Oh Please Love Me, Laurel Halo Quarantine, Peaking Lights Lucifer, Actress RIP and Personal Space Electronic Soul 1974-84.

Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Any of the above! And Daniel Snaith of Caribou/Daphni!

Plans for 2012?

Another release, a proper tour and lots more writing/recording/listening

Youtube Playlist

Andrei Tarkovsky

This clip is from Tarkovsy’s film ‘Mirror’. We love all of his films but this moment encapsulates something great about him in his ability to let the elements play such a powerful role in his films, the intensity here, is both palpable and mystical. His films are so instinctive, you just couldnt write this moment. Everybody working within the films must have had the ability to communicate without speaking… remember hearing that on his sets they could often only afford to set things on fire one time so there would be a lot riding on particular shots, Tarkovsy would often be manhandling the camera man to get what he needed.

Mahmood Ahmed – ‘Aynotche Terab’

One of the highlights from the Ethiopiques volumes… it is an Ethiopian soulful groove about longing. The Ethiopian melodies seem to be some of the most heartwrenching, Mahmoud Ahemds voices is so pure and the lyrics too, “My eyes have yearned, dont disapper from them/ They have starved, starved, your sight/smell has become addiction”

Tevo Howard – ‘Summer Romance’ 

This came out as a very limited edition through Sounds of the Universe label a few months ago. Again a real groovy track with a beautiful melody riding through it, this is one of those songs you really wish you had written yourself. Its perfect in headphones when you are biking about London, we sometimes find ourselves singing our own melodies over the top.

Werner Herzog on the obscenity of the jungle

This is a scene from the amazing film “Burden of Dreams” by Les Blank. Classic Herzog speaking his ultimate truth about “the obscenity of the jungle”. He is so passionate and sharp in his thoughts, he takes everything into the extreme.

Arthur Russell – ‘Me for Real’

One of limitless great Arthur Russell tracks, this one is from the album “Another Thought” released a couple of years after this death, compiled from boxes of his leftover tapes. It reminds us of what an innovator he was accross so many genres. With its pitch bending bongos, this proto-house is still so fresh and relevant. We have tried and failed to replicate this in so many ways.

Stan Brakhage – ‘Night Music’

Brakhage films are like looking at the world with your eyes tightly shut, or underwater looking up – so your other senses become acute, or distorted depending. They inform the flashes of bloodied eyelid light and turn them into colours that form pictures of their own. Like a million paintings all at once. It’s a sensory overload.

SOPHIE – ‘Ooh’

Why is this not number one? He has a new EP coming out on Huntleys and Palmers soon.

Download

Get ‘Body Weather (Palmistry Remix feat. Triad God)’ for absolutely nothing right here!

- Bronya Francis & Suzie McCracken