Planet Notion

20/08/2007

‘The whole DIY concept in music, to me, always meant doing it on your own,’ – doing things according to his own style is exactly what Klute has been up to ever since his previous incarnation as Tommy Stupid in cult eighties thrash band, The Stupids. Going solo has suited the beat-punk well. Whether releasing underground tracks via his Override moniker during the mid-90s, or creating emotive anthems like 2002’s ‘Part of Me’, Tom Withers is still burning as one of the leading lights in British drum n bass. With his dazzling fifth album, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, cementing this reputation as one of the most innovative producers to dabble in electronic dancefloor music, Klute talks us through this latest release, the state of modern music, and his penchant for Viking metal bands.

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When asked about his approach to ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ Klute readily agrees about its continuation of the common themes found in much of his output. Melancholy melodies, skittering, complex rhythms, epic synth work and ambient backgrounds are all present and correct. While disc one’s brooding industrial opener ‘174 BPM’ wouldn’t sound out of place as the creeping prelude to a heavy metal album, ‘The Struggle’ revisits the melodic flourishes and faintly sinister vocal samples that are his trademark. Later on the same disc the tumbling beauty of ‘Hell Hath no Fury,’ with its fuzzed-up chords and searing strings, gives way to the LTJ Bukem-like liquid riches and crisp drum patterns of the ominously titled ‘We Control The Vertical.’ And the magic is all in the DIY action; ‘It’s not as if I hired a symphony orchestra and went to Vienna to compose my drum n bass opera!’ explains the softly spoken Mr. Withers from his North London studio. ‘It’s more of a continuation of the last two LPs – it almost feels like the conclusion to a trilogy, or the development of one body of work.’ Incidentally, ‘Toiler’ judders along with such drum-led urgency that you can almost feel the weight of Klute’s repertoire impacting upon it. For the listener, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ is also a full-blooded animal of an album that demands you keep pace with its rhythmical rampage.

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The new album may not be a Viennese opera, but it encapsulates how throughout his career, Klute has created, developed and twisted his own inimitable style to take in influences ranging from classical music to garage punk, whilst retaining a hard-edged, highly mixable aesthetic that appeals to both the thousands of drum n bass heads filling raves every weekend, as well as the more mature, ex-Blue Note-visiting home listeners. While other big name producers have been content ploughing out impact-led bangers, Tom Withers has stuck to the punk ethics of his youth, delivering collections of music rooted in the drum n bass tradition, yet also experimenting with all manner of tempos in the process.

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Famed for his double CD albums (the first disc drum n bass, and the second exploring alternative beat patterns), with ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, Klute has used the two-headed format to showcase his talent for creating deep and brooding techno. ‘The approach is always geared towards dancing, but the main difference with this album is that I went for a specific techno approach with a 4/4 beat,’ Klute explains. ‘I have a peculiar idea of what is funky. I find myself jigging about to stuff other people don’t like.’ This is more than evident in ‘Toiler,’ a punk enthused roller with fret-scratching guitars and a mumbled cockney vocal that could be seen as a tribute to The Stupids - minus the lyrics about the elephant man, of course! Still, Klute’s old outfit had a reputation for irreverent song-lines, and electronic music

from the man alone tends to be layered with curious vocals. How would he feel about making purely instrumental tunes? ‘I like to leave the music open to contradiction... I’m always listening to different sounds, not lyrics, and when I was 15 or 16 I’d hide behind The Stupids’ lyrics, but I don’t want to do that again. It’s difficult to find the right way to make your statement, and instrumentals are definitely something I’d like to move towards...’

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When I suggest that for many fans of The Stupids, drum n’ bass would be seen as far away as possible from thrash, hardcore and punk, Klute is in no two minds as to why: ‘People from England always say that, but you go abroad and they see an obvious connection. Outside of the UK, a lot of people come to drum n bass through indie music. A lot of British people are born into the whole dance culture we have here, so they see drum n bass as purely dance music.’ With his alternative history and approach, perhaps Klute is the producer to enlighten us. The man’s very own Commercial

Suicide imprint is now in its sixth banging year and shows no sign of slowing. Klute continues: ‘I’m trying to show people they don’t have to follow just one sound. I like to bring a cerebral approach to my music that doesn’t tell the audience what to do, unlike a lot of modern dance music.’

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And so we return to the DIY imperative. Perhaps its very title ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ is a message to us to enjoy and interpret the record in our own way – and whether that’s you sat in your bedroom wearing nothing but your headphones and your birthday suit, so be it!

‘THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES’ IS OUT NOW (COMMERCIAL SUICIDE)