Northern Transmissions chats with Dom Maker from Mount Kimbie. We caught up with him while on a tour stop in Detroit. The band’s new album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth is now avilable on Warp Records.

NT: Mount Kimbie has been arguably responsible for the genre of Post-Dub step. What was driving you guys to create such a unique sound?

DM: I think from early on, what excited us was making something different, understanding music a bit more. We are really interested in the technical side of music and loads of different genres. All these other types of music that we took an interest in really helped develop our sound into what it is today. Our old label ‘Hotflush’ really helped us find our sound as well.

NT: You have been quite busy over the past few years remixing songs for artists The xx, Foals, and The Big Pink, to name a few. Did you ever feel at the time that you weren’t focused enough on Mount Kimbie or pressured to start recording new tracks?

DM: Not really. We went through periods of being on the road for long stretches. We were good friends with The xx and Foals. We really enjoyed it because we were playing live so much. So remixing for other bands was a real warm welcome to us. Instead of putting pressure on us, it actually gave us a chance to go under the radar and develop new ideas.

NT: Tell us about working with King Krule. The match seems to have worked really well. How did the song writing process work?

DM: While on tour in the U.S., we heard “Out Getting Ribs”, and fell in love with the song. We talked about and imagined Archie (King Krule) playing on one of our songs. It turned out that Archie was aware of our music. He lives about five minutes away from our studio. He was really easy to work with. We really wanted to work with someone that was keen and eager to work in the studio. In the end I think it really helped us both with our songwriting.

NT: Where do you see music going in the future? Years ago, Joy Division talked about Gary Numan and the involvement of technology.

DM: I think that’s really hard to say. It’s probably something that I wouldn’t want to know. It’s always exciting to listen to something new and exciting. In terms of today’s popular music, there is such a big difference between various genres like EDM and Dub step. These types of music will probably be quite popular for a while. In terms of technology, we have really embraced many types of machines. Combining old and new technology is quite interesting; it seems to be happening quite a bit these days.

NT: Your new album Cold Spring Fault Less Youth features quite a few more lyrics than previous releases. What inspired you to move in this direction?

DM: We wanted to fill gaps in our songs with singing instead of synths. We really wanted to do something with our live shows as well. Kai sang on five or six songs on the album. It was a real challenge mixing the vocals. It was really interesting and a learning process for us. It really felt good to have a bit more on the line when we released the album. It’s something that we really wanted to do for a while.

NT: Tell me a bit about the album title Cold Spring Fault Less Youth?

DM: On the day of mastering the album, we still hadn’t come up with a title. The words in that sentence are all strong words. The words are kind of like a puzzle. It’s a bit like our album artwork: it really creates a lot of different perspectives. In the end we wanted something bold for a tittle.

NT: You guys have really traveled loads over the past few years. Tell me a bit about your favourite city to eat and play live?

DM: Our favourite city to eat is Tokyo. We really love sushi. Our manager is Japanese, and he took us to an amazing spot where the fish was really fantastic. Tokyo has so much energy and soul as well. I also love San Francisco, Berlin, and NewYork.

NT: Which five albums from your collection continue to really inspire you?

DM:

William Basinski – Melancholia

William Basinski – Disintegration Loops

The Fall – Fall In A Hole

Actress – Hazyville

Micachu And The Shapes – Jewellery

http://www.mountkimbie.com