I've got records in
my collection by crap artists but there's a remix on there by
someone that rocks the dance floor or it is nice to listen to.
You've got to be careful, you've got to have rules but also
you've also got to be confident that if you're doing your own
thing then there's the chance to go on from there."
How does this partnership actually work when it comes to making
a record?
"I mark the records, write the lyrics and make the demos
at home. Steve makes demos at the studio and he arranges and
constructs the music entirely. So when you listen to a song
and you draw it to how good a story it tells, that's mostly
as a result of Steve. All the sounds are more than likely to
be found by me. We're like the perfect opposite of each other.
I'm full of ideas and he's full of control and managing to make
them work. But it's changing. Steve's got more ideas now and
bringing them through. The Jungle Brother's idea was Steve's.
I had found the drums, but he looked further and found the guitar.
Steve's a musician he can make bridges, choruses and all that.
The main thing is that it's just two people who are completely
opposite. It leads to a lot of arguments, but you know."
So how effective is mixing business with pleasure?
"Remixing is a very professional thing for us both. I've
got thousands of records that are bought specifically for sound.
As soon as we get a remix, Steve will construct the drums I'll
get the sounds or find a bassline, some horns. I'll find a scratch
that links semantically with a song and we'll construct it like
that. At home I drink gin, listen to records and I sit there.
If something moves me. I'll think "Right I really like
the tone of that", I'll sample it, loop it, add layers
on top to fit that vibe, then I'll take the sample away, listen
to it, write lyrics. It's much more about me being an artist
and then Steve sees it through the production. With remixing
I'll get the vocal and just play it and DJ over the acapella
and as soon as anything clicks I'll sample it and fuck about
and build from there. It's a smiliar thing but it doesn't start
from total creation. It's got an objective. Where as if you
haven't written a song yet you're just getting it to what you
like, that's totally open creation."
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