On the Up: Simian Mobile Disco
By the time most of us were screaming ‘Because We. Are. Your Friends’ at the top of our lungs in sweaty indie rooms across the land, Simian, the creators of the tune before it was propelled into a sing-along dance classic by the then-unknown Justice, had already disintegrated. From out of the band’s ashes have arisen two members, Jas Shaw and James Ford, to form the increasingly in-demand remix and production powerhouse Simian Mobile Disco.
The duo began by remixing Simian singles whilst still in the band, including turning the Peugeot-endorsed ‘La Breeze’ into a dub nightmare, complete with the wailing of a snake charmer’s flute. Ford explains that it was around this time that Simian began to fall apart: “We were in a situation where we were trying to force something that we didn’t enjoy, it’s not a very good way to live and you don’t make particularly good music.”
Fortunately for us, this meant that the boys had an opportunity to pursue the offers coming in for SMD; remixes for artists as diverse as Air, The Go! Team, Klaxons and Peaches flooded in and Ford produced both the Klaxons’ debut and the Arctic Monkeys’ (more on them later) ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare.’
After releasing insanely catchy singles, like 2006’s ‘Hustler’ on the super-trendy Kitsuné label, the duo were picked up by UK label Wichita, home of Bloc Party, who offered them an album deal. Attack Decay Sustain Release, the long-player that followed, is one of this year’s most vital dance releases. It shifts from menacing instrumentals, like opener ‘Sleep Deprivation’ to more obvious party tunes like the aforementioned ‘Hustler’ and ‘It’s The Beat’ (an inspired re-imagining of rave classic ‘Pump Up The Jam’ with The Go! Team’s Ninja on vocals), and has a distinctly English flavour, garnering comparisons with the London-based DJ genius of Erol Alkan or early Chemical Brothers.
This “Englishness” is arguably reflected in the tolls of hedonism recently suffered by the band. Explaining the reasons behind the cancellation of a recent gig in Leeds, Ford says: “I broke my collarbone being a dick. It was the last night of the tour in the US and we were in San Diego. The Arctics lot were out and I was playing football with them in the car park at four in the morning pissed out of my brain with a beer in my hand. I tripped over my own legs, tried to save the beer and landed on my shoulder.”
It seems like there can only be more adventures like this to come; the pair are booked to support The Klaxons on their imminent UK tour, who are another band who certainly look as if they know how to have a good time. “Oh God” groans Ford, though he appears to relish the prospect, “we know them really well and we have a lot of fun together, but they do party really hard. I think we’re sharing a bus too, so it’s going to be pretty full on. There won’t be any avoiding it.”
To hear the rest of our interview with James check out the latest edition of The Nouse Music Podcast at: www.nouse.co.uk
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