#2 // Dam Mantle

future dubs

This episode features a mix from Tom Marshall (aka Dam Mantle) an audio and visual artist based in Glasgow who released two EPs last year, the latest being Purple Arrow available via his label Growing Records. Dam Mantle's refusal to temper his productions by deleting beats, reprogramming analogue synth jams and re-pitching vocals often explore what is absent as much as what is heard.

After investigating this grey area in performances around the UK and Europe, with improvised interpretations of the 8-bit pysch of Purple Arrow, the next tour in March comes with some changes and new dubs. Tom’s interest in “working at 150BPM, working with half speed and double speed..seeing how the body responds to that in a club environment” and his claim that all music is "folk music" connects the reclamation of the past that Juke and other Chicago House movements make and explains Tom's use of an 808 on new jam Movement. Dam Mantle's interpretation of the connections between sounds from the past and present included in this mix, the crusty dub of Dadawah, the "psychotomimetic collages" of Dem Hunger, the compact funk of Pavan, the meloncholic juke of DJ Earl are some indication of what is shaping his future dubs and new record First Wave.

Posted at 15:52, 25th January 2011

dam mantle (growing records)

Whats new?

I’m looking forward to playing in March with like a new set-up. Its solo, its kind of swaying to something steadier. Its probably a bit easier to dance to. When I was playing with Calum we were playing tracks that were totally different from each other, it was great and it forced us to improvise them a lot, but i kind of feel the new set is more club based. I’m working towards an album, kind of fighting self-doubt. I’ve kind of scrapped it twice now and restarted again. I’m making as much music as possible, and at some point I will decide what i will do with it, but yeah I’m going to select tracks to use for an album.

I’m working on doing videos for it to, I do that during the day, then I go home and work on the music. I work with other people for that, I’m working with my friend Richard at the moment, we are doing an installation soon at the Arches. Even the music comes from jamming with other people, then its a case of reprogramming it to have an end product. Its sounding a bit different, the new stuff has got more of an American influence. The new stuff is faster paced, more of an American dance music influence from ghettohouse to crunk -with a mix of what has ever a influence to me.

So whats the new set-up?

APC, MPD, playing with bit and bobs, its just mainly so I can compress it, so its easier to travel about the world. When I record, I dont use soft synths, its all analogue, recorded in and untreated as audio. So in may ways the live set doesn’t resemble the process behind making the music, but its a means to travel, you cant take all your synths with you. As much I would love to.

You have done a bunch of remixes for people like Gonjasufi, Ben Butler & Mousepad, Conquering Animal Sound, etc. Are you a fan of Gonjasufi’s work?

Yeah absolutely. That album is awesome. I think its kind of important in a way, like how its crossed a lot of of boundaries culturally, or like how music is recorded. I think its of-now because it goes through a lot of processes that have come in music previous to it. If that makes any sense? I remember them saying they didn’t want any digital processing in it at all, thats why some of them have such a real raw analgoue distortion that makes it sound like there is dust on the needle. I dont know what they were doing when they recorded that.

How do you pick and go about reworking other peoples songs?

I guess like with every remix I do, Its about being aware of the context of the track is already in. Some people i have spoken to that have done remixes before say the didn’t even listen to the original track before and I can’t quite understand that. So i guess in the reflection of that I try to take it somewhere, I think the remix I did for Ben Butler & Mousepad it operates in the same space as what Ben Butler & Mousepad does, but I don’t quite know how.

When I interviewed Joe Howe (Ben Butler & Mousepad) he said that he was interested in making music that challenges the standard or what could be considered a standard formula for a “dance” track...intro, 8 bars, breakdown etc.

Its something I think about a lot, I totally agree with Joe there, i think its starting to happen more and more, its happened tons in the past, but people like to deconstruct everything, but yeah its something I’m into, like playing with the structures of electronic music and not feeling any need to follow any unwritten rules of how you should structure music, and letting influences from the structure of other music other than electronic music..god I’m waffling.

So whats the mix about?

I guess i started off playing records that I would play to dance to, there quite electronic, then I sort of trailed off and started mixing with my housemate. We thought about it hindsight, it goes to many countries and lots of different styles. I guess all the music comes from the discourse of being removed from something, for instance the last track is by Thomas Mapfumo, who is from Zimbawae, they are kind of protest songs, or really sorrowful songs about being in the civil war. Its like my friend Richard said: “all music is folk music”. So its a mixtape of music from a lot of different parts of the world and it goes back and forth in time and around the world. They’ve all influenced eachother, there is a lot of dub on there, kinda crusty records. It starts of with some Hyperdub, or futuredub, well thats what i would call it, which is a really big influence, much more so than early 2000 dubstep. Scientist especially is a much bigger influence than say what was being played at DMC.

Posted at 10:48, 25th January 2011