There are not many producers who can lay claim to an output as impeccable as that of Kamal Joory, AKA Geiom. Joory has been a bastion of forward-thinking electronic music in the UK for a number of years, whether that be his exploration of electronica on labels like Skam and Neo Ouija, his acclaimed re-working of notions of dubstep on his own Berkane Sol label or his more recent flirtations with 170 bpm tracks for labels like Frijsfo Beats. One of the few consistently exciting proponents of its variant strains, through his work under the Geiom and Hem monikers, as well as his curation of the Berkane Sol imprint, he has insistently pushed new and interesting sounds that pay no heed to current and fleeting trends, preferring instead to focus on doing his own thing entirely. And so, new music from him is always welcome…
His restless creativity and fluid approach to music have built a back catalogue as unpredictable as it is thrilling and though you may not be sure what you are about to hear, you can always be sure that it is worth your full attention. Over the past fortnight he has put up a slew of new clips on his soundcloud that herald a bounty of varied sounds. Working his characteristically intricate drum patterns and deeply idiosyncratic sense of melody, the tracks move across a broad spectrum of sounds while retaining the innate soul and ability to evoke feeling through his songwriting that have always made his music stand out from those that could be considered his contemporaries.
There is a wealth of quality to be taken in from the new clips, spanning a breadth of different moods while always sounding resolutely individualistic and completely inimitable. The tough, skittering grime of ‘Cashburnz’ and ‘Pharaonic’ warps the genre’s tropes into slippery and hyperactive new shapes, whereas the manic, jarring percussion on ‘Malletz’ and the futuristic, mechanistic clatter of ‘Dugout’ plunder more abstract and off-kilter depths. The uncompromising, tumbling rhythms of ‘Row2Land’ and precision cut percussion of ‘Lost Monarch’ work the sonic power of his drum lines to their full capacity, while tracks like ‘Consequences’ and the untitled collaboration with Brackles move with his unique melodies. The last clip to be put up – ‘Broken Endz’ featuring Rachel Foster – showcases his ability to work vocals into new contexts brilliantly. I could go through all of them in this way, but rather than ramble on here I would recommend just getting stuck in yourself.
With this host of new material going up on his soundcloud, I wanted to check in with him and find out how things are going in the studio, what has been influencing the latest crop of productions and when we might have a chance to get our hands on some of them. Read the interview below and check out all the tracks underneath.
He has also just scored a short soundtrack inspired by Philip Stapp’s beautiful handmade animation which is definitely worth checking out while you are here:
Hi, hows everything going at the moment?
Very well thanks, busy as ever.
You have just put up 7 clips of new tracks in as many days. Was there any particular thinking behind this? Has this been spurred on by a recent bout of creativity?
I’ve been making music quite quickly recently so I’ve got loads of material. Putting out physical releases can’t keep up with the speed of creation so I just thought this was a good way to get some of my new ideas out into the world and find out what people make of them.
The clips you have put up are heavily percussive and perhaps less melodic than other work under the Geiom moniker. Is this representative of what you have been listening to and influenced by recently?
Yeah. I’ve always heard drums as melodies anyway, some of these recent tunes really exploit that. Row2Land for instance is made only from drum sounds. I don’t know if my influences have changed recently, I always listen to a very diverse mix of sounds. I’ve been checking quite a lot of hip hop recently, can you hear that coming through in my tracks?. Clouds gave me their LP for Deep Medi this week, I’ve been listening to that a lot, there are some amazing tracks on there.
I get a lot out of the ‘one occasional bleep’ minimalism of labels like Alva Noto. I also love melodically rich material, Danyèl Waro and Joni Mitchell have been getting a lot of airtime in my world recently. I’ve been listening to experimental artists like Iannis Xennakis, and I’ve always got time for noisy stuff like Wolf Eyes. Any of these influences might find their into my productions.
I think part of my brain has actually turned into a sampler over the years – I find that when I make dance music I’m often recycling my rave memories, some recent, some way from way back. I’ll be totally ripping off a drum lick or synth pattern that I’ve heard and stored, but no one else seems to notice, they always say it just sounds like me.
There are some harder, grime influences creeping in there too to my ears – Is that a fair appraisal?
Yes its totally deliberate. I’ve been involved with grime since about 03 and I really like what is happening with it right now, its like it all eventually caught up with the kind of psychedelic, rhythmically sophisticated style that guys like Terror Danjah have been pushing for years. I like how its working alongside funky right now, an artist like TRC seems to make tracks that are inspired as much by funky and R+B as they are by grime and niche.
Another reason for doing tougher 140 tunes is that I’m finding the straight housey end of things kinda dated right now, I’m not interested in making tunes that sound retro. Why do we keep having these revivals in electronic music? for instance, every few years you get a load of Drexciya imitators -What’s the point of trying to emulate something that is already perfect? I think electronic music should aim to be futuristic.
You announced recently that you are working on an album for Frijsfo Beats. How is that coming together at the moment? Are the tracks you have put up part of those studio sessions?
The LP is going well thanks. Some of clips I’ve posted over the past week have now been picked up as singles – like Row2Land, Frijsfo will be releasing that one with a video to accompany it. I’m really looking forward to that, Nic the animator sent me some amazing sketches last week.
Aside from that, what can we expect from you release wise over the coming months?
Frijsfo have just sent me the masters of 2 170bpm tracks (Melting Reels/Point B – Breeding Ground Geiomix) which are coming out shortly.
There will also be a Frijsfo 12″ featuring ‘Digitithe’, a collaboration with Hizatron. http://soundcloud.com/geiom/hizatron-vs-geiom-digitithe
We should see the release of ‘2 4 6’ feat: Terrible Shock on Well Rounded pretty soon, I’ve got a big vocal collaboration coming up on a new high profile label that I won’t talk about yet. There will be a single for West Norwood Cassette Library and one for the Notts based Disconnected label. I have also just signed a couple of new tunes to Iberian Records from Lisbon.
I know you have been working on some collaborations here and there too, can we expect any of them to surface soon?
I’ve made a tune with Brackles which still needs a title, I will be working on more material with the Wigflex boss Spamchop, also Desto, Badawi and Aleks Zen.
Berkane Sol has been key in championing creative talent from Nottingham over the last few years and we are starting to see those artists coming to prominence at the moment. Is the scene healthy there at the moment? Is there anyone you feel should be receiving more attention?
There’s a lot of stuff going off up here right now, the scene is very healthy. I rate people like Erra, the Wigflex crew and the Mimm label. Epworth has just put out a 10″ for Tube 10 and I know that Wigflex have got a full clip of 12″s on the way, they will definitely be getting more attention this year.