Over the last few years a growing community of creative talent in Nottingham has repeatedly piqued my interest. Collaborating, releasing on each others’ labels and playing parties together, they are all doing their own thing musically while supporting each other in doing so. Whether that be labels like Berkane Sol and Mimm or artists like Geiom, Lone, Hizatron or a whole host of others, they do not subscribe to anything easy to pin down musically, but rather encourage the wealth of local talent without worrying about what anyone else is doing. At the centre of all of this is Spam Chop and the Wigflex collective.
More than just a record label, Wigflex is a bastion of the Nottingham creative community, channelling its unique, skewed viewpoint in to releases, events, clothing and design. As both the drive behind the label and the creator at the helm of its iconic artwork, Spam Chop has played an important role in nurturing and presenting local talent while quietly honing his own brilliantly idiosyncratic production style.
Following a couple of collaborations with Geiom on Berkane Sol and plenty of internet chatter, this week sees the long-awaited release of his debut solo EP courtesy of fellow Nottingham label and creative hub Mimm. The three-track ‘The Cuckup EP’ is stamped with Spam Chop’s unique voice as a producer and, frankly, sounds like little else out there. Marrying swung garage rhythms, intricate electronica edits and woozy, sound-bending techno melodies, the EP carries off what on paper probably shouldn’t work. The outcome is a collection of tracks that are as disorientating as they are utterly hypnotic.
Lead track ‘Cuckup’ embodies all of the above perfectly. Built upon a slick 2-step drum line, the skittering hi-hat shuffle and driving waves of bass set solid dance floor foundations while the whirring melodies spin intricate webs across the track. Contorting, refracting and fusing together again, the warping melodies tangle the listener in a shower of fx that leaves you feeling dizzy. On the flip, ‘Blergzz’ strips back the melodies leaving you with an ultimately effective rhythmic bump and uncompromising bass tones while ‘Frames’ takes a more linear approach, with driving drums riding through waves of detuned synths and warbling atmospheres. Granted Spam Chop is not necessarily new to the game, but as debut releases go you would be hard pushed to find anything more accomplished and individualistic.
With the release out this week, we caught up with him to talk Wigflex, UKG and having a perfectionist streak…
Cuckup (Forthcoming MiMM002 12″) by Spam Chop-Wigflex
Hi. First up, for those that may not already know can you please introduce yourself?
My name is Lukas Cole, I’m 27 and I’m from Nottingham.
To start with, lets talk Wigflex. How long has that been running, what did you originally set out to do with it and what has it morphed into now?
Its been running officially for just over five years now but us lot as mates have been playing at parties and hanging together for even longer. It started as a mixtape and weekly bar night and has transformed into what it is today. A club night/record label/Clothing line/General dutty movement.
All of the Wigflex artwork and visual identity is really bold and unique, making a welcome change to many labels that pay little or no heed to their music’s packaging. Am I right in thinking that this is all done by you? Do you come primarily from a design/art background?
Yep its all created by me. I wouldn’t say I’m from a design background though, even so its what I studied. I’ve always drawn ever since I was a kid so it just seemed natural for me to do the artwork.
Wigflex has a hand in releasing music, putting on events and also clothing. Do you see the three as being intrinsically linked?
I definitely think Music and events go hand in hand, the clothing was more of an afterthought due to the positive response I had to the Identity I had created for Wigflex.
The Wigflex crew, as well as Mimm who are releasing ‘The Cuckup EP’, seem to be part of a burgeoning creative scene in Nottingham. Is there a close community and support network for what you guys are all doing?
There is a definitely a close knit community of artist’s that are all on a similar tip and are pushing each other and are linked up by this swagger laden techno sound that’s coming out of Notts at the moment. As far as a support network, in a way, I feel the people that run the city are almost doing the opposite by not supporting the local promoters/artists as much as they could be. The support we get from the people who frequent the nights we put on is incredible though and as long we keep doing our thing and not watching people who don’t have our backs, we’re going to do something pretty special here.
You have been putting out music on the Wigflex label for a number of years now, but never from yourself. This is contrary to why a lot of producers start labels. Is there any reason for this?
Wigflex was never just about me, It was more about showcasing the collective in general and my music was nowhere near good enough to release back then.
Coming round to you as a producer, what background do you come from musically and at what point did you pick up production yourself?
I first started Djing about 13 years ago where I started off listening to hard house and Trance. I then moved onto Garage, next up was a massive obsession with Hip Hop and scratching/juggling in general, this is where I learned how to Dj properly. As soon as I could get into clubs I started to go to Drum n Bass raves and then gradually started to lean towards techno. About four years ago I started to produce.
It may not be the most overt touchstone, but to my ears your tracks are all built around the swung rhythms of garage. Has this been a large influence on your productions?
Yeah massively, I love garage and I think shuffled hi-hats are one of the best things ever.
Melodically however there is a much more warped, nebulous perspective that references leftfield techno and electronica and seems to belie intent beyond the dance floor. What is your general headspace when making tracks?
It varies depending on what mood I’m in and whats been happening to me in my life in general. Its impossible to sit down and think beforehand what kind of emotion my track is going to convey, I generally just noodle about with a synth or create some sort of rhythm and just take it from there.
Since first becoming aware of your productions a number of years ago, very little music has been let out into the public sphere. Is this representative of your production processes or a perfectionist streak?
I guess It is some sort of perfectionist streak because I have shit loads of music on my hard drive that no one will ever hear. The thing is, when those first two collaborations with Geiom came out, I had literally only only just started to produce and I knew that personally, my solo work was nowhere near good enough for me to be putting it out anywhere and even then it took a lot of persuasion from different people for me to even be comfortable with putting these tunes out on MIMM, but I’m really glad I did as the reaction to the ep has been Incredible and has given me the confidence to push forward with my music.
‘The Cuckup EP’ is your debut solo EP, but you have had collaborative releases previously with Geiom. Do you like working with other producers? Does it alter how you approach the music at all?
You obviously change your approach when you’re working with someone else because every one’s got different ideas and flows but working with Geiom is easy, he’s got the best studio I have ever been in, the most amount of synths I’ve seen and he knows how to use it all.
You have got ‘The Cuckup EP’ due out on Mimm Recordings imminently. Can you tell us a little bit about the tracks and the thought behind the EP as a whole?
Music that sounds just as good after being up for two days as it does when you have just woken up.
How are things looking for 2012? Do you have any new projects in the pipeline either as Spam Chop or with the Wigflex collective?
I don’t want to jinx any solo offers I have had by revealing them now, I’ll just tell you to watch this space. Next up for Wigflex though is a Metaphi/Metske ep followed by a Hizatron & Bashley ep. They will be out later in the year.
-SPAM CHOP ‘THE CUCKUP EP’ IS OUT NOW ON MIMM RECORDINGS