Interview: Glimpse & Martin Dawson

Following the release of his debut album Runner on Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels label, British producer Glimpse (aka Chris Spero) has also been working with Martin Dawson (perhaps better known as King Roc) on collaborative EPs starting with The Flying Scotsmen. Out on Germany’s seminal Cocoon imprint last month, Juno Plus writer Flora Wong caught up with the duo for a quick chat about their work together.

Firstly, how did you guys meet?

We first properly met on a trip to Kiev where we were both playing at an outdoor party on an island in the middle of this lake. By coincidence we were living very nearby in London so we took the journey together and hung out all weekend.  It was a very very funny trip… and we have been good friends since then.

Why do you work so well as a duo?

Probably because our tastes in music have a lot of similarities. We work quickly because we are both producers so it’s easy to communicate ideas and also being friends is important because it makes it much more fun to hang out in the studio. We just get a good chemistry between us and ideas tend to come very quickly which means we work fast, which is useful as studio time is precious due to living in different countries.

What is your production process like?

We just throw loads of ideas around and see what sticks. Working quickly really helps here and I think we work fast between us because once we get on a main theme we both kick into overdrive so the ideas come very quickly. It can be quite hectic because we both have to work hard to keep up with each other but it’s loads of fun. We have both produced different tracks together and we do have differences in our styles, but what we do together is something we both feel we cannot achieve on our own and that makes it feel really good… like it’s something more special.

What’s the story behind the name of the track? It’s quite a jaunty piece with quite scatty jazz sounds. Where did the influences for this stem from?

We came up with the name for a couple of reasons.  The Flying Scotsman is the name of a well known train in the UK. We found elements in the train that reminded us of a train through its loopy repetitiveness and there is a Rhodes sound in the track that we distort a couple of times before the bass drops in. For us almost feels like a train horn and fit wit the theme in our minds. Both of us like working with organic sounds and these were the first ideas we laid down that we felt worked with the bassline, which was the first element we decided on.

Do you think it sounds like your individual styles combined or is this something completely new that was an outlet for you?

Hopefully we have found something that is unique to our working relationship and our taste. For sure the tracks we write together are different to what we do individually. We have just finished our fourth track and we are really happy with all of them. Somehow we just seem to get the vibe right. I think its part of why we are always excited about doing more material together.

Will this be an ongoing project?

Yes. We want to release a few more EPs and are already talking to labels that are interested. And for next year we have talked about working on an album so definitely lots more to come.

Will you be performing together either live or DJing?

We don’t do anything at the moment but if we do an album we might put something together. We both play live and DJ individually. I can’t see this coming together unless we do something like an album as this would give us a really good body of work to mess around with.

What’s next for you two in your own works?

Martin: I am working on my new King Roc album, also an alternative kind of indie dance project with a friend of mine, Get Shakes, from the UK – all live guitars, bass etc…, we have just started working on the Two Armadillos album a couple of weeks ago and also some more material with Andre Crom to follow up on our first single which was pretty successful. Then I have original solo stuff and remixes on Kling Klong, Session Deluxe, Moodmusic and Off. DJ wise I am off to Mexico, Bali And Brazil in the next couple of months with a few European clubs and festivals in between.

Chris: At the moment I have just moved house and am now building my new studio in the basement there.  My six month old daughter and dog Olek also take up a lot of time.  Musically I’m busy over the next few months touring in China, Japan, Russia and playing Wednesdays at Space in Ibiza. I also have the remix package coming out following my album on Crosstown Rebels with remixes from Marcel Dettmann.

Interview: Flora Wong