Juno Daily: In The Mix and full interview – Loz Goddard
The Mancunian crate digger is preparing to release his debut LP
Manchester-based Loz Goddard first emerged on to the scene back in 2015 with his ‘Loose Jams’ EP on Fouk’s Outplay Records and since then has gone from strength to strength with a string of releases on labels such as Dirt Crew, FINA Records & Quintessentials.
His output on the aforementioned labels has seen Loz pick up fans both locally and internationally, which had led to bookings all over the world at top clubs & festivals. In turn, this has pushed his name out to a wider audience whose ears he now fills with more experimentation and live instrumentation.
Loz’s sound has become more refined since 2017, and his new creative approach within his music has caused him to look further afield to places such as Seb Wildblood’s Church imprint, to release as ‘Goddard’ with an EP that received early support from Resident Advisor, Mr. Scruff and Session Victim.
Following the release of ‘Find Me’ on Church, Loz is now taking his time in crafting some more experimental and electronic sounds, inspired by his love for Sheffield’s Warp Records and artists such as Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin & Squarepusher. His full length debut LP Balloon Tree Road will be out on February 28, 2022.
Loz said of the session “The mix I’ve put together for you was loosely inspired by a set I played last year at a festival in Manchester. As it was one of the only proper ‘club’ style sets I played last year (due to the intermittent restrictions) I still had a lot of the records I played there in my bag so I thought it might be nice to record something with a few of those.
“Of course, there’s a few new records in there that I’ve been digging. Especially the Guy Contact & Bliss Inc. stuff! I stuck to a higher BPM than I usually do for mixes that are published online, and that’s because I’m increasingly itching to get out to spin a few in the clubs this year. It was real nice to stick to just a couple of styles rather than play all across the board, as I do that plenty on my radio show already. Thanks for having me!”
Tracklisting
- Loz Goddard – When Time Slows It Feels Weird
- Leaps – We Know
- iO (Mulen) – Reponce Profonde
- Urulu – Polaris
- Guy Contact – Euphoria Simulator
- Bliss Inc. – Hacking The Planet
- Dawl – Lets Go
- Gallegos – Walk & Seek
- Diego – Crack
- Abdul Raeva – Submerged
- Kosh – Randomisation
- Chez Damier & Ron Trent – Morning Factory
How does it feel to be releasing your first album?
It’s so exciting, honestly. An album has been something that’s been in the back of my mind for years, it’s always been a main goal of mine. Breaking the habit of making tracks and building 3 or 4 track EP’s out of them has been quite difficult, but massively rewarding! I can safely say there will be more albums in the future, I have loved the process of experimenting more and not just making club-oriented tracks.
From the watery production and muddied breakbeats, there’s a mood of dissociation and aimless wonder to ‘Oath’. Some of the track titles – ‘Train To Somewhere’ and ‘Going Nowhere For Something’ – help convey this. What were your influences there?
I like the choice of words for describing the feel of my LP, that is absolutely the feeling I was going for.
If a track title doesn’t just come to me naturally, that’s when I start to struggle with naming. I hate forcing names, in fact forcing anything is just a bad idea. ‘Train To Somewhere’ is quite an obvious one, I was on a train at the time, imagine that! Rather than name a destination in the track title, I thought ‘Somewhere’ fit better, that way anyone listening can insert their own idea of where that train might be going.
The other track title is a bit of a spin on something a mate said to me years ago that I have always remembered. The quote was actually ‘going somewhere for nothing’ but if you flip ‘nothing’ and somewhere’ in that phrase it changes from sounding negative, to sounding positive.
What’s your process of securing the field recordings underlying the album? Where did you go to find them?
Interestingly, none of the field recordings were recorded by me. One was recorded by my Mum and the other, by my girlfriend. My Mum just sent me this phone recording out of the blue of the birds in the garden, they were abnormally loud that day and I guess that stood out to her enough to grab a recording.
The other recording came from my girlfriend while she was on a walk. She was walking through a canal tunnel with this real nice natural reverb. The droplets of water that were falling from the tunnel ceiling on to the canal surface made for such a peaceful sound. As soon as I received it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, and that was to make a more ambient style track. That’s exactly what I did!
What’s your setup like? What are you using to program some of the arpeggiated synths we hear on tracks like ‘When Time Slows…’?
My set up has always been a bit of a mixture of hardware and software. I have a Roland TD 30k Electric Drum Kit, A Juno 106, A Roland TR-8 drum machine and then an old Korg midi keyboard controller. These days I use my electric drum kit in probably every track in some way, whether it be for full drumbeats or just single hats, kicks or snares.
As well as the hardware, I have a few software bits too. Trilian is my go-to for bass, and Omnisphere for pads, synths and textures. Omnisphere was used for most of the arpeggiated synth sounds you’ll hear on the LP, as well as the Juno 106 to a lesser extent. Anything that I need to sound arpeggiated on the Juno I tend to play live until I get the loop right, as it’s not got it’s own arp.
Can you name some of your musical influences, going into the making of this LP?
For sure I’d have to mention artists like Boards of Canada, Autechre, Squarepusher & Aphex Twin. I’ve been listening to those guys ever since I got into electronic music, their music has always been a go-to for me.
I’ve taken just as much inspiration from our current scene too though. Labels like Smallville, Coastal Haze and Scissor & Thread have been putting out stunning music lately (and in the past too of course) and you can hear some of those influences in my LP.
With regards to artists that have inspired some of the sounds on my album, I’d have to shout out Moomin, Four Tet, Baltra, Laurence Guy, Villete, Seb Wildblood and Tom VR. There’s definitely more, but those guys are just a selection whose music I listen to and play out often.
Who was behind the artwork for the album? It kind of has Harry Potter’s golden egg vibes!
The artwork is so good, isn’t it?! I was blown away when the artist sent back the first idea, never mind the finished product. Very very large shouts to Ventral Is Golden on this, he was the guy who did the artwork. I really love his approach too, he kept me involved every step of the way and the focus was on what I wanted, rather than what the label wanted. Me and Oath struck the balance right and the result is something we both love.
I must shout out the Oath label owner too, as he also wanted me involved in the design discussions.
A bit more about the artwork – I actually sent Ventral Is Golden a selection of old pictures from back when I did photography. I didn’t think they fit his style originally, but I figured maybe he could get some kinda inspiration from them. The spindly-looking tree you see when you open out the gatefold is from a photograph I took, and it just looks like it ‘should’ be there.
How did you link up with Oath? They seem to be a proper high-concept label…
I can’t remember if the first messages were via Instagram or Email, but I first noticed them because their first record was from fellow Manc, Hidden Spheres. It was the artwork that struck me first, then on listening to the music I immediately thought ‘I have some music that could fit here’.
I sent across the tracks pretty much in the order they are on the LP now, as the concept and album were made by the time I decided to try Oath. My thought during the lockdowns was that I was going to get this signed as an album, rather than have labels pick & choose. After sending the album across, we removed one track that I wasn’t 100% sold on anyway, and that was that.
How did you first come into contact with Mr. Scruff and his support for you? Do you have any advice for other producers starting out and seeking similar DJ support?
As you’ll probably know, Mr Scruff is a fellow manc, so finding him was easy. He runs Keep It Unreal at Band on The Wall in town, so I headed there for one of his nights armed with my ‘Find Me’ EP that I put out on Church. I introduced myself and gave him the record and he played it that same night which was quality.
I think that would be my advice too. Get yourself out to events and do what you can to network in person. Sending your music to DJ’s and artists online can often get lost in the madness of promo emails and various messages, so going to an event with your record or your music on a USB may mean it’s more likely to get listened to.
Oh, and if you are sending your music to other artists, always ask if you can send first. It’s nice to add a bit of a personal touch instead of just firing over a link and hoping for a listen.
Who’d be on your dream line-up (for you to play alongside, of course)?
Boards of Canada all night long. I’d also give them my set time too, is that allowed?