MAPS interview – “Everyone has an opinion now”
How a lockdown coping strategy turned into an essential album
“There’s nothing better than sitting there with a blank canvas in front of you,” says James Chapman, before his eyes scan up and left, brain evidently considering the statement. “Well, maybe not if you have some mad deadline. In fact, then it can be a horrible thing. Like — ‘I’ve got a title!’ But when there’s nothing there you can just go anywhere you want. If you’ve got that time, you’ve got that freedom, and a chance to really experiment and try new things.”
Better known by his studio and on-stage alias, MAPS, Chapman is speaking to us from his home studio in England just ahead of the long-awaited release of his latest LP. His first since 2019, like filling the opening bars on a new DAW production screen, or hitting the first word to kick off that empty page, Counter Melodies has itself been a protracted affair. First born from necessity, the need to have something to focus on during a pandemic that threatened all our mental health, pushing even the most grounded towards madness, the release was then split across two parts. The first five tracks landing last year, the second lot this month.
“I mean initially the idea with this album was to create something seamless, in terms of how the tracks flow. But there is a definite break around the halfway point, which seemed like a nice way to think about the record — Side A and Side B. There’s a journey across the whole thing, but there’s definitely also this separation,” Chapman continues. “This also meant I could get some tracks out last year, which I really wanted to do. People probably always say this, but this really feels like an album-album, too. So I think I wanted to release five at a time rather than a single, or singles, because that way the tracks could still work together. Although people just make their own playlist these days as soon as it goes out.
“But there was a feeling I’d spent time making them work in this way, so this was a good approach for me. Just because things have changed in how people consume music doesn’t mean that has to have a knock-on effect for how it’s produced. And I’d like to think people will listen to it as an album. Really, though, you just have to swallow hard and know the world has changed. Still, it would be a shame for that to influence how the music itself is made,” he says. “In that sense, with things being consumed so quickly, it’s also nice to have a bit more of an introduction, or lead-in, to the full album.”
If timing has counted for much in terms of the record dropping, the same can be said for Chapman’s previous long-form outing, Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss. Arriving in 2019, he then played a small number of shows at select UK venues including BBC 6 Music fave The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge, and London Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room. A few months delay, things would have worked out very differently as Covid-19 brought plans for tours to a complete halt, decimating publicity and promotion campaigns.
In this instance, though, the impact would have been even more significant. So many ideas on Counter Melodies came to fruition as a result of experiences DJing in clubs before the world stopped turning. Not least that desire to build a collection of tunes that fit together in the same way as a mixed set.
“There was no master plan with Counter Melodies to begin with,. It was very much started in that first lockdown, trying to keep sane. It was never planned as an album, it was just that at the end of that year I looked back and was like: ‘Oh, there’s a lot of good stuff there’. Some of the original tracks, had I included them it would have been a very different record. All I knew is I wanted it to sound upbeat and positive and up-lifting. So it was about trying to select the right songs. I mean, every album is different — this sounds completely different to the last. And, you know, that means I’m now thinking about how to present that.
“What’s the best way? Because you want the shows to be good as well. So it’s just kind of figuring that out really, that’s where I’m at with things. I’d like to do more DJ spots and things like that, but maybe it would be better as a kind of hybrid thing. So DJ and live sets. I’m not sure,” Chapman tells us, explaining dates also allowed him to test out material. “I was playing smallish places, and they seemed like good settings to try stuff out. You know, even early on before other people were there. Just playing on a system and walking out front to listen. So really using the club as an extra studio. The tracks have changed quite a lot over time, too. So I guess there was this idea of playing things at a certain point to get an idea of what they needed.”
The idea of tour dates, and social media, forming a kind of critical feedback loop is at once useful and yet a little scary, from an artist’s perspective. Whereas in the past, tracks would go from studio to label back to studio, only reaching the public after being finalised and released, this isn’t necessarily the same in 2022. The result can mean parts of tracks find their way online long before they should. Chapman recalls how he returned from a gig to find a video on his Instagram feed of a set which contained a section of an unreleased, unfinished track.
“It sounds like a good thing. I took it as a good thing. Is it a good thing? I mean, it didn’t ruin anything, and it was nice to know people were enjoying the song,” he tells us, making it clear that now people have an opportunity to chime in on new work that isn’t necessarily ready to be judged, producers must be sure of everything before it comes close to an audience or sound system. The need to have confidence and believe in your abilities — not to mention judgement — has never been more important. But this is easier said than done
“With anything now, you have to be really pleased with what you’ve done before you share. I don’t want to say it’s a lack of confidence, but I really don’t like sharing things with people before I’m happy with it. Sharing something and asking, ’What do you think?’, I’m not and have never been very good at that. I mean, I share things with the label and always have, which is a really positive thing. About 12 months after I began working on this there were about 30 tracks in total. My A&R guy, Joff [Gladwell], came over to visit and we just spent a really nice afternoon listening to tracks. So for me it’s more about choosing the people you trust,” Chapman explains.
“I’ve developed a thicker skin too, over the years. When I started out, any negative words would ruin me. But now I’m a bit more of a big boy about it. Which is good, as everyone has an opinion now. Which is why it’s so important to make sure you’re happy with it. There’s nothing worse than putting stuff out there you’re not sure about and then people start ripping it apart. Then you’re like: ‘Oh, yeah, I know. I know. I knew it was bad, I’m really sorry’,” he continues through a typically hushed, self-deprecating laugh. “At least if you’re pleased with it, you’re pleased. Then you just have to let it go. You’ve got to let it go.”
Martin Hewitt
Counter Melodies is out now on vinyl or CD through Mute Records