OM Unit & TM404 interview – “Essentially, I’m a bit of a nerd for studio techniques”
Advanced Acid Dub Studies with the Anglo/Swedish team up
At the end of last month, Om Unit and TM404 released In The Afterworld on Acid Test, a Berlin-based label focused on 303-oriented sounds. The seven-track album is a heady collaboration between the two visionary producers which extends both their respective studies into the sonic possibilities of acid dub.
During the lockdown period, Om Unit (Jim Coles) released ‘Acid Dub Studies’, an LP combining pensive acid melodies with atmospheric dub to great effect. The album was partly inspired by the work of Sweden’s TM404 (Andreas Tilliander), an artist who’s also explored this intersection with his hypnotic, hardware experimentation. In The Afterworld is a heady collaboration between the two visionary producers which delves further into the possibilities of acid dub.
Since Acid Dub Studies, Om Unit has released Acid Dub Studies II, Acid Dub Versions and Root, Stalk, Leaf and Bloom, a stoned-out EP made with Deadbeat. The producer explained what draws him to exploring the intersection between acid and dub. “Specifically, it’s the use of the sustain that reverb creates along with pure tonality and expression that you get from the 303, in combination they create these huge tonal soundscapes,” he told me.
He continues, “On the dub side, I am of course coming from a more ‘sound system’ background having made quite a bit of music which is heavily derived from black, Jamaican and American cultures, which are of course very rooted in rhythms that are fundamentally bassline-driven. So I think those two aspects combined led to the ‘Acid Dub Studies’ work. Essentially, I’m a bit of a nerd for studio techniques and dub has always been a fascination for me.”
Initially making his name as the turntablist 2tall, as Om Unit he received attention for a slew of popular releases on Plastician’s Terrorhythm, Pinch’s Tectonic and eventually on his own label, Cosmic Bridge. During this period Jim also worked anonymously as Phillip D Kick, creating shockwaves with his revolutionary combination of jungle and footwork- a relationship also to be explored by DJ Rashad, Addidson Groove and Machinedrum, whom Om Unit collaborated with as ‘Dream Continuum’ for an EP on Planet Mu- which showed the producer’s penchant for combining seemingly disparate genres and production techniques.
Jim talks of trying not to be driven by insecurity or wanting to ‘belong’ to any particular culture. This year, he’s already released an EP of forward-thinking club music as Om Unit, referencing all the aspects of his musical palette. In February, he also put out his third and final full-length release on Astrophonica under Phillip D Kick. He explains how working simultaneously on a range of projects aids his creativity, “I think it helps me to be able to be free to release what I want in the way I want it to be presented. A lot of the time it’s actually useful to have a bit of a focus in that way of working to a bit of a criteria. I find I can work quite quickly if it’s a specific style in mind. For example, philip d kick being specifically one thing. I try not to do too many things at once as it gets noisy mentally, but there are often ideas forming for projects in parallel that I kind of ‘tick off’ in sequence when the time is right.”
Speaking about Acid Dub Studies, Jim mentions the work of TM404 as a major inspiration, having come across his discography eight years ago. ‘I was really taken by the boldness of the work in terms of the freedom to create such dense textures that are somehow minimal but fill up the space entirely,’ making it no surprise that he subsequently sought out the producer for a project.
For those unacquainted with that producer, Andreas Tilliander has released music with some of Europe’s most respected labels under his own name and a range of monikers (TM404, Mokira, Rechord, Komp and Lowfour). He was a pioneer of the futuristic ‘clicks & cuts’ movement with his releases on Raster-Norton, along with the likes of Sheffield’s SND, Jan Jelinek’s alias Farben and Alva Noto. Over the last decade or so he’s continued to remain at the forefront of technological innovation, mostly turning his talents to dub-techno as TM404, the name being a reference to the story that Roland never produced a 404 because four is an unlucky number in Japanese culture.
Andreas tells me that dub has been ever present in his work, sometimes taking the form of ambient with echo and spring reverb, other times resulting in more straightforward techno. He’s keen to impress that although Basic Channel and Maurizio have been his heroes for over two decades, he avoids harking back to 1993 and becoming another copyist. The innovative Acidub combined deep resonances with futuristic layers of 303s. “The TB-303 is the synth that makes me happy and there’s always room for a TB in all of my productions. I think it’s the simplicity of the sound in combination with the super strange sequencer. Sometimes I don’t use it for six months just to fool myself into getting the initial feeling I had when I tried the TB for the first time all these years ago.”
Before receiving a message from Jim on Twitter about a potential collaboration, Andreas had come across Acid Dub Studies through a recommendation. “I guess my friends wanted me to check it out because they know I love anything acid and dub. Plus, I have an album called Acidub, so I immediately knew I was in for a treat. The rest is acid dub history really”.
The potential to create a record that stood out from anything he’d done before initially drew Andreas to the project. “When two producers meet, the result really should reflect that it’s actually a meeting of minds with different visions and knowledge,” he said. In The Afterworld sees both producers combine their strengths to explore new sonic paths, with a result that’s noticeably different from their solo work. “I would say I’m more of an ambient and texture guy. Jim being British and all, his production style definitely leans more towards beats and deep basses,” Andreas added.
Recalling the Artificial Intelligence-esque techno of the 90s, the euphoric melody, squelchy acid and rolling breaks of ‘Motorway Acid’ kick off the LP, transporting the listener to the heart of foggy dance floors and refracting strobelights. Typifying the psychedelic atmosphere that’s audible throughout, the otherworldly, downtempo ‘Microdose Mondays’ is next, the title being a reference to Om Unit’s use of Psilocybin during the production process. ‘London Stock’ picks up where the Acid Dub Studies series left off, keeping the influence of dub at the forefront, with a bouncing steppers groove orbited by a swirling 303 melody.
Om Unit also sees their album as a meeting in the ‘middle’ of Andreas’ signature subliminal soundscapes and his own roots in London and Bristol. He told me, “We worked remotely, and sent parts back and forth – it was all really quite intuitive and free. We allowed each other total freedom to completely destroy and rebuild if necessary and I think it really worked!”
On the B-side, the chugging rhythm of ‘Meanwhile In The Smoking Area’ adds momentum and continues the celestial mood. ‘Thursday’ employs serene textures and thundering sub bass, the intermittent appearance of a distorted canadian loon cementing the track within the lexicon of UK dance music. Like many of TM404 tracks, ‘Refracted’ is an engrossing slow builder filled with sub-aquatic textures and liquified percussion. Conceived while Andreas was in Prague, ‘Praha’ closes the album. Initially including beats, Jim decided to remove them, allowing the power of the layered synths, inflecting acids and expansive sonics to come to a beatless conclusion.
“It’s about the idea of world-building that you can create these ‘sonic fictions’ and tell stories that are culturally non-contextual”, Jim remarked about the album’s title. Reflecting both producer’s mutable characteristics, In The Afterworld probes further into the acid dub realm, utilising new techniques and methods in service of an impressionistic narrative. I finished by asking them whether there are any plans to turn the project into a live set, “Make us an offer and we’ll think about it for sure. A live set with Om Unit and TM404 would be fun indeed!” Jim agreed, “Never say never!”
Charlie Bird