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Interview: 36

“Cold Ecstasy is the ultimate memory rush. It’s the album I’ve always wanted to make“

Cold Ecstasy is the latest album from 36 – the ambient and experimental electronic music project of UK artist Dennis Huddleston. An homage to the happier, more emotionally-charged aspects of the UK hardcore and rave scene, it is a truly beautiful body of work, playing with themes of memory and deeply rooted in nostalgia: something with which I have an arguably unhealthily obsession.

I love Cold Ecstasy, so was delighted that Dennis agreed to answer some questions about his inspirations and approaches to its creation.

For the majority of the 00s and 2010s – and arguably even in its 90s heyday – trance and the happier aspects of hardcore were pretty much written off as unserious and not worthy of respect. Why do you think that is?

People are too serious, perhaps? Look, I get it. There were some absolutely dreadful happy hardcore tunes. Things got pretty stupid after 1997. But UK hardcore has always had this duality, right from the get-go. For every classic tune like Ellis Dee’s “Free The Feeling” we also got gimmicky trash like “Sesame’s Treet”. Happy hardcore just took things to the extreme, since the bad stuff was really, really bad. It was an easy target, I found it hilarious how Sharkey was a key part of hardcore’s downfall with much-maligned tunes like “Toytown”, yet he was also instrumental in pushing the Freeform sound years later, which gave us so many great tracks. As I say, such is the duality of man!

Of course, it’s a phenomenon which isn’t exclusive to hardcore. Every genre has good and bad tunes. It encourages you to dig deeper to find the stuff that shines brightest. Believe me, there’s plenty of classic happy hardcore tracks, if you give it a chance. I wouldn’t have listened if they weren’t there.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Cloth

The Glasgow-based band’s Paul Swinton on discovering a track that sparked a life-long obsession

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Cloth are a Glasgow two-piece comprising twins Rachael and Paul Swinton, who combine alt-rock with electronically enhanced production with extremely enjoyable results.

While their self-titled debut album was shortlisted for the 2020 SAY Award and enjoyed committed support from various 6 Music DJs, their second album Secret Measure – released in May on Mogwai’s Rock Action Records – seems to already be breaking through in a more significant fashion. Presenting a wider, more cinematic sound and arguably more emotionally resonant than their debut, it’s been reviewed very positively pretty much across the board, and quite rightly so.

For their One Track Mind selection, Paul Swinton talks about the lasting impact of a charity shop find.

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One Track Mind: Spencer Doran

Spencer Doran takes us back in time with his appreciation of an “outsider’ Renaissance composer

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Described by Bandcamp Daily as “Video Game Music’s Most Valuable Outsider”, Spencer Doran is a composer, producer and contemporary sound designer who makes up one half of the Portland duo and Italian minimalism enthusiasts Visible Cloaks.

Composed and produced over the course of nearly three years, his latest solo album is the original soundtrack for SEASON: A letter to the future, which underpins the highly-anticipated meditative exploration game in which the main character must save memories of a civilization on the verge of collapse. A lush collection of transmissions from this warmly fading world, we hear a culture and ecology through the sentimental ear of their last witness.

For his One Track Mind selection, Spencer has picked an entire album from Tobias Hume, focussing on a particular performance from Jordi Savall.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: This Is The Kit

Kate Stables on the prismic, reflective qualities of a Paul Simon classic

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

This Is The Kit is the alias of English musician Kate Stables. Established in 2003, she released her first album Krülle Bol in 2008 and has over four subsequent albums – the latest of which was 2020’s Off Off On for Rough Trade – established a sound deeply rooted in the folk traditions of storytelling, with songs evoking an earthy, tactile sense of time and place one moment and ethereal, dream-like atmospheres the next.

Recently she announced her new album, Careful of your Keepers, due for release 09 June along with the lead single Inside Outside which you can listen to below.

For her One Track Mind selection, Kate has penned some typically poetic words about a favourite track from Paul Simon’s seminal album Graceland.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Julia Gjertsen

The Oslo-based pianist and composer on the cinematic journey and structural chaos of Fieldhead

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Julia Gjertsen is a pianist and composer based in Oslo. Combining contemporary electronic elements with the piano, she creates contemplative soundscapes and introspective compositions that draw inspiration from nature and reflect on moments from the past and present. Her music is characterized by a tender playing style and beautifully crafted melodies that aim to convey nuanced perceptions and emotions that can often be challenging to express through words.

Her second album Formations was released last year, while more recently she released the collaborative EP Dive alongside Finnish composer Juha Mäki-Patola. Her latest single, Embers, came out earlier this month as part of Fractals, Moderna Records’ annual piano day compilation featuring twelve pieces from composers and pianists around the world.

For her One Track Mind selection, Julia has selected the opening track from UK electronic duo Fieldhead’s 2009 album they shook hands for hours.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Thanya Iyer

The South Indian-Canadian artist on the unrestrained joy of a US saxophone icon.

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Thanya Iyer is an enigmatic songwriter who crafts sparkling experimental pop music. Her live trio, with Pompey and Daniel Gélinas, wields acoustic and electronic instruments to flesh out her serene, spiritual compositions.

Her wonderful 2020 album KIND was inspired by years of touring and connecting with community in a live setting. Released earlier this year, new latest EP rest is more reflective and introspective, composed predominantly during the pandemic, and explores existential themes through the prism of contemplative pop, folk and jazz.

For her One Track Mind selection, Iyer has selected a life-affirming jazz cut from the American saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Tomu DJ

The California producer on the enduring appeal of some soft rock icons

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Tomu DJ is an American producer and DJ best known for her self-released albums on Bandcamp. She imbues her music with a gentle yet driving emotional force, creating intricate but comforting melodies across her discography. Tomu draws inspiration from her inner self—her memories and her past—and seamlessly infuses these reflections into her music. She released her latest LP Half Moon Bay earlier this year, which is yet another plaintive, thoughtful collection of tracks that straddle house, breaks, ambient and electronica with impressive assuredness.

For her One Track Mind selection, Tomu DJ has picked a track from one of the most iconic rock outfits of all-time, the mesmeric Steely Dan.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Anna B Savage

The singer-songwriter discusses her abiding love for a Nat King Cole staple

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Released last month, Anna B Savage’s debut album A Common Turn was three years in the making and the result is remarkable, sounding at once defiant and deeply vulnerable and exploring themes both lightweight and profound. Throughout, her voice is never short of extraordinary, with tracks frequently starting life as exposed, skeletal frames before building to triumphant, roaring crescendos.

For her track, Anna has selected an artist and record that will doubtless be familiar to most, and speaks about it with such passion that we should probably all take a moment to truly appreciate its magnificence.

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Interviews Music

Interview: Harkin

“The desktop of my mind has been cleared. Now it’s time to clutter it up again.”

A founding member of the band Sky Larkin, Katie Harkin has just released her debut self-titled solo album. In the intervening years she’s toured and recorded with some of the most successful and acclaimed indie rock acts in the business, including Kurt Vile, Courtney Barnett, Waxahatchee and Wild Beasts, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that Harkin is an absolute gem of an album: urgent, expressive, affecting.

I’m incredibly grateful to Katie for taking the time to answer some questions for The Predatory Wasp… and if you haven’t yet listened to the album, I highly recommend you do so.

Congratulations on the release of your debut album – it’s brilliant. When did you start recording it, and was the process generally positive, stressful, invigorating, a combination of all of these… or something else entirely?

Well thanks! I felt a huge amount of growth through the process. I recorded it without a label (we founded our own to release it- Hand Mirror), and though organising everything and clinging onto hard drives as I moved between studios in different time zones was stressful, it was thrilling to do it all on my own terms.

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