Glimpse - Catching A Glimpse
London underground techno producer Glimpse makes the sort of sounds our very own Future Classic crew champion, mixed with a little jazz and a lot of soul. 3D speaks to him about his latest EP, Drifting, out through Carl Craig’s Planet E.
First up, what brought you into the wonderful world of electronic music- Was it that deep Detroit techno sound that sucked you in in the first place-
I think hearing Jeff Mills drop Octave One’s Blackwater at Lost in 1998 was definitely a defining moment in my career. I used to go to the Lost parties whenever they were on. For me they will always have extra special memories; hearing people like Aphex Twin, Basic Channel, Mills, Hood, Garnier K Alexi and Surgeon all on the same line-up was an immense introduction to electronic music. Lost was just a massive black room packed full of people with a throbbing sound system. It was the best atmosphere I have ever experienced in a club in my life. I still get goosebumps just thinking about it. Everyone was there for the same reason: they shared a passion for electronic music. Steve Bicknell managed to sit perfectly on the line of his night being a serious educational musical experience where musicians could take risks and a party.
The soul and jazz influence coming through on your tracks is hard to miss, who’d you say are your top soul inspirations-
I’m listening to a lot of Afrobeat at the moment. Artists like Wunmi and M Selem. I find this music fascinating. It manages to have the rhythm and vibe of, say, a house or techno record, but also have a massive input of soul/jazz and a fantastic organic feel to it.
So you kick started your own record label, does that mean you have free reign to pretty much do what you choose-
I started my label with Kompakt back in 2001. The label was setup as a platform for me to do whatever I want musically. I am actually a bit of a control freak sometimes, especially when it comes to my music. So by running my own label I have complete artistic and musical control and can release my music in my own way and in my own time and to keep things really simple I only release my own music on the label.
Congratulations on the release of your Drifting EP on Carl Craig’s Planet E, with a remix by the man himself, how did that come about-
My press agent, Dean Muhsin at Dispersion, sent the track to Carl without telling me and he signed it and remixed it… I was not sure what to do with the track because it wasn’t really the right sound for my label. It had been sitting on my hard drive for ages. I still owe Dean a big drink for that one.
Can we expect any further interesting collaborations in the future-
The next release on Glimpse is a collaboration with Compost’s Jay Shepheard and should be out in November.
This year will see the release of your debut studio album, how’s that going- Still a work in progress or all sorted-
My album will be out in September on Four Twenty. I’m really excited about it, as I have tried some completely new things on there. I moved to Berlin for six months to do it. It’s now finished and ready to be mastered.
Finally could we expect a visit to our shores from Glimpse in 2009- You’re itinerary is pretty hectic, fancy squeezing in an adventure to Oz-
I would love to come and play in Australia, but have not yet had anything confirmed yet. I had some requests last year whilst on my Japan tour but it didn’t really work out due to flight problems. Hopefully I will be over there sometime soon.
WHO: Glimpse
WHAT: Drifting through Planet E
WHEN: Out now
MORE: myspace.com/glimpserecordings