aaamusic | On 11, Jun 2013

AAAmusic: Who are you and where are you from?

I am Jamie from Dark Dark Horse. We are purveyors of atmospheric electronica from Leicester. We formed when I met singer James though recording his old band Kids in Cars. While I was getting a drum sound or something he started playing acoustic and singing and it just really caught me, like hairs on the back of your neck stuff. He agreed to sing on some music I’d be working on and it just went from there really.

AAAmusic: What inspired you to get into music?

My friend got a guitar for Christmas when I was around 15, after learning those first few chords I just haven’t really stopped. After doing a Music Tech and sort of art music degree I found myself somewhat disillusioned with guitar music and began exploring music crafted with the mind as opposed limiting myself to the abilities of my hands. I find my personal musical experiences playing with various bands and producing shape my musical output more than say record from the other side of the globe but a few reference points me and James share are Radiohead, Sigur ros and all the Warp records stuff.

AAAmusic: What have you done?  

We have our debut record Centuries out Japan and in the UK and I believe it’s going to be released in Europe in the near future too. We’ve been invited down to be interviewed at BBC 6, played the drowned in sound stage at Summer Sundae Festival, headlined Communion records’ prestigious London Communion night and done remixes for the likes of Tall Ships, Fossil Collective, LITE and Rose Elinor Dougal.

AAAmusic: What are you like live?

Live we present a slightly pumped up version of the record. I find laptop performance can be a bit dull/problematic for audiences so we present the record with a full band. Special moments on that front so far have been supporting Mono in a Cathedral, getting to play De Montfort Hall (which is like a dream venue in Leicester where people like genesis have recorded live albums) and being asked to support Fossil Collective on tour.

AAAmusic: What makes you different? 

The uniqueness perhaps doesn’t lie in the musical composition of each track but more how it’s orchestrated. Not that the composition of the notes is something we take lightly but I’m fascinated by the cultural weight certain sound sources hold and how you can really transform the feel of a piece by orchestrating it unusually. You’ll hear anything from Vibraphone to the sound of my breathing pitched up and backwards in Dark Dark Horse track.

AAAmusic: Physical vs Downloading vs Streaming…How do you listen to music?

Any of the above really, sometimes I find that the way people consume or release music is focused on a little too much, I’m more interested in the content than the delivery. Streaming looks like it’s going to be the future but the way Spotify compensates musicians is a bit of a joke, I can’t see it as a viable future for anyone involved in the actual content on it.

AAAmusic: What have you been listening to? 

I really enjoyed the Atoms for Peace record. ‘Dropped’ sounds like Missy Elliot meets Flying Lotus meets Radiohead, I love it. The latest new artist I’ve been digging is Joe Banfi who was main support on the dates we did with Fossil Collective. He has a song called ‘Olive Green’ which is pretty special.

AAAmusic: What are your aspirations for the future?

Just to keep making music, growing as a musician and to reach more people with what we’re doing. We have probably too many songs in the demo/half done stage at the moment. I’m going to complete them in the coming months and then we’ll be releasing new material this winter.

Questions answered by: Jamie Ward of Dark Dark Horse…