Tim Simenon of Bomb the Bass

Speaking with Tim Simenon over a buzzing long-distance telephone line seems somehow apt. Not only is he coming back from a distance (even though his production work means he’s never really been away), but he’s also arriving virtually via technology.

After fourteen years in suspended animation, Bomb the Bass is due back in August with Future Chaos, a new album brimming with the kind of quality collaborations you only get when people take your phone calls. There’s also the fact of Bomb the Bass now existing as a fully functioning live band, and the impending matter of some warm-up live dates, starting 4th June at London's Astoria. Taking a break from rehearsals, Simenon was in suitably high spirits.

After such a lengthy hiatus, I guess the first question should be, what’s new about the 21st Century Bomb the Bass?

I think the main difference on this new album is that we've taken Bomb the Bass out of the studio. This is no longer a studio project. It’s something that we’ve built to take out onto the road.

How did making the new album, Future Chaos, compare with the previous three?

I think this version of the album, the one that is about to be released, is different because the first version sounded too much like us – if that makes any sense. It was all sounding too well produced, like a polished studio album; very complicated and fussy, and it had started to lose that spark – which is when I realised we were going the wrong way.

How so?

When you’re editing pieces together things take time, and I was too close to the material to see clearly. I was too pressured. Music should be about making you feel good. When you put on music – even if it’s your own – it should give you that good feeling. I realised that when I wasn’t coming back and listening to the Future Chaos work myself. I had to shake myself up, and see the state of play for what it was. So we kept some of the best songs, and chucked it all out and started again.

This album has got a real stripped back, analogue sound. You pretty much made the whole thing on a minimoog, right?

That’s right. Restarting the album coincided with us rediscovering the minimoog as an instrument. Paul Conboy (writing, production and performance partner on Future Chaos) was over here in Amsterdam, where I’m based now, and we were playing around with some new ideas, which was when we decided to try and do this as a live thing.

We took a few of the best tracks like Smog and So Special, started reworking them, and that’s when it started to get really interesting. The songs were still coming through, but without all the fuss. So we decided to carry on and see where it would take us. Nine, ten tracks down the line we realised we were on to something really special.

Now that the album is mixed and ready to go, how would you define Future Chaos?

I suppose you'd file it under electronic; but electronic music with soul.

What were your influences making Future Chaos?

The very nature of Bomb the Bass has always been about collaboration; that, and the fact that I make music by manipulating technology. So, even though the backing tracks are always the things that come together first, I’d have to say the people I’m working with have been the greatest influence, without doubt. More so than any of the previous albums.

'Black River' featuring Mark Lanegan is a prime example. I’d been a fan of his for a long time after hearing him on a PJ Harvey album, and there was a track that I was sure would suit his voice, his feel. The same with 'Butterfingers'; I heard the Fujiya and Miyagi album, and I thought I had a track that would be perfect for them, too.

To me, that’s one of the great values of Future Chaos. Other than the actual songs, it’s the array of people that have come together on there. It’s about the love of music as a whole, not just one style. The idea of being able to work with so many different people – that’s the thing that appeals, and keeps me going.

What do you want to achieve with the forthcoming live shows?

I really want to push forward with the combination of live elements and effects, of Paul singing and me manipulating samples live; of making a brand new mix, a fresh sound every night. This isn’t just midi and play-back, this is all live – just in a different way.

The idea is to explore the idea of what this kind of show can be – make it like an installation, what with the screens and visuals we’re using. We’ve got these V-scratch guys who are cutting up live visuals in the same way that a DJ would records, so there are actually four of us on stage. I feel there’s a lot of scope in where we’re at, a lot of things to run with.

If someone was discovering Bomb the Bass for the first time, what tracks would you recommend from Future Chaos?

I honestly don’t know. Different people are already coming back to me with different opinions on the album. Some like the more out-there feel of 'Burn the Bunker' with Toob. Others like the Mark Lanegan track, 'Black River'. 'Butterfingers' seems to be building it’s own unique appeal. And of course 'So Special' with Paul Conboy on vocals has a great vibe, and has been pulling people in via the films we’re making for the internet and YouTube.

It sounds like you’re excited about music again?

Absolutely! Excited about listening to music, performing it, making it. Looking back, I realised that if I was going to make another Bomb the Bass album it was going to have to be something special. It was never my intention for it to take fourteen years. But good things take time – and I’m happy with the results. In a crazy way Future Chaos came back around full-circle on me, and really helped me find myself again.

So what do you think you’ve learnt from making this album?

(Laughs) Patience!

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