SMD interview for Disorder magazine, from February 2007:
After the Eno-produced electronic folk rock band Simian burned out in 2005, SMD rose from the ashes his year, with their new record, Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release and its brain-crushingly good lead single It’s A Beat. With set-ups at The End and Bugged Out! mixes under their belts, as well as a load of remix workouts for Klaxons and yep, Justice, they seem to be pretty well-born, combining the three key dance moods that are shaping up to dominate 2007 (Ed Recs-esque "filthy" electro, the trancey stuff coming out of Berlin and, yes, nu-rave) and post-rave acts like LFO and KLF. "Whoooooosh" is the overall effect and there's a bit on track seven that starts off really minimal, but caves into a Euphoria-heavy beat as if the song itself can't stop grinning for gurning. It's really, really fun, and – generalization alert! – kind of sums up dance music in this country in 2007.
What question do you always wish you were asked?
What would you like to drink?
Could you tell me about your new album, what's the story behind it?
We have been writing tunes for ages just for a laugh and we suddenly realised that we had loads of tunes. We want the album to be a good listening experience, not just loads of bangers thrown together.
What was the recording and writing process like?
We generally work really quickly. Rather than laboring over a few tracks we like to do loads of them and then choose our favourites. We plug the machines in and guide them while they make music for us.
It's an old story, but I'd like to hear it again. What happened with Simian the band and how were SMD formed?
Simian split in at the end of a long tour of the states but we are all still mates and help each other out with our new projects. SMD started with me and James djing in clubs after Simian gigs. We started doing remixes and when the band finished we just kept on djing and making music. Now we are an act in our own right.
Mr. Ford, you've just produced the Arctic Monkey's new record. Can you tell us something about them that we'd never know?
Jamie ate a phal for a bet. I had to pay for his curry.
There's a song on there called Tits and Acid, and I've been reliably informed that acid makes you visualise music. How would you describe your music in a visual sense?
Strobe. strobe. strobe. one of those old oil lamps. strobe. strobe. strobe.
What do you have in common with our primate cousins as musicians?
We like drums, and fire. We work on instinct.
We like drums, and fire. We work on instinct.
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