Music > Interviews

Submotion Orchestra

27/11/14

There are so many sub genres in dance music it’s hard to keep up. Submotion Orchestra are a dab hand, however, at bringing touches of all of them into their music. From trip hop to dubstep, their songs are soaring, accomplished euphoric slices of life in 2014. Their latest album Alium has been getting rave reviews and they’re playing at UEA in December. Bonus. I spoke to keys player Taz Modi about what it’s like to be in the band.

How did you all get together?

It came about through a project at York Minster Cathedral, which was done with Ranking records and a few of the guys from Submotion, though of course it didn’t exist then. The idea was to do a dubstep/classical crossover gig, and afterwards it seemed like a good idea to carry on doing something that mixed dubstep with a live, jazz-based element. Tommy, Ruckspin and Fatty were involved in that, and since they knew the rest of the band from the Leeds music scene, we all came in one by one and started writing and jamming together.

Has there ever been any arguments between you?

Sure, we have a few moments of tension – in a band of seven people you’re bound to get a few moments like that. But generally we all get on surprisingly well considering the amount of time we spend with each other. I think having seven in the band acts as a great way to diffuse tension and problems; if there were two or three of us it would probably be a lot more intense

Finest Hour feels more ‘jazz’, jazzier, and Fragments more dancey and dubstep. What were the influences when putting Alium together?

We generally don’t tend to base the albums around any particular influences, since there’s a general vibe we have in mind for Submotion when we come to write and record. And since there are a lot of people in the band, we tend to have a massive range of stuff that influences us, from contemporary bass music all the way to minimalist stuff and even Indian classical music. So ‘pretty much everything’ would be your answer to that I guess.

This album seems to feel warmer and more sensual to me. Would you say that’s fair, and why do you think that might be?

That’s great that you think so, though I’m not entirely sure it’s more so than the other records. There’s just something in particular about Ruby’s voice that can have that effect on people.

How did you decide which tracks to add lyrics to on this album?

When we start writing material, tracks are usually written specifically for lyrics or as instrumentals. Occasionally we’ll have an instrumental that ends up as a vocal track, but usually they’re developed with one or the other in mind.

Can you tell me more about the album’s cover art?

It turns out that Ruckspin was a dab hand at painting when he was back in school, and the cover comes straight from a close up shot of one of his old masterworks. It was taken originally just for inspiration and to get ideas going, but looked so good that we immediately thought it would work as the cover. Which it hopefully does.

How has your summer been? You’ve played everywhere! What was your memorable gig?

It’s been a long summer, and there was a lot of travelling involved, but we were really lucky to play some great festivals and great gigs to some amazing crowds. Playing the old Roman amphitheatre in Pula for the Outlook festival launch was pretty great, but the main stage at Secret Garden Party just before Public Enemy was a big one.

You’ve recently signed with Count records, part of Ninja Tune. It seems to be a good fit. How come you decided to go with them?

Counter came to us and had some great ideas about where we could go, and the sort of relationship we could have. We got a really good vibe from the beginning, and of course we have all been massive Ninja fans since we started playing music. So it was a bit of a no-brainer.

Your drummer Tommy’s also in Gentleman’s Dub Club, who are very popular in Norwich. Are any of the rest of you in separate projects?

Yeah, we all do quite a bit of other stuff. Ruckspin has his solo project, and is part of the great band Author, while Fatty is an in-demand bass player, working with acts like Alex Clare. I play with Matthew Halsall, Ruby does a lot of stuff as a featured vocalist and the other guys are all busy too. It’s always good to recharge the batteries and get a different perspective on things that we can bring back.

You formed in Leeds- has the city had any particular influence on your music?

We like to think there’s some sort of northern soul in there

Your albums remind me of elements of Massive Attack, Everything but the Girl and Faithless; reflections of the urban landscape with a lot of emotion. Would you agree?

Those are often touchstones people use, and we’ve got no issues with being compared to Massive Attack. And though there’s a huge bass music element to it, people still hear a lot of influence from mid 90s trip hop and that sort of music, which I guess comes from the female vocal with electronic and live music. Anything it makes you think of is OK by us.

What’s your favourite song on the new album?

We probably all have different ones if you ask us individually, but all round probably ‘Worries’

How does it feel for Ruby to be the only woman in the band?

It’s not an easy task for her, especially when travelling, since the combination of male banter and bodily odours can’t be easy for anyone to take! But she’s a trouper and has done amazingly well at giving as good as she gets.

You supported the mighty Lauryn Hill at the Outlook Festival in August. How was that?

That was a great gig. Of course the venue was amazing – an old Roman amphitheatre in Croatia – but playing before one of our biggest inspirations was a great experience. I remember seeing her play Brixton Academy in 1999, and she’s still as fiery and full-on a performer as she was then. Some people have given her some shit for changing her tunes almost to the point of unrecognisability, but I say the lady can do whatever she wants if that’s what she’s feeling. Maybe she could appear on stage a bit closer to the scheduled time though…

What is your song writing process?

Either individuals bring tunes they’ve been working on that are in various stages of completion, and the band works together to arrange them and finish them off, or we work together by improvising or working off a basic idea. Some stuff ends up totally different to how it’s originally presented, and other stuff is pretty similar. 

Do you hang out together when not on tour?

We’re lucky enough to all be good friends and also to have known each other since before Submotion, so yeah, we do all hang out quite often.

What will your gig at Norwich, UEA be like, for people who haven’t seen you before?

We’re doing quite a few new tunes from the album, so that’ll be interesting to do. Also, it’s one of the last dates on the tour, so we may be mixing it up quite a lot by then. So expect lots of bass, lots of beautiful vocals and effects, and hopefully a damn good time.

Submotion Orchestra play UEA on 5th December. Tickets available from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.