Q: You are signed to the excellent Soma Records, and you have your own label “Darkroom Dubs”, do you release music yourselves on both labels or is Darkroom Dubs for other artists?
A: Darkroom dubs is there more to release work from other artists although we do like to put something out of our own from time to time and we get involved remixing some of the releases. We recently released "The Time Mariner's Mirrour" on the label which was well received.
Q: Soma Records has been a force on the electronic scene since the early 90’s, what positive benefits have you found being part of a family like that? Did you release music on any other labels before you signed to Soma?
A: For us it means a great deal to be signed with soma, we first were exposed to the music by Slam at the arches, the first records we bought were soma releases so it's really encouraging that they support us, I think when you are working with a label that has such a great, long running reputation it can only help when it comes to getting your music across to people. we actually started out releasing 2 records on our own “Depth Perception” label in the late 90s , slam were playing the tracks at their gigs and that was kind of the first step to us signing with them .
Q: There’s a really strong electronic music scene in Glasgow
A: For me the strength of Glasgow’s electronic scene can really be traced back to the guys that kicked it off – Slam / Soma and Harri and the gang at the Subclub, they’ve guaranteed that you can hear the best in electronic music in the city ever since.
Q: Do you get time to listen to other music and if so what music do you take inspiration from?
A: Yeah we both try to keep our home listening as varied as possible. We grew up pretty mad for rocky/punky 60s/70s music and to this day it's something we feel rubs off on the tunes all the time, obviously dub has had a big impact along with soul & disco sounds,
but in general it's impossible not to take something from everything you hear - even if it's " I don't want to ever sound like that ".
Q: What else in life gives you inspiration to make music?
A: Everything and anything from personal experience and emotional responses to books, movies, current events... Again I think if you're into music and making music, whatever you live through and come across will affect matters in some way .
Q: What projects and releases are you working on at the moment?
A: We are working on a bunch of remixes at the moment as well as starting to put together ideas for a new album. Next year is Soma's 20th birthday so there's going to be all kinds of exciting stuff happening with that .
Q: Silicone Soul is a duo but I believe you live in different countries? How do you work the production process?
A: These days it involves a lot of swapping projects by email, we both run the same daw so it's really easy. In many ways it helps because between us we're like an octopus now.
Q: At your gigs do you play records, cds or are you computer based?
A: I play with cds these days and Craig uses Traktor. I think a lot of folk get hung up on this but it's the noise that matters not what makes it.
Q: What makes a good party for you?
A: For me the important stuff is the people and the soundsystem. I enjoy playing so it's got to be quite a dire situation before a party could be anything other than good :)
Interview by Robin Ball.
SILICONE SOUL PLAY AT SOCIALEYES ALONGSIDE FUNK D VOID, JUSTIN ROBERTSON, ELITE FORCE, TAYO AND ROBIN BALL THIS SATURDAY 25TH SETPEMBER @ CORSICA STUDIOS. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
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Silicone Soul Mixes
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