The Chicago natives bring us a wonderful journey with PolyRhythmic out on Last Night On Earth
Interview by Dan Prince
Kate, Tevo welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world can we find you today?
Tevo: I’m currently sitting in my apartment in the Kreuzberg neighborhood in Berlin. I love the town, culture, and the friendly Berliners: their local routines as they pass for my morning walk and cup of coffee at the local cafe.
Kate: I’m in East London at my studio in Hackney.
What was the first piece of music you heard this morning after springing out of bed?
Tevo: WORK FOR LOVE by Ministry: I’ve been revisiting a lot of my childhood passions of the new wave genre; just some things that I once skateboarded to as a child in Chicago. The With Sympathy album version was on my phone this morning.
Kate: The new Tame Impala album on Spotify.
Really big week for you with the release of the brand new PolyRhythmic album swinging our way on one of our favourite labels Last Night On Earth. What we’re going to ask you both to do is please choose three tracks from the album and talk us through the whole production techniques of each tune…
Tevo:
Theme Track:
I think Sebastian Bach applied the theoretical idea of a tonal center to his compositions the most substantially of the great composers. A short easy music theory definition of a tonal center would be: 1 tone or note that can go through a song and be harmoniously accurate throughout. The theme track and the name ‘PolyRhythmic’ was based on a conversation between Kate and I on how simplicity in theoretical tonal compositions can create augmented room for elaboration and creativity. The Theme Track was created with this goal, the first instrument being written by Kate as that brilliant piano line, and the other components holding their own tonal entity in rhythm: which ended us up with a simple composition when considering polyrhythmic and polytonal grouping. I was happy that we had accomplished our goal with this as our theme.
Bring It:
Bring It was for me a good track to bring the mood up between compositions. It sat for close to two years before Kate’s decision to add a vocalist, which I’m glad of. The odd part about the composition is that it is hand tuned: so getting all of the tonal parts to sit properly happened, and is not at any specific tuning.
Tomorrow And Other Days:
A bit of a daydream track with a short triplet strum of me playing the bass guitar.
Kate:
Yes, it is really exciting to have a new album out! Can’t wait to see it in the record shops on wax either.
‘Polyphonica’ is based on harmonic layers. We wrote it before our live set at Panorama Bar, and I wrote the melodic parts for that and was trying to picture myself being in the crowd. The sound recordings are of local people Tevo knew in his neighborhood in Chicago. He recorded them on his iPhone, sent them to me and I mixed them in.
“Welcome to PolyRhythmic” is an intro I made using my band London Electronic Orchestra. It’s the theme track from the album reworked into strings with harp, 2 violins, 2 cellos, and upright bass (the LEO ensemble).
No Regrets was a good middle ground between us. It has the feeling of tracks off Prescription Records (the Chicago label run by Ron Trent and Chez Damier). Then Baz from Pirupa added vocals. The lyrics give me the chills! They remind me of some of the ups and downs Tevo and I have been through, and our keep-it-real Chicago roots.
In your opinion, what is the most important factor that your partner in crime brought to the album?
Tevo: Kate and I had our first meeting in my neighborhood, Granville, in Chicago circa late 2008. It was then that I asked formally for her mentorship. The most respected thing about Kate is her heart within the music coupled with a great professional mind: definitely Kate is my greatest asset to look towards for guidance as I walk through my own career goals.
Kate:
When I met Tevo I was feeling a bit isolated in Chicago at the time, and a bit creatively stuck. We started at Tevo’s studio on Granville Avenue in Chicago and I’d bring over my Juno 106 etc. and we’d record everything as audio. Tevo records songs in an old school way – record the drum improvisation etc live and then mix the track. That was all new to me, and refreshing to not spend days micro-editing and over-thinking things! So yeah, working with Tevo got me inspired again, and back to finishing new music.
When did the man like Sasha first appear on your radars?
Kate: I met Sasha with Chris Milo (DJ Three) during Miami WMC a few years back, but he’s been on my radar for well over a decade, as he’s one of the biggest legends in dance music!
Halloween 2015 – Fabric, London. Live on stage. What a gig. Scary costumes all ready…?
Tevo: I’m headed to the costume shop right now as I’m writing to get the big big scary one.. Aaaaaaaarrrrgggggg!! The monster green scary one.
Kate: Yes, can’t wait to play live in Room 1 again! I’m getting my costume together already. It won’t be scary, but it will be retro and funny.
Aside from your own, what has been your favourite album of 2015?
Kate: Jamie xx “In Colour.” There’s a definite London influence in it, and it’s been a soundtrack I listen to here. Sasha played the track “Gosh” in New York at Stage One for Verboten when we played together in July and it blew my mind to hear that low bass over a big sound system! Jamie xx is definitely one of the original and creative producers out there today.
Kate – throw a Bestival and Ibiza highlight at us from this year…
Bestival was the last of four shows with my band London Electronic Orchestra this summer. I made a string cover version of A Guy Called Gerald “Voodoo Ray” and the crowd was clapping and screaming. Such a good moment!
And then in Ibiza my highlight was Seth Troxler’s 30th birthday party. He rented out a whole hotel complex for friends and we had an insane blast! It was a great time to spend quality time with a lot of friends in the music scene in a beautiful setting.
What are your thoughts on UK clubbing as we head into 2016? On one hand we have the likes of Sankeys and Cream/We Are FSTVL throwing down smashing looking warehouse styles events…and on the other we are seeing big venues closing down every week and numbers dwindling..?
Kate: I moved to London around 3 years ago, so I don’t know how things used to be 10 years ago etc. But that said, clubbing in the UK seems to be very alive and well. People here are very enthusiastic about the music- they aren’t afraid to put their hands in the air and have a dance. From what I hear there are more festivals than ever, and warehouse events in London are alive and well. There are probably more good clubs in the UK than the states, which says a lot because the US has about 250 million more people!
Tevo – we interviewed a dude called Michael DB Levy this summer who skateboarded the whole way from the UK to Ibiza for charity. 2300km, 50 days, 5 countries, 1 board. You up for that kinda shit?
Yes. Very much so. I can skate pretty far, but mostly I go to a local skate park here in Berlin: there exists my private mind. Skateboarding benefits are a huge favor of mine.
Anthem of the summer?
Tevo: Live and love as long as you can.
Kate: Jungle “Busy Earnin’
Your earliest musical childhood memory?
Tevo: My mother picking me up in a crowd and holding me over her head only to see my father whaling over a drum kit at CHICAGO FEST. Poppa looked super cool, never forgot it..
Kate: Taking a walk with my older cousin by a lake by my parents’ house. I remember I was wearing my favorite “M&M” jacket – a white one with colored polka dots.
And finally – what is coming next from you studio wise…?
Tevo: I am still strumming “my guy” which is the name I gave to the bass guitar. I can’t spend too much time away from him.
Kate: Right now I’m finishing a new solo EP, and the last two tracks from the LEO album, which is out next Spring. I’m getting back into the studio with Jamie Jones and London Electronic Orchestra later this month, so looking forward to that too.
Kate Simko & Tevo Howard – PolyRhythmic LP is out now on Last Night On Earth
http://www.lastnightonearth.co.uk/
