Since bursting onto the scene in 1999 with the now classic album ‘Wide Angle,’ Hybrid has gained recognition as one of the most cutting edge and technically skilled acts in electronic dance music. After four extremely well received albums and over twenty singles, plus countless remixes and a raft of movie & game soundtrack work, DMC checks in with an exclusive interview reflecting on some of the bands numerous highlights from over the years…
Welcome to DMC towers! You are renowned in the industry as being total perfectionists. How long did the task of choosing the track selection for ‘Hybrid Classics’?
“Fortunately, Distinctive Records took the task of choosing the tracks for Classics out of our hands. We were invited to give our opinion and comments on the choice, but thinking about it, had we done it ourselves, with about 8 hours worth of material to choose from, it was quite a relief as I don’t think we would have found it at all easy to come to a decision.”
This exclusive new collection includes the rare cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ which was chosen by an extensive ask-Hybrid-to-cover-this fan poll in 2011. What other suggestions were on that list?
“We had hundreds of suggestions in the end, everything from Nirvana, Massive Attack to Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Nick Cave, Stone Roses, Carly Simon, Cinematic Orchestra, New Order, Tears For Fears, David Bowie. the list is really long so again it was hard to choose. We roughed our a couple and then decided upon ‘Enjoy The Silence’ because it was a track we all have great memories of and thought we could make a great ‘Hybrid’ version out of
it whilst still doing the original justice.”
Looking over the eleven tracks on the album, what are the three tracks that define the journey of the Hybrid sound…
“‘Finished Symphony’ – first time we’d experimented with dance music and orchestration which became a bit of a running theme! ‘True To Form’ – first time we were writing music thinking as a band and as a song rather than just
music for clubs. ‘Break My Soul’ – we think it’s the pinnacle of music we’ve produced so far and has pushed us the most to date. It proved what we could so with the three of us working together and the path for the future.”
The fourth album ‘Disappear Here’ was a further change of direction for you, Charlotte’s mark was obvious to see on what was a much more mature, forward thinking release from you guys. Where are we with album number five and where are you going with this one?
“We’ve already started work on on album V and are probably looking at changing course yet again. Every album has its own sound and is an experiment on writing a new slant on what we all do. It’s fair to say the next one will be a departure from Disappear Here and it’s sounding quite dark and heavy so far…lovely!”
What was the reaction from your die hard fans regarding ‘Disappear Here’ album who have been hero worshipping you since day one?
“I think we gained quite a few fans from outside our normal sphere and maybe lost some who expected us to write ‘Symphony’ again. I think had we done the same type of thing yet again, we would have lost even more fans and we really like to expand on what we’ve done in the past without loosing our roots. We’ve grown up making this kind of music and as you get older your tastes do change a bit and we’re always trying to find a new ways of making music so that’s why we feel the need to develop our music rather than just treading safely down the path we already know. We think our fans are in general really thoughtful people and hopefully think along similar lines.”
Outside of dance music, who are the artists you are digging in 2012?
“Wretch 32, How To Destroy Angels, Nico Muhly, Gregory Porter (amazing voice), Seasfire, The Horrors.”
You have recorded with orchestras from all over the world, what has been the most humbling/proudest experience you have had?
“I think for all of us, it’s the first time you hear your music being played by an orchestra. So for Mike and Chris it was in Moscow hearing the Russial Federal Orchestra playing Symphony for the first time and for me it was in Prague hearing Break My Soul being played back to me by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Simply amazing. Having said that, hearing an orchestra paling something you’ve written is ALWAYS humbling and amazing.”
You have music production credits in many major blockbuster films including Total Recall, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Taking of Pelham 123. Are there any further projects under way?
We could tell you but then we’d have to shoot you, then shoot ourselves, then shoot. oh, wait, that doesn’t work.”
To discover unique sounds you used to go into record stores and buy a bag load of the most ridiculous CDs imaginable and sift through them determined to find anything usable. What was the most cringeworthy artist you bought and subsequently used?
“Barry Manilow. Chris made an a amazing bass noise out of one of his tracks
which will obviously remain nameless!”
Hybrid are well known for your soundscapes, many of which are created by mangling things through Reaktor… what is the oddest source sound you have used and which song did it end up in?
Chris recorded the sound of a baseball match while we were in the States. And that because a tense ambient pad in the breakdown of ‘Break My Soul’.”
What is the top 10 you are currently spinning?
Unkle – The Dog Is Black (Barry Jamieson Remix)
Phil Kieran – Snakes Crawl
Kolsch, feat. Troels Abrahamsen – All That Matters
Oliver Huntermann – Melbourne
Kollektiv Turmstrasse – Was Bleibt
Laurent Garnier – Chat Noir
Tee-Ex – Unbreakable
Headflux – Diversion
Beckers, D-Nox, Xiaha Troden – Mira Negra
Chrsitian Smith – Automatic
What has been the most memorable live event you have ever played at, we were in the crowd at Fuji Rock in Japan in 1999 – now that’s going way back!
“Coor blimey! Considering you were in the crowd in ’99 which was one of our first gigs, then we’d definitely have to say Fuju Rock! Maybe secondary to that playing before Sasha at Glastonbury Festival in 2007 to a completely
packed tent was pretty electrifying!”
Who are the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“Underworld for the Olympic opening ceremony (double high-fives there), Trifonic in San Francisco for generally being brilliant, Barry Jamieson for being excruciatingly brilliant, Noisia (for being more talented than is
reasonably allowed) and Amon Tobin because he’s a big fat show off!”
Why do you think clubland in the UK is so dire right now? It sure is taking some time to sort itself out again…
“Maybe it’s not as bad as everyone thinks. The music has changed significantly from when we used to DJ a couple of times a weekend in the UK but like everything, things sometimes go in peaks and troughs.”
And finally, when was the last time you went to a club and completely mashed up?
“Vegas baby! Mike, Chris and I are still wrestling with the hangover…”
Hybrid – The Classics is out now on Distinctive Records
CLASSICS: TRACK BY TRACK
FINISHED SYMPHONY Probably Hybrid’s most well known track and closing record of thousands of DJ sets, Finished Symphony began life in 1995 as an experiment in fusing orchestral samples with propulsive breaks and found its way into the hands of Distinctive Records who released it to a frankly bemused DJ fraternity. One DJ who realised its potential was a Hong Kong resident called Lee Burridge who championed the track and gave it to Sasha who licensed it for the now legendary Northern Exposure mix compilation. In 1999 Hybrid were recording their debut album Wide Angle, when their record company received a call from the representatives of the Russian Federal Orchestra wondering if they had any artists who wanted to record with them (?!). Three months later the band were in Moscow staring through a studio window at 80 Russian musicians all trying to figure out what on earth they were supposed to be playing and what this ‘breakbeat’ stuff was all about. The result was the version of Finished Symphony which was released on Wide Angle and has gone on to be one of the most widely used electronic tracks in TV and Film.
IF I SURVIVE During the writing of Wide Angle, the band started looking for a vocalist to collaborate with and chanced upon a demo reel from Julee Cruise, known widely for singing the theme from Twin Peaks, ‘Falling’. After spending a week working together in Unique Studios, New York, the band returned to the UK with five completed songs ready to set to work on. The most immediate of these was If I Survive, lyrically based upon a chance encounter of Julee’s on a yacht with David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti. The orchestration was brought to life by composer Sacha Puttnham who also conducted the orchestral recording session.
The darkness of Julee’s lyrics and sweeping orchestration fused to make this one of Hybrid’s most dramatic tracks and has been reworked and remixed many times including revamps from Hybrid themselves, a version of which can be found on the Classics compilation.
TRUE TO FORM The ‘difficult second album’ syndrome was made a lot less painful by the introduction of singer/songwriter Adam Taylor who wrote four songs for Hybrid’s second album Morning Sci-Fi. Adam had been honing his craft with his own band McKendrick and subsequently toured with Hybrid throughout 2004/2005 in support of the album. True To Form started life as an emotionally charged acoustic ballad which was wrestled into submission and digitally mangled into the ten minute electronic excursion it eventually became.
To continue the tradition of working with orchestras on Hybrid’s artist albums, they travelled to St Petersburg to record the Hermitage Orchestra under the watchful eye of collaborator and composer, Andrew Skeet. The track also featured the talents of one of British electronic music’s founding fathers, Hooky from New Order.
HIGHER THAN A SKYSCRAPER Recorded in St Petersburg in 2003 in an ancient Russian church over looking the Neva river, this track which was co-written with Andrew Skeet and became the second single from Morning Sci-Fi. Again, Mr Peter Hook recorded bass parts for this track, bravely driving down from Manchester to the outer reaches of civilization (Swansea) to record with the band in their studio. The single contained remixes from Satoshi Tomiie, Freq Nasty, Hybrid and a seminal rework from The Orb after a chance meeting with Alex Patterson in a dodgy looking bar in Los Angeles International airport.
DOGSTAR Hybrid had started working for film composer extraordinaire Harry Gregson-Williams at his studio in Venice when they were introduced to Perry Farrell from cult rock band Jane’s Addiction. After discovering that Perry had started DJing and relentlessly forcing Hybrid remixes upon him
for most of an afternoon, he agreed to write some songs for the new Hybrid album, most likely on the condition they left him alone and stop pestering him. Hybrid were also introduced to Peter Distefano from another cult LA band, Porno For Pyros and they marveled at how many ‘cult’ bands there seemed to be in such close proximity. The result of a couple of surreal afternoon sessions was Dogstar, mistakenly called Darkstar due to the incomprehensibility of Perry’s LA accent. Harry co-wrote the orchestral arrangement and subsequently conducted the scoring session in Seattle at the Bastyr University, a well known film scoring studio used for many independent films.
Dogstar has only been performed live once with both Perry, Peter and Harry at the Coachella music festival in Palm Springs, the song was also used in a different incarnation on Perry’s Satellite Party album.
KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY Written and recorded in a single day, this track was fuelled by the working process of contributing to the score for Tony Scott’s sci-fi thriller, Déjà Vu.
While working in Venice, Hybrid were introduced to the hugely talented Martin Tillman, a soloist who’s trademark is an unfathomably emotive electric cello which has graced the scores of The Dark Knight, The Da Vinci Code, Constantine and countless more. Martin also co-wrote Last Man Standing from the same album, I Choose Noise which was released in 2006.
JUST FOR TODAY Especially written to be the closing track of I Choose Noise, the band wanted to include a vocal but not a full song. Then by chance heard Opus III’s ‘Fine Day’ on the radio and contacted Kirsty Hawkshaw to come and work with them for a second time. The strings were again recorded in Seattle under the watchful eye of Harry Gregson-Williams and the track features on the Classics album in previously unheard beatless form.
FORMULA OF FEAR Released as a single in September 2008, this track was the first step towards the creation of Hybrid’s fourth studio album. Taking elements of indie-rock and grafting them onto a festival worthy drum break, Formula of Fear emerged as a contender for one of the band’s most lairy tracks to date. With a taught snapping live bass, Hybrid’s new third member Charlotte James took centre stage to belt out one of the highest peaks on the album Disappear Here. The song deals with the topics of addiction, self-restraint and schizophrenia. All in a days work for a modern band.
DISAPPEAR HERE The title track on their fourth album is an innovative and exuberant break from traditional Hybrid.
Its gritty subject matter turns full circle whilst entertaining the view that once having believed that to disappear here was purely the inevitability to vanish away. The track is utterly compelling and is a traditional style song combined with completely untraditional musical practices and an illustration of how Hybrid have incorporated their combined love of structured song writing with forward thinking production.
BREAK MY SOUL Perhaps one of the fastest paced tracks that Hybrid have ever come up with, clocking in at 150bpm, Break my Soul is the touchstone of the fourth album and was the first single release, it is certainly the best representation of the dynamic nature of the album as a whole and how Hybrid have built on their experience of over a decade in music. At 8 minutes in length, the track is wide-ranging in its musical diversity and placed as the penultimate track on the album it represents the final dramatic episode in the story.
The song describes how echoes of the past can be seen in everything. Its triumphant chorus states however that no matter how deep the scars may be, there are places that still remain your own. Epic strings to rival The Beatles ‘A Day In The Life’, a huge bass line and drums all turn into an unexpected and beautiful calm in the middle section only to return defiantly for the final chorus and schizophrenic outro.
ENJOY THE SILENCE In 2011 Hybrid, having remixed countless artists but never having covered a song, asked their fans to help them by suggesting a suitable track. The band received almost a thousand ideas from fans ranging from Kate Bush to Nirvana to Joe Dolce!!… and after much deliberation, they decided upon Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’, a much loved track by all the band and one which they considered to be ideal to cover. They subsequently kept the track under wraps to be debuted on their Classics album. Hybrid decided to opt for a sci-fi electro lounge interpretation which has all the cinematic hallmarks of classic Hybrid and will be performed live by the band throughout their 2012 Classics tour.
