Funky bouncing synths meet a typical Mumbai bass
It’s only been two years since Mumbai Science appeared on the musical radar but they’ve managed to leave an unquestionable impression. Their tracks ‘Ancova’, ‘Gold’ and Lotus got the support from all the big shots such as Boys Noize, Tiga and Brodinski, sending them on a surge to the EDM top ranks. The 2012 release of ‘The Unified Theory Trilogy’ confirmed their musical prowess and now they return to the plate with ‘Unite’, a new beat inspired record. The new EP reflects a small gritty club where you have to rely on your ears to navigate. Dan Prince speaks to the two musical scientists…
Jonas, Maarten welcome to DMCWORLD towers. A massive EP that’s got The Buzz Chart crew going mental this week – ‘Unite’ tell us about this superb release that is already getting support from the likes of Brodinski and A-Trak…
J: “I’m really happy with this one. A while ago we were experimenting with new sounds in the studio we got into a really funky vibe. At that time we had been struggling to finish some other track for a few weeks and all our frustration just vanished when we came up with the melody for Unite. It actually only took us a few hours to finish the track, it might even be a record time for us as it usually takes us several weeks per tune.”
M: “We started looking for remixers straight away. We were talking a lot with Shinichi Osawa, which we met on tour in Tokyo, and he seemed like an obvious choice. His energy and love for analog synths matches the EP perfectly. The last track on the release is a re-interpretation of our track Lotus by Alex Gopher. It’s a really big honor to have him remixing one of our tracks, and when we heard it for the first time it brought a big smile to our face!”
Who were the artists you were listening to as kids who first tuned you towards a love for music?
J: “I went to music school from a pretty young age so I was playing music from then on, but I remember the band Muse being the trigger for me to start writing my own stuff. Their almost melodramatic sound had a really big influence on me. I guess thats why I’m the one always trying to sneak in some extra melodies in our Mumbai Science tracks…”.”
M: “Haha very true. For me it’s the same thing I guess. I come from a musical family and was classically educated. I’ve been playing and making music all my life. I didn’t really have big idols as a kid, but just listened to whatever was on the radio. Except maybe the Chemical Brothers, I remember one of the first CD’s I ever bought was their album ‘Surrender’.
It’s incredible the amount of EDM stars these days have found their way from rock bands to the club dancefloor. You two were High School friends and then formed a band playing bass and drums. What turned you towards electronic music when the band split up, what were the big tunes that started to convince you dance was the way forward…?
J: “It was a combination of things. We had been going out to techno parties in our neighborhood, I got some techno mixtapes from my friends… Looking back It was a pretty cool scene for such a small rural town. If I have to name one track that pushed me in the right direction I’d say Laurent Garnier – ‘The Sound Of the Big Baboo’. When we started going to University everything changed. There where DJs everywhere, parties every night…I remember being at a Techno-night called Fatal and that’s where we made the decision to start DJ’ing and producing electronic music.”
M: “I think we’ve always been into electronic music though, even when we were in the band. But the fact remains that with only a bass and drums it’s just easier to make dance music than any other genre (laughs).”
But you are not escaping the student days just yet. Let’s go back to Ghent University in the department of Marketing and the times you were conducting psychological experiments on people – what on earth is the story here…?!?!?
J: “We both worked there for three years trying to write our PhD in Consumer Psychology. My experiments where particularly cruel. I tested Jelly beans on hundreds of people trying to find out the worst taste of Jelly bean. Then I would give this awful candy to students and see how this affected their shopping behavior. The worst part is there were no significant results so all the suffering was for nothing!”“
M: “Those were dark times. For students.”
The sound of Mumbai Science has been described as a crossover between rave and techno, high energy festival techno, indie trance and even post-banger. Phew. Well how would you describe your style in 2012?
M: “Mumbai Science Music. I know it’s a cliché answer but the longer we’re doing this the more genres are appearing and disappearing. So we just try to do our own thing, make the music we love and it doesn’t really matter if it’s called techno , rave or post-banger-indie-trance-dub.”
J: “I tried to plug Troustektro (trance – house – techno – electro) once, but it didn’t really take off.”
How important do you think that your band based background and love of entering the unknown musically has had on your music today?
J: “I think it’s super important to us. We still have the same way making tracks. Create a cool drumloop, jam a little on our synths, someone plays something cool by accident – or let’s call it ‘improvising’, that sounds more professional – and then we start working with that hook.”
M: “Yeah, it’s basically the same as when we were in the rockband. Except maybe we don’t have to put as much time in writing lyrics anymore.”
You were once asked how you approach making a new tune, your answer was that the starting point is to see what’s missing in your sets – when you made ‘Gold’ you realized you were missing some good peaktime tracks. So what was missing from your sets before you created ‘Unite’?
J: “Some funky stuff. ‘Unite’ is a bridge between the deeper stuff in our sets and our more straightforward tracks like Gold and Lotus.”
M: “Yeah, we also use ‘Unite‘ as a way to brighten up our set a bit. A lot of the techno stuff these days sounds really dark. Unite puts some feelgood back in the set.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
M: “I’m really bad with track names. I can give you my top ten current producers though!”
Let’s say: Light Year, John Roman, Duke Dumont, Gesaffelstein, Jägerverb, Brodinski, Kill Frenzy, Hoshina Anniversary, Jacques Lu Cont… And my number one will always be Boys Noize off course. Can’t wait for his new album!”
Who brings what to the studio production work – who is great at what?
J: “Maarten is the technical wizard. He can spend hours listening to a snare drum. Tweaking it juuuust a little bit while he is the only person in the world who can hear the difference. It drives me insane sometimes but when a track is done and it all falls in to place I’m really glad he is such a perfectionist!”“
M: “Haha, thanks. But it’s like Jonas said earlier. We start a track by jamming on our synths together, making a cool drumloop, doing some variations on the hook. Basically just having a good time. After a couple of hours doing that, probably 95% of the song is done. After that comes weeks of overthinking the whole thing. It’s like they say, a track is never finished, but always surrendered.”
What is the record that changed your life?
J: Muse – Origin of Symmetry (rock life)
Daft Punk – Homework (dance life)
M: Chemical Brothers – Surrender
Who are the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
J: “Duke Dumont with his “for club use only” series: very groovy. And of course: John Roman. He is killing it on so many levels. His revisions EP series in unbelievable and Petrified has been such a bomb!”
It may not be good for your image, but Mumbai Science really love…
J: “Playing video games.”
M: “Long walks on the beach.”
What has been your summer anthem?
J: “John Roman – Petrified
M: “Agreed
What is your favourite club in the world to DJ at?
J: “The Womb in Tokyo. Very dark so you can’t see the crowd but the audience makes sure you know they’re there. The vibe there is unbelievable.”
M: “Yeah, people were even singing along to ‘Gold’…which does not have any lyrics.”
What is coming next studio wise from you?
J: “We are working very hard on new tracks. October 1st is the release of Unite and we even have 2 more EP’s almost ready for release in November/December/January.”
M: “We have our monthly mixtapes as well, so you can try to find out which those new tracks are by listening on our soundcloud.”
What is the best live gig you have ever been to?
J: “Daft Punk – Alive 2007 at Pukkelpop Belgium! It was truly legendary.”
M: “Yeah, it really was! Also unforgettable: Queens of the Stoneage at Rock Werchter 2002 with Dave Grohl on the drums.”
It’s your birthday – who are 5 dead or alive celebrities you invite to dinner and why? And which DJs do you ask to play at the after party?
J: “The Dalai Lama to help me on my road to inner peace, Natalie Portman because she is my secret crush, Beethoven to play some epic tunes during dinner to add drama, George Lucas to sign all my Star Wars toys and to explain why he made episode 1 so bad and Ricky Gervais for some jokes. Afterparty DJs; Brodinski, Laurent Garnier, Chemical Brothers. Wow this would actually be an amazing night for me.” (laughs)
M: “Haha man that sounds like an amazing party. Can I come? I’ll bring Megan Fox, Kate Upton, Mila Kunis, Emma Stone and Rihanna.”
And finally, I was down in New Zealand where I saw an interview with you when the magazine dude asked you “do you have any wise words for their readers?”, to which Jonas replied…”don’t do drugs unless they’re from a really good friend.” So, who is your best friend in the world…?
J: “Maarten! I love you man!!”
M: “I love you too but get your own drugs!!!”
Mumbai Science ‘Unite’ EP – Released 1st October (Lektroluv)
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