Grant’s music earns the title of one of the most bastardised genre names of recent times: it is truly ‘deep’ house. Many of his pieces glide along, without ever imposing too much of their will on the listener; for those who want to explore them though, it is instantaneously apparent that there is a wealth to be gained from scratching beneath the surface.
Somewhat unsurprisingly considering this mature approach, Grant has built his reputation through more long-form pieces. From his debut album, The Acrobat, to a couple of seriously well-curated online mixes (his FACT mix from 4th January is still holding a strong claim for one of the best mixes of 2016), Grant has won over fans for his mature and meticulously considered approach. Up next for Grant is his sophomore album, Cranks, which is being released on Mörk at the end of October. From this, we have a premiere of “Cliché”, a typically glassy cut from the new record, and we caught up with the man himself to discuss a few of the concepts and process behind the new record.
Your new album, Cranks, is coming out on Mörk on 28th October. What was the overarching concept behind this release? “Well, a crank is a person who holds an unshakable belief that most of his or her contemporaries consider to be false. To be honest, I quite often feel that way, especially in the state of our current dance music culture. One of those beliefs is the album format, which I consider essential, as it really enables you as an artist to really expand your art and showcase a certain style at a specific time in your career. Sadly, nowadays this format is not given the respect it is due, with the public flipping, jumping, skipping, and 10 sec streaming across the album only to stop on what seems to be most catchy and miss the bigger picture the artist was trying to paint.”
Cranks is your first vinyl release away from The Lauren Bacall. What made you decide to release on a new label, and where did the connection with Lobster Theremin [Mörk’s parent label] come about? “Well, I have been working with the Lobster Theremin team for distribution for my two labels – The Lauren Bacall & Temporary State – so we already had a friendly relationship. Basically, I sent Jimmy [Asquith, Lobster Theremin boss] the demo of my album which I had originally planned on releasing on Temporary State and he loved it so much that he offered me to put it out on Mörk. I could only accept such an offer; being a fan of the label, I felt totally satisfied to do so considering Mörk’s musical output and aesthetic.”
Cranks is overtly referential of UK styles, ranging from the sample of “Breakdown Wo!” on “Social Standards” to the smattering of breakbeat drum patterns throughout the record. Was there any particular music you were listening to when writing the album that inspired this approach? “The influences of early drum & bass, or liquid drum & bass, or whatever you like to call it. Broken beats and instrumental MPC-style sample-based hip hop have always had a close place to my heart, and really those styles, as well as ambient music, are always on rotation in my playlist so they somehow naturally inspire my own work.”
When writing this album were there any production techniques or pieces of hardware that you found yourself using in particular? “Well, no magic recipe here, besides my trusted MPC2000XL, an extensive record collection to inspire sampling and other bits and pieces of hardware synths, a pretty classic set up for writing. Once my album was done, I rented out a studio to give it a final mixdown, running all my stems through various processing gear, reel-to-reel and onto this amazing vintage Neve console.”
You mentioned in an interview with Stamp The Wax that you see yourself as more of a DJ than a producer. Do you trial your music by playing it out while still in the writing process, or do you only play something when you consider it to be a finished product? “Yes I absolutely do try out my tracks. I would only play one that I considered somewhat close to done. Once I play it out I usually always take mental notes on what to improve or change on it. It is really the best way to know if you are completely satisfied with the final result, at least in my mind and when we are talking about club music, obviously.”
In the album opener, ‘Mainstream Belief’, there is a vocal sample that discusses dance music as ‘music for the mind’. What made you choose this sample? Did you want the album opening on this note to provide context for how the album should be listened to? “I felt indeed that those vocals and the track in general served as a great opener for the album and set the tone nicely. The speech dates back from the 90s if I recall correctly, and what is said is still very relevant and is inline with my beliefs.”
Your music has a instantly recognisable aesthetic; adjectives such as ‘grayscale’ and ‘bleached’ have been used to describe it in the past. Alongside this, all your releases have come with black and white artwork. Is this deliberate, and if so, why does this aesthetic appeal to you? “My style of production is the result of countless years of trial and error in the studio which resulted in this sound and will most certainly continue to evolve and mutate. So really, nothing was planned, it is the just the way it is. I would have a hard time to do any other completely different style to be honest. As for the black and white aesthetic, it does fits well with the sound and it was the theme of the Lauren Bacall, noir-hollywood which is a fascinating period. It turns out that Mörk also follows a black and white theme, and again it makes sense considering the music.
Finally, is there anything in future that we should be looking out for from yourself? “Well I have recently started a new label ‘Temporary State’. The third release will drop before the end of the year, and this is a very exciting new venture for me. On the production front, I have a special vinyl release dropping just before the new year and I am currently working on new music in the studio, the usual grind really.”
