It's impossible to deny the power of song, particularly in dance, particularly in the SoundCloud era. Tunes. Bangers. Heaters. You don't hear full albums in the club. It's a sensation Bristol producer Julio Bashmore knows well, with his breakthrough success coming in the form of house anthems "Battle For Middle You" and "Au Seve". In 2015, he stretched out into the album format with Knockin' Boots – indulging a freedom of experimentation and collaboration not entirely afforded by the singular focus of standalone tracks, expanding his stylistic breadth.It's around six months on from Knockin' Boots' release. "I feel like it's still got some steam. Got a few more plans there, I'm not done with it quite yet. Maybe one more single, and then I'm done," he says on the line from his London flat, on the eve of an Australian tour (including stops at Melbourne's Sugar Mountain and Sydney's Summer Dance).THUMP: Do people still care about albums?
Julio Bashmore: I wasn't really sure what to expect. I guess with all the reasons that used to exist for making an album don't exist anymore. It's almost archaic. When you release new music, it doesn't function in that way. What I've found in the process is that it's a much better way to convey a context. Definitely in dance music, you can stick one track up on SoundCloud – if it's house, it can be deep and minimal – it's hard to convey a message. With an album, you get to paint a much bigger picture. It allows me to bring tracks to people in a way I don't think I would be able to do with singles. But I think it is important for those tracks to exist out there for dance music. As I've got more mainstream success and a bit more hype, it's suited me more.What's your takeaway from the experience?
To be honest, it felt like the way I want to work from now on. It was a really good experience in that sense. It's how I want to be releasing music. It's also quite fun. Up until the release of the album I'd been releasing singles for five years. One of the main challenges in your musical career is keeping things fresh. And that entirely boils down to keeping yourself entertained and engaged and loving what you do. You have to mix things up.Do you find more freedom to experiment with style in the album format?
My style shifted quite quickly from my first release. It all has its heart in the right place, with production values. With singles, it's difficult to get people to appreciate the more experimental stuff.
I was making the album over a four-year period, really. When I say making the album, I don't mean clocking in every day, "I gotta make this album!". It was more like a slow process, thinking "it would be great to work with this person". Finding vocalists was just a matter of meeting people, finding people online. I afforded myself the time to build a relationship with everyone on the album, hanging out playing music, riffing off each other on the studio. Basically, they're all friends. That makes the process easier, more inspiring.Where does the emotional connection lie for you in house music?
I think the thing with house music, even though it's big, it can be quite uniform. There are so many people making it, it's quite old. The number of different places it's reached, geographically, each little place brings their own thing. Emotion-wise, every place can put their story into it. That's why it interested me. At the beginning, when I started making house music and playing in Bristol, I thought there wasn't much feeling in it. Everyone was going out, going on Beatport, hearing just endless, generic tech-house beats. That's always been a turn-off for me. Then UK Funky came around, and I really latched onto that back in 2007 as a way of getting house music into the clubs, stuff like Karizma coming through, then also grime. The emotion I'm looking for is always from the most unusual places. Even though it's a huge system, there are always people on the fringe putting their own story into it.-Julio Bashmore performs on the Bacardi x Boiler Room stage at Sugar Mountain Festival, taking place Saturday January 23 at VCA, Melbourne. Tickets and information here.I OH YOU and THUMP present an official Sugar Mountain afterparty with Tim Sweeney, Harvey Sutherland, Bobby Boomerang and DJ NETT at The Gasometer, Saturday January 23. Details here.Julio Bashmore headlines the first 2016 instalment of Sydney's Summer Dance, kicking off at National Art School this Sunday January 24. Email aucomps@vice.com for your chance to win a double pass. Full program details here.
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Julio Bashmore: I wasn't really sure what to expect. I guess with all the reasons that used to exist for making an album don't exist anymore. It's almost archaic. When you release new music, it doesn't function in that way. What I've found in the process is that it's a much better way to convey a context. Definitely in dance music, you can stick one track up on SoundCloud – if it's house, it can be deep and minimal – it's hard to convey a message. With an album, you get to paint a much bigger picture. It allows me to bring tracks to people in a way I don't think I would be able to do with singles. But I think it is important for those tracks to exist out there for dance music. As I've got more mainstream success and a bit more hype, it's suited me more.What's your takeaway from the experience?
To be honest, it felt like the way I want to work from now on. It was a really good experience in that sense. It's how I want to be releasing music. It's also quite fun. Up until the release of the album I'd been releasing singles for five years. One of the main challenges in your musical career is keeping things fresh. And that entirely boils down to keeping yourself entertained and engaged and loving what you do. You have to mix things up.
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My style shifted quite quickly from my first release. It all has its heart in the right place, with production values. With singles, it's difficult to get people to appreciate the more experimental stuff.
What was the process in selecting guest vocalists for the album?"Everyone was going out, going on Beatport, hearing just endless, generic tech-house beats."
I was making the album over a four-year period, really. When I say making the album, I don't mean clocking in every day, "I gotta make this album!". It was more like a slow process, thinking "it would be great to work with this person". Finding vocalists was just a matter of meeting people, finding people online. I afforded myself the time to build a relationship with everyone on the album, hanging out playing music, riffing off each other on the studio. Basically, they're all friends. That makes the process easier, more inspiring.Where does the emotional connection lie for you in house music?
I think the thing with house music, even though it's big, it can be quite uniform. There are so many people making it, it's quite old. The number of different places it's reached, geographically, each little place brings their own thing. Emotion-wise, every place can put their story into it. That's why it interested me. At the beginning, when I started making house music and playing in Bristol, I thought there wasn't much feeling in it. Everyone was going out, going on Beatport, hearing just endless, generic tech-house beats. That's always been a turn-off for me. Then UK Funky came around, and I really latched onto that back in 2007 as a way of getting house music into the clubs, stuff like Karizma coming through, then also grime. The emotion I'm looking for is always from the most unusual places. Even though it's a huge system, there are always people on the fringe putting their own story into it.-Julio Bashmore performs on the Bacardi x Boiler Room stage at Sugar Mountain Festival, taking place Saturday January 23 at VCA, Melbourne. Tickets and information here.I OH YOU and THUMP present an official Sugar Mountain afterparty with Tim Sweeney, Harvey Sutherland, Bobby Boomerang and DJ NETT at The Gasometer, Saturday January 23. Details here.Julio Bashmore headlines the first 2016 instalment of Sydney's Summer Dance, kicking off at National Art School this Sunday January 24. Email aucomps@vice.com for your chance to win a double pass. Full program details here.