Introducing our beloved UK duo, Movement81, who have recently graced us with their debut EP, 'Pride' released under yours truly. This summer, their captivating tunes have become the soundtrack of our daily routines, filling them with joy and rhythm. Comprising the musical brilliance of collaborative fine artists Jason and Becky, Movement81 emerges as a vibrant and harmonious force in the music industry.

Greetings, dear friends! We hope this interview finds you in high spirits. Before we delve into the musical wonders of Movement81, can you share with us what you were up to just before joining us for this conversation?
 

We’ve just finished uploading a track to our YouTube channel for this weekend’s Hardware Jams challenge. The challenge this weekend was to create a jam inspired by your favourite city, so we went with Venice. We did a month-long residency there in 2016, as part of our fine art practice, living with some wonderful men in a homeless shelter for the duration of our stay. It’s such an amazing city, it felt weirdly familiar as soon as we arrived and we immediately fell in love with it. We had an exhibition at the end of the residency and made a book, which can be found here… https://bit.ly/cittadicampi So our jam this weekend was inspired by that. And fast forward to right now, we’re in the car on the way to Oxford for the Oxford EMOM. EMOM stands for ‘Electronic Open Mic Night’, a network of electronic nights around the UK hosted by locals who want to provide a platform for electronic musicians. It’s about a 3-hour drive from Swansea so perfect for getting an interview done!

Now, let's explore a day in the life of Movement81. From the moment you wake up, what does your morning routine look like, and how does it lead into your creative work process throughout the day?

Right now, that’s a tricky one! We’re a little out of routine currently as we’ve just moved into a new place and are in the process of transitioning between studio spaces. So we have stuff everywhere right now - nothing’s organised and everything’s taking twice as long! But “normal” would be: wake up, go for coffee with a sketchbook, and chat through whatever we’re working on at the time. Then the afternoon would be implementing those ideas, either in the studio or in another cafe somewhere with the laptops. The working process all depends on what we’re working on - currently it’s a live AV set supporting Max Cooper in October, in Cardiff, so that involves software and hardware - laptops, projectors, music production hardware etc. Other times we might be working on audiovisual installations or more fine art based performance, so there’ll be a lot of physical making involved - power tools, sewing machine, soldering, wood, fabric, arduino’s and other electronics, all manner of materials we find hanging around that we can make use of, that kind of thing. But it always starts with a coffee and a chat, so we can focus and know what we’re working towards that day, and know we’re both on the same page. We like to do our thinking outside of the studio space - it’s really important to create variables in our routine so we don’t end up in the same thought process. We tend to act like magpies, stealing lots of bits from lots of different places, responding to and reflecting on our environment. So the more varied we can make that thought process for ourselves the more varied the results become.

In the realm of your studio, we're curious to know what your current favorite gear is and the reason behind its significance in shaping your signature sound. As artists, your music becomes an extension of yourselves. Does the music you produce reflect your personalities, experiences, or emotions in any specific way?

In terms of shaping our signature sound, the MPC is probably the bedrock for everything (and pretty much in charge of drums/percussion on every track) but when it comes down to favourite gear right now that has to be the Intellijel Metropolix. It’s such a powerful tool when it comes to creating melodic elements in such unexpected ways, and it’s so fun to play live. It’s so dynamic as a sequencer, and we’re only just scratching the surface of its capabilities. What’s also great about it is that often, the wild sounds we create using the modular are lost when we unpatch, but the Metropolix allows those interesting sequences to be saved, so we can recreate versions of those tracks live. As a wildcard we have to save room for Mutable Instruments Clouds - our signature sound usually includes some kind of texture from clouds, usually pitched up, with grain density played manually (plus a load of reverb). 

In terms of whether or not our music reflects our personalities, experiences or emotions, the answer is probably yes. Movement81 started off as a sort of escapism from the heavy conceptual work we undertake as fine artists, an opportunity to create without too much concept; freedom to be in the moment, have a good time and share that with others. But as we’ve continued to produce electronic music the two practices have sort of begun to merge, with conceptual elements sometimes creeping into the meaning and production process behind some tracks. For example, our latest EP, Pride, is part of a body of audiovisual work inspired by the Italian futurists - we have quite a geometric aesthetic that often feeds into our visual work, which in turn shapes the sound, and vice versa. The way things look form a large part of our creative decision-making, which is one of the main reasons we ended up with 6 rows of Eurorack - as well as sounding amazing, visually, we just love the look of it!

Your music catalog already has many gems, but if someone were to listen to just one of your songs right now, which one would you recommend? What makes this particular track so special to you?

That would probably be ‘Gift’, as it encapsulates everything we’re trying to do right now. We’re about to record it as part of an EP, so it’ll be our next release. It has a bit more complexity than a lot of our other tracks, and it’s so much fun to play live, with the Metropolix playing the lead sequence which comes in about halfway through, Clouds playing some textures that have been recorded into Ableton as well as some live textures manually seeded on top. It’s not a ‘dance’ track in the traditional sense, but for us, it just has such a groove that we personally find really infectious - it just makes us want to move to it, which is why it’s so fun to play live. It’s available as a live recording on Bandcamp at the moment, so the challenge will be trying to replicate that in the studio.

For aspiring producers facing creative roadblocks, what advice would you give them to overcome writer's block and find renewed inspiration in their craft?
 

Someone once gave us this advice in relation to our creative fine art practice, and we’ve carried it with us, as it’s applicable to all creative practice, including writing music. They just said that “stuff leads to stuff”. It might seem really simple and obvious, but it stuck with us and it always helps us to get back into making, and cope with the comedown after the high of a big gig, installation or project. Just make something. Anything. Because stuff leads to stuff - the idea will evolve, or it’ll be rubbish and you’ll get it out of your system and move on. You can think yourself round in circles but the process of making is very different. Whatever that process is - collecting sounds, making a beat, crafting some visuals, just make something that you can hear, see, feel and reflect on. Then the block is broken.

As we near the end of this captivating interview, do you have any final words or a message you'd like to share with your fans and the world?

Try to imagine a four-sided triangle

Thank you, Movement81, for gracing us with your presence and sharing these insights into your musical journey. We eagerly anticipate the future wonders you'll bring to the world of music. Until then, may your art continue to inspire and uplift us all.