Bibio: An Interview

Sitting in the back of an Addison Lee car en route to your interviewee’s next meeting is a kind of surreal situation to conduct an interview in.  Especially when your interviewee is new Warp Records signing Bibio, or Stephen Wilkinson to his friends.  Thirty minutes careering through the chaotic streets of London, yet cushioned by serenity within the confines of our car as Bibio explains in detail his formidable musical career to date in his unassuming and intellectual manner.  It’s impossible to react to your surroundings as you get drawn in to his quietly spoken answers that convey tremendous passion for his talent as well as the influences he takes from life as the building blocks of his music.  None more so than how his music is aesthetically influenced by nature, contributing to an organic sound that has become synonymous with Bibio.

5 years ago after signing to Mush Records in America his recording career was spawned, bringing with it a trilogy of long players and an experimental sound, labelled a hybrid of electronica and traditional folk.  The subsequent departure from Mush for the pioneering electronic label Warp Records also signified an unusual departure in sound for Bibio.  The result is showcased in his first full length release on Warp ‘Ambivalence Avenue’ and a new chapter in his notable career beginning.

Fundamentally keeping the core of his work experimental, the textures are changed, sounds distinctly removed from previously and the influences broadened.  ‘Ambivalence Avenue’ is a diverse and intense 12-track composition, of which each song comprises it’s own identity if you like, in length, musicality and instrumentation.  It moves from track to track incorporating multi-faceted ideas and sounds that make each stand alone yet form a cohesive piece of work that flows onwards with its intricate layering, genre-defying attributes and rich melodies.

Not one to be pigeonholed by himself or others, Bibio has newer elements on record with a prominence given to beats and vocals, both of which are the real milestones of this change in direction.  Hip hop has become a driving influence of Bibio’s writing through his appreciation of producers such as J-Dilla, MF Doom and Madlib, plus a nod towards the early work of Daft Punk and French dance music is striking.  And all this is set against more stripped down tracks that utilise acoustic guitars or expansive soundscaping that bring the record to an alternative otherworldly place in direct contrast to what might have gone previously.

Warp Records is famous for its eclectic and unique mix of artists who have stood the test of time in the electronica, house and indie markets since it’s naissance in 1989.  And within the company of label mates such as Aphex Twin, Grizzly Bear and Autechre, Bibio has potentially one of the most enviable platforms upon which to bring his new musical output to a newer audience.  So with over 1000 tracks in his personal back catalogue, it is likely that ‘Ambivalence Avenue’ is just a taster of what’s to come.

4TR: Your signing to Warp Records earlier this year and the release of what is your 4th full length album, ‘Ambivalence Avenue’, has basically symbolised a new chapter and new direction in the career of Bibio.  How did the new album come about?
Bibio: Well I don’t necessarily write albums when I’m making music, so I don’t consciously sit down and think I’m going to write an album today.  I just write music and then over maybe a year I start to get playlists or whatever of tracks I think would work in an album, so it just kind of finds its own way of happening. When the last EP I released on Mush was being wrapped up, ‘Vignetting the Compost’, there was a bit of overlap with the tracks that are on my new album.  I was deciding on the tracks for Vignetting while writing the newer stuff, so I think I knew instinctively that these new tracks were a different chapter.  They just sounded different, but right.

4TR: In that case what’s the difference in sound in your mind between the first 3 albums on Mush and the new album on Warp?
Bibio: I think my first 3 albums have got a definite homogenous aesthetic, they are kind of folky and intentionally lo-fi, kind of aged and damaged sounding texture wise.  But this album is louder, its got beats in it its got more vocals in it, its more upfront, its more pop and also its more of a body album.  I think my first 3 albums are very heady albums, kind of sit down put your headphones on and get lost somewhere, but this album is more one you are likely to dance to or nod your head to at least.  I have always been into dance music as well but I think I was always clinging on to this idea of what Bibio was.  But with the help of some friends who were listening to all the other styles of music I was doing they suggested I just changed the idea of what Bibio is.  They were right, it was stupid to hold this music back and actually I think it still sounds Bibio even though its very different.

4TR: Would you say your influences remain the same or have they broadened?
Bibio: I’ve picked up new ones definitely, there are influences that go back a long way that aren’t apparent to my older music or if they are its very obscure, like for instance Daft Punk and French house music.  Maybe you can hear it more in this album whereas with the old stuff people often presume I listen to a lot of folk music but I don’t at all.  During the making of 'Ambivalence Avenue' I think it’s fairly obvious that I was getting into different kinds of hip-hop producers.  I remember speaking to Steve Beckett [Warp Founder] and playing him a track which is now on the album ‘Fire Hand’ and saying is this Bibio though? Can this go on the album next to an acoustic guitar track? And I think we both had the attitude of lets just try it.  So without wanting to sound like I’m some kind of pioneer which I don’t believe I am, I think that even experimental artists can be really conservative when it comes to compiling an album.  Even if an artist’s music is really forward thinking when it comes to putting tracks together they can be very conservative about what’s going to work.  Maybe because of the history of the music industry and genres it kind of forces people to say this is one project and this is another, so artists end up with lots of different side projects, which isn’t really necessary.

I’ve had a good response so far, no one has complained about the diversity of the tracks so maybe it will just mean people expect the next record to be like it as well which keeps me on my toes!

4TR: You said you don’t sit down and think I’m going to write an album now, its very eclectic and its very complex, for example every track is different in terms of length, sound, context, etc – do you ever find that there is too much going on and its hard to put a cohesive piece together or do you prefer it that way?
Bibio: I think I prefer it that way actually – what happens is I get bored of doing the same thing and I’m not one of these people that thinks I cant do that or I’m a guitarist so I should stick to that.  Of course there are certain things I know I’m never going to be, like I know I’m not going to be a rapper [laughs], but I think when it comes to anything instrumental I’m not afraid to try something out. It also tends to go in cycles of years as well, like every autumn I write melancholy drony ambient music which is really autumnal music and in the summer I want to start making up beat tracks with flutes and shakers and stuff like that.  It definitely has a seasonal thing going on

But I don’t get daunted by it, the more music you make then the more choice you have when choosing tracks for an album.  My albums tend to evolve as they go along.  I tell you what kind of scares me sometimes is that I can forget about good tracks, because I’m a bit scatty when it comes to organising stuff.  There could be little gems dotted about and then one day you put a tape on and discover a track that you’d completely forgotten from like 5 years ago that’s got to go on my album.  Things like that happen but you cant be too precious, if you are going to end up writing like 1000 songs in 5 years you are bound to lose track.

4TR: Has Warp been pushing you in any new directions?
Bibio: To be honest this album was finished before I signed to Warp so it’s actually the invert in a way.  I started doing this new sound and that’s what got them interested in the first place.  I remember reading something where someone said I changed my sound because of warp, which is a very naïve response because if you think about it a record label isn’t going to sign you on the off chance you might make an album they like.  They sign people when they know for definite that you have got something that they like.  I think that’s usually the case for a solo artist anyway, maybe its different for a band, but generally a label wants to hear an album before they agree to anything.  So no I never changed my sound to please anyone or to get warp interested.

4TR: How does the studio process work for you? And is it solely you on a production level as well as everything else?
Bibio: Yeah because I don’t see a divide between music and production.  Now people can download a virtual studio, or they can get a laptop and make music from it, and that has brought it to the people if you like, I know that’s a bit of a cliché but it has.  So for me a musician is just someone that presses record on a tape recorder as much as someone that can play an instrument.  I do everything, I think maybe it’s a pride thing like I’d like to get into a nice studio with nice equipment but wouldn’t want to hand over the keys to someone else and say produce my album for me.  Personally I wouldn’t feel like it was my album if I did that, even if I directed it as for me being a musician is also being a producer.    

4TR: ‘Ambivalence Avenue’ came out in June, how has it been received so far?
Bibio: Yeah good, I have had some good reviews; Pitchfork in particular shone a lot of limelight on it.  I think it’s a far more accessible album.  Obviously Warp are a label capable of pushing something more and have got this prestige; warp is one of those labels where if a new artist is on it everyone wants to check them out because its Warp, so there is like a seal of approval thing.  But also I think naturally anything with vocals in and beats generally is going to be more popular, which wasn’t a premeditated thought on my part, but my older music is maybe a little more on the surface experimental.  This album has got more of a pop aesthetic to it but a kind of 70s pop so it’s a bit nostalgic.  Maybe I will ultimately lose some fans that wanted me to stick to my old sound.

4TR: I wanted to ask you about the reoccurring nature theme that is seen through your influences, lyrics and artwork as a form of inspiration.  Is that a primary thought when you are making new music?
Bibio: Yeah but I don’t consciously think of it, it’s just my nature really.  I think in the past I’ve referenced nature a lot more particularly in the artwork so sometimes when people mention the nature thing I am wondering where they’ve got that impression from, have they got it from the music, have they read it somewhere or have I said it? I don’t always consciously think I want to give out this message that I am influenced by nature but if people get that from the music then good, because it is in there for sure.

4TR: But it’s not something you set out to be known for as an artist?
Bibio: I suppose in some ways I did because I reference it a lot, but there’s a difference between being a person who says they’re interested in nature to making an album that is rural or pastoral or whatever, which are 2 words that are very overused to describe my music.  My understanding of nature has changed a lot recently, and I’ve been thinking more about what a humans place is in nature.  I think perhaps it’s a western thing where people put a divide between man and nature.  But it depends on what people mean by nature, do they mean trees, birds, rivers and fish?  My interest is more to do with organic patterns and the structure of things, the way it’s really beautiful and complex but not random, it’s got a definite pattern.  I suppose that’s what I try to bring into the music.  If I want to make a track I don’t want it to be the musical equivalent to like a myriad glass and steel skyscraper that’s all pristine and quadrangular, I try to make stuff that’s got grain and warped parts in it, so I suppose there’s some kind of synesthesia thing going on there.  It’s more organic, less predictable, not as neat and tidy or complex perhaps?  I don’t know.

4TR: As an artist and musician you are continually writing new music, is that potentially with a new album in mind?
Bibio: Yeah that never stops really; I get withdrawal symptoms if I’m not writing music and all these strange emotions like guilt.  I do put a bit too much pressure on myself to do that, but I certainly don’t need to worry about coming up with material for a new album because I’ve got it already.  But at the same time I always have this idea in my mind that the next gem is on its way, which is good because it’s like a driver in a way to keep pushing myself.  But it’s definitely an ongoing thing. 

4TR: So finally, following on from the change in direction with ‘Ambivalence Avenue’, do you foresee changing your idea of what Bibio is again with the next record?
Bibio: Who knows, in a way I hope that I don’t have this massive expectation to surprise people by doing a jazz album or something, because it’s the case that I’ve been doing different kinds of music for a long time, I just haven’t released it before.  From the perspective of the people I know they have seen that, but from the perspective of the people who buy my albums it seems like a big step from one album to the next and they don’t necessarily see the gradual progression that has occurred.  I’ve already got a second album brewing maybe about half done but it might change as I might write more tracks and ditch other ones, you know you cant put everything on there because it’s a finite space.  In some ways its going a bit more electronic and a bit darker perhaps, but like I said it could all change, I have been writing more moodier tracks quite recently so it could go in that direction, but you will have to wait and see!

Words: Francesca Strange

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