Maps discusses change of direction from his Mercury Music Prize nominate début album
James Chapman took time out of making mix CD to talk to Subba-Cultcha about his second album, Turning The Mind and mutual friends.
Mute Records signing Maps released his second album Turning The Mind in September. After his debut album We Can Create was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, I asked James about how the new album differs, “It’s purely electronic and more personal. The first album was completely abstract, but this one has more of my personality in it, more edgy and angry; contrasting to the dreamy, sound-scape of the first.”
Northampton’s James confesses to listening to lots of techno and house, this having a massive influence over the sound and feel of the album, “I sacked the band. I’m a cold-hearted bastard.” James joked, “I didn’t like the direction it was going, too indie and guitar based. I wanted to get back to my electro roots and get a fresh start.” Maps collaborated with Danish DJ August, using lots of synths and drum-machines to create the sound that defines Maps new direction. This is reflected in the live show “it’s much harder live and more of party atmosphere.”
James talked about the forthcoming tour, kicking off at London venue Cargo on 26th October, continuing into November before heading to Europe in February and USA in March. “US crowds are amazing. One of the best gigs I played was at the Mercury Lounge in New York, I had to walk through the crowd to get to the stage, when I came back for an encore I was getting high-five’s from the audience, it was like being wrestler!”
Maps have taken the live show all over the world and festival circuit, always playing to an appreciative audience, “it only takes one person to start it off and then the crowd gets going.” I then came up with an idea good enough for Theo Paphitis and Dragon’s Den; being hired as a crowd fluffer to get the audience going! I ran this idea passed James “er, it’s a good idea but I couldn’t afford to pay someone to whoop and clap at my gigs. Come to the gig at Cargo, you can start your crowd fluffing career!”
Maps began life when James was a student at Reading University and is a testament to DIY music making when he released Start Something EP on his own label Lost Space Recordings, “Luckily a guy I knew played the demo to his friend at Virgin, it went from there. I released an EP along with Dogs Die In Hot Cars and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster as a launch pad. At that point, I was quite naïve and it took a year after that to turn into Maps and I went it alone.”
Talking about the fickle music industry, James added “I was lucky as I was allowed to develop before getting signed. I was speaking to labels and sending in demos, but there was no pressure. When I was ready, it all happened rather quickly.”
I asked James if it was true that he answers all Myspace messages personally, “Yeah, when you don’t have an album out no-one likes you and then it goes crazy with a release…it’s nice to speak to people and get opinions of gigs.” I then probed into any strange requests, like wanting to send him pants “You’re a little obsessed with pants aren’t you [referring to our earlier exchange about being a fluffer]! A girl from Manchester messaged saying ‘we should have sex’, that was very forward, but other then that it’s quite tame really.” So, it’s true that being a musician gets you laid, “No, I replied saying sorry I was in a relationship.” James replied.
Maps plans to upload mix CD that he was working on until 6am, “It’s a mixture of songs I like to give away on the website.” Maps is certainly an workaholic, “I’ll be working on stuff till 4am, then I won’t be able to sleep thinking that a high-hat would sound great on a particular track and end up working on it till 6am.”
Heavily influenced by Spiritualised, Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine, James also talked about his life in Reading and Northampton having an influence, “There wasn’t really a scene, so I would just sit my room listening to music and started mixing stuff.”
It turns out that James and I have a mutual friend from Reading, it’s a small world…insert your own joke about maps!
First published Oct 2009
Mute Records signing Maps released his second album Turning The Mind in September. After his debut album We Can Create was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, I asked James about how the new album differs, “It’s purely electronic and more personal. The first album was completely abstract, but this one has more of my personality in it, more edgy and angry; contrasting to the dreamy, sound-scape of the first.”
Northampton’s James confesses to listening to lots of techno and house, this having a massive influence over the sound and feel of the album, “I sacked the band. I’m a cold-hearted bastard.” James joked, “I didn’t like the direction it was going, too indie and guitar based. I wanted to get back to my electro roots and get a fresh start.” Maps collaborated with Danish DJ August, using lots of synths and drum-machines to create the sound that defines Maps new direction. This is reflected in the live show “it’s much harder live and more of party atmosphere.”
James talked about the forthcoming tour, kicking off at London venue Cargo on 26th October, continuing into November before heading to Europe in February and USA in March. “US crowds are amazing. One of the best gigs I played was at the Mercury Lounge in New York, I had to walk through the crowd to get to the stage, when I came back for an encore I was getting high-five’s from the audience, it was like being wrestler!”
Maps have taken the live show all over the world and festival circuit, always playing to an appreciative audience, “it only takes one person to start it off and then the crowd gets going.” I then came up with an idea good enough for Theo Paphitis and Dragon’s Den; being hired as a crowd fluffer to get the audience going! I ran this idea passed James “er, it’s a good idea but I couldn’t afford to pay someone to whoop and clap at my gigs. Come to the gig at Cargo, you can start your crowd fluffing career!”
Maps began life when James was a student at Reading University and is a testament to DIY music making when he released Start Something EP on his own label Lost Space Recordings, “Luckily a guy I knew played the demo to his friend at Virgin, it went from there. I released an EP along with Dogs Die In Hot Cars and Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster as a launch pad. At that point, I was quite naïve and it took a year after that to turn into Maps and I went it alone.”
Talking about the fickle music industry, James added “I was lucky as I was allowed to develop before getting signed. I was speaking to labels and sending in demos, but there was no pressure. When I was ready, it all happened rather quickly.”
I asked James if it was true that he answers all Myspace messages personally, “Yeah, when you don’t have an album out no-one likes you and then it goes crazy with a release…it’s nice to speak to people and get opinions of gigs.” I then probed into any strange requests, like wanting to send him pants “You’re a little obsessed with pants aren’t you [referring to our earlier exchange about being a fluffer]! A girl from Manchester messaged saying ‘we should have sex’, that was very forward, but other then that it’s quite tame really.” So, it’s true that being a musician gets you laid, “No, I replied saying sorry I was in a relationship.” James replied.
Maps plans to upload mix CD that he was working on until 6am, “It’s a mixture of songs I like to give away on the website.” Maps is certainly an workaholic, “I’ll be working on stuff till 4am, then I won’t be able to sleep thinking that a high-hat would sound great on a particular track and end up working on it till 6am.”
Heavily influenced by Spiritualised, Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine, James also talked about his life in Reading and Northampton having an influence, “There wasn’t really a scene, so I would just sit my room listening to music and started mixing stuff.”
It turns out that James and I have a mutual friend from Reading, it’s a small world…insert your own joke about maps!
First published Oct 2009
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