Audio: Simian Mobile Disco - Live At ATP Festival, December 2011

Collectively Simian Mobile Disco is Jas Shaw and James Ford. They formed SMD as a DJ based side project when they were both performing in the band Simian, a psychedelic indie outfit that had its moment of taking over the world in the early noughties, but in 2012 all that history stuff is just that, old hat. As SMD, Shaw and Ford have made three albums (one compilation LP dedicated to exotic food stuffs and an excellent FABRICLIVE mix), the most recent of which, ‘Unpatterns’, will be released on the 14th May - a fact their marking with an extended set here in Room One in a few weeks time. SMD are kind of purposefully mysterious, choosing to pick their interviews and available public insights carefully, so when we got wind of the possibility of housing a two hour long recording of the duo at last year’s ATP festival ahead of the date, we thought we’d shoot them some succinct questions to better frame the audio and as ‘Unpatterns’ feels like a real return to techno and to the dancefloor we kept ourselves brief and themed it all around the record. Here's that set from last year's ATP: Where are you in the world right now? We're just in Rome, after being in Dubai and Madrid... What’s good? The pasta. You’re working up to the release of Unpatterns. Can you describe the record for us in 10 words or less? Blurring, decaying, phasing, interfering and shifting patterns. Is there as much of a defined theme behind the new record as the title suggests? It's a loose theme... it just seemed to sum up where we're at musically at the moment. The internet knows that you guys love analogue synthesizers already; were there any that you lent on more heavily than others for this new record? We have a pretty massive custom ‘wardrobe’ synth that we use a lot, and an Analogue Systems one that gets heavy usage. How did you find the recording process? Did it all just... flow? Pretty much exactly a flowing process... turn the machines on, hit record and get tweaking. Do you guys pay much mind to the current musical climate? Like Philip Sherburne says “Its slow tempo and melancholy vocals are in keeping with the dusky deep house that's trending right now; its bumpy groove recalls both old-school electro and the new generation of U.K. producers who are rewiring house music with cadences learned from dubstep.” We do listen to a lot of the ‘post dubstep’ sounds, especially those that are clearly wearing their early acid house and techno influences on their sleeves. But equally we're mindful not to try and do what they do - why would you when they're already doing it so well? What can we expect from your forthcoming appearance here on the 18th May? Techno. Catch Simian Mobile Disco in Room One on Friday 18th May.