Spinning In The Name Of: Sputnik One

Do you think attention to detail is vital in creating electronic music?
It’s essential. When you’re making electronic music, the tracks are generally more sparse. so each element needs to have proper a reason to be there. If you’re writing a track that’s seven or eight minutes long, you get to tell a different story than if it’s three-and-a-half minutes. It’s very freeing. But the more you stretch anything out, the more nuanced it needs to be to stay interesting.

What were the main inspirations for your new EP MK Ultra?
A lot of my inspiration comes from other art forms, especially movies. The name ‘MK Ultra’ comes from a bunch of CIA experiments in the ’60s, where scientists gave high doses of LSD to subjects without warning them. As you could imagine, some of the subjects went mad and the whole thing was covered up until relatively recently. It’s an example of people in power getting away with doing whatever they want at others’ expense – a feeling we can all relate to when you see what’s happening to the night culture in our city. All of this influenced the cold and percussive sound of the EP. In terms of musical influences, I would say FKA Twigs, Joy Orbison, Clark, and DJs like Batu, who create and play music that’s highly story driven. You can easily envision the world in which their music exists, which makes listening to them that much more rewarding.

The EP is very atmospheric – did you make music specially for this record, or just let your creative side loose?
Starting with the title track, I made the tracks more or less in the order they are on the record over a couple of months. The songs I write around the same time tend to gel better together as a whole. This is mainly because I’m always trying to experiment and build on what I’ve done before, so things rarely stay static. Anyone who has heard my demos will know that what I make day-to-day is far from consistent, but thankfully for what I’m trying to achieve, it doesn’t need to be.

Very few musicians can do different art forms alongside music production – do you think this combination is important for creating original music?
Combining different art forms really helps in clarifying the tone of a project. My favourite film directors pay a lot of attention to the soundtrack, and my ultimate goal is to complement what’s happening in the tracks with the right visual narrative.

Sputnik One (Jim Richard) will play back to back with his good friend Hank LW in support of the Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) Foundation on the 21st of November in Wigwam.