Mute Voices: Maps

Mute Voices: Maps

12 May, 2011 | 3.25AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: maps, mute, short circuit

In anticipation of this weekend’s Mute showcase at London’s Roundhouse, we reached out to a handful of the label’s artists to share their memories of working for the imprint.

Up today: Maps, aka England’s James Chapman, who joined the label in 2007 with a fresh take on swirling, shoe-gazing, Madchester-indebted electronic pop. Recently, he appeared alongside the likes of Paul Kalkbrenner and Gui Boratto on Moby’s Wait For Me. Remixes!. Read on for his Mute memories.

Do you remember the first Mute record you owned, or the first time you became aware of the label?

That’s a tricky one. Looking back, when I bought records at first, I never really checked to see what label the artists were on. It was only later on that I realized the significance of Mute in my record collection.

Add Insult To Injury by Add N To (X) and Manual by Appliance were probably the first two albums that I bought which got me interested in what Mute was doing. Echoboy’s Volume 1 also got me excited about trying to do something with my own music—I purchased a 4-track cassette recorder soon after hearing that. I do actually remember checking the sleeve of Goldfrapp’s Felt Mountain to see what label it was released on as well.

What do you think are Mute’s biggest contributions to the music world? What will be their lasting legacy?

The quality of every release. I truly believe Mute is all about the love of the music. They sign artists that they believe in, and nurture the best out of them. Mute really care about the music, you can feel it as soon as you walk through the door. Whereas a lot of labels “follow” current trends and sign new artists just because they sound like someone else who is topping the charts. Mute don’t “follow,” they are willing to explore new ground and sign artists that are different, purely because they love their music.

There’s obviously always the hope that it will be successful and sell, but the feeling I get is that they really just want to make great records. And great records usually sell pretty well anyway! So I guess the lasting legacy (for me) is the sheer quality of the Mute roster. And also the “family” ethic of the label. Mute don’t sign many people, but they stick with who they do sign (through thick and thin) and the longevity of the relationships with their artists shows that.

How did you come to join the Mute roster?

I started sending a few demos out (not many actually) of some songs I’d produced on a 16-track recorder. A guy who was running his own little label (who worked at Mute) heard them and was interested to meet me (I think with the idea of maybe putting something out on his label). He came up to visit me in Northampton and I gave him a demo of “Liquid Sugar.” He took it back to Mute and played it to Daniel and a few of the other guys. They really liked it and the next thing I knew I got a call saying that Daniel Miller was coming to my house to meet me. It was pretty surreal. Daniel Miller sitting in my tiny bedroom listening to some songs I’d made on a 16-track recorder through some dodgy old speakers. He was the nicest guy, though, and I felt honored that he would take the time to come and do that. We went to the village pub and had a chat and it went from there. I just kept writing demos and sending them over and they loved them. I signed in 2005.

What’s it like to work with Daniel Miller?

He’s the most down-to-earth genius that I know. In the studio he’s kind of like the Zen master: he hears things that no other human would normally hear, and his ideas always work. On both my albums he’s tended to come into the studio towards the end of the sessions to oversee how it’s all going and to do what’s needed to make it a great album. He’s a really funny guy, a great sense of humor. And he really gets involved with the actual making of the music. He just loves sounds and has a wealth of ideas of how to get the sound he wants.

He knows everything there is to know about synthesizers. I remember once we got a synth out to play a line in “Elouise” at The Strongroom with Ken Thomas. I hadn’t used the synth before, so I asked him if he knew how to work it. To which he replied with a dry smile “Of course I do, it’s a bloody synth!”

Could you name a few of your favorite Mute releases from over the years?

Appliance – Manual

I chose this one because it has a special place in my heart. I remember listening to it for the first time when I was in quite a strange place in my life. Just flunked out of University and didn’t really have much hope for the future. Just hearing the opening of “Soft Landing” made me feel that everything was gonna be ok; it still has that effect on me now. Also, “Pacifica” is a heck of a tune.

Add N To (X) - Avant Hard

I remember hearing this album for the first time after a particularly heavy night out, and wondering if everyone else was hearing the same thing. It’s pretty insane, but a complete classic. “Metal Fingers In My Body” is an amazing track, it still sounds fresh today. I saw them play Reading Festival in ‘99 around the time it came out - they blew me away. A fantastic band, ahead of their time.

A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

I can’t explain how excited I was when these guys signed to Mute. I had the album on repeat for the most of last year, I love it. My Bloody Valentine meets Sonic Youth meets as many fuzz pedals as you can lay your hands on. And they write dead catchy tunes. I loved their remix of “Die Happy, Die Smiling” as well, genius.

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