The Electronic Exchange @ Kraak Gallery, Friday 10th February 2012

It’s a homecoming of sorts for a band whose lifespan has predominantly been lived on the internet.

When the second date of this tour creaks into life, this enlarged incarnation of The Electronic Exchange has completed one live show, three rehearsals and plenty of emails.

I say ‘creaks into life’ because there’s a downtempo, static feel to the opening stages. Dayse & Aver are painting their lyrical imagery in ‘Human Zoo’, backed by beats merchant Omas in a reserved start for an initially passive audience with the soundsystem noticeably quietened and restrained. But static is the TNC offshoot’s style; facing each other, mics poised, lyrics fired to and fro. Their movement is cerebral; their skill is in satire, dissecting the world in which they live with references from dystopian sci-fi to the gritty realism of this CCTV state, via technological age epigrams by Moondog. ‘Dark Matter’ and ‘No Exit’ are highlights with their discordant funk and jazzy refrains scratched and skewed by Omas.

A string section in a trip hop band can hardly be described as pioneering these days, but one assembled, instructed and practised online is perhaps with traits less widespread.

Pained grievances of “it just don’t fit right” lifted from the recent sophomore EP are misled; the mood created with the help of additional live instruments from drums to violin and cello fits perfectly. The strings in particular render a body of sound dismembered with the tension builds of a horror flick, acting as the ideal companion to the echoing eeriness of ‘Noises’ from the self-titled debut EP.

The original duo is enhanced by the safety in numbers. Najia Bagi’s soulful vocal is aptly matched to the classical and glitch trip hop hybrid on show, while Tullis Rennie’s processed beats and samples synonymous with his output via Concrete Moniker are aided by extra pieces to the puzzle. Bagi in particular, who also sings with The Beats & Pieces Big Band, To Sophia, The Ground and solo, has no problem adapting her voice to the new scenario.

There’s opportunity for ambient interludes and instrumental flexibility, as sticksman Dave Johnson is only too happy to exemplify in frenzied fashion. His disregard for the prepared template is more applauded than derided, even if Bagi is forced to wait for her cue a little longer than expected. The bar-raising ‘Country Murder’ produces one of those moments you tend to remember. Its thickened sound builds and climbs atop a lofty summit before diving head-first into a huge drop; ripping open sonic cortices in the thundering rapids of drum and bass below.

Words: Ian Pennington
Photos: Anna Kafkalias

Najia Bagi of The Electronic Exchange will perform some songs with electronic musician Neko Neko (who remixed two songs for The Electronic Exchange’s Second Shift EP) at Dulcimer in Chorlton on Thursday 8th March along with other artists on the My First Moth label. Later this month, on Thursday 22nd March, Dayse & Aver will headline a gig at Antwerp Mansion in Rusholme to perform a new full live band show, supported by The Mothership Connection and Krankit.

Interview: The Electronic Exchange

Since interviewing The Electronic Exchange at the end of 2010 they’ve grown a lot; in numbers, in recognition, in cohesion and in understanding.

They have swelled to a six-piece live band, although still reliant upon a steady broadband connection to share ideas and compose final versions of songs. Tullis Rennis, co-founder of both The Electronic Exchange and the genuinely open-minded netlabel Concrete Moniker, believes that they have maintained a similarly democratic process despite the greater populous, but it does mean that there are more people to meet in person for the first time when last-minute rehearsals finally take place under the same roof.

Roughly a year after the eponymous debut EP, the pair returned with Second Shift, multi-layered carvings melding Thom Yorke’s mind-warps to Mount Kimbie’s metallic echoes that may appear more direct and with a lighter ambient spirit but is equally glitch-ridden. My First Moth producer Neko Neko was recruited to remix ‘Fit Right’ and ‘Shapeshifter’ for the record and has already successfully entwined those into his live set with his addition of a Burial-esque dusky dimness, matching more elements of the 2010 EP, The Electronic Exchange, than Second Shift.

The Electronic Exchange’s impending tour is with a new track in mind (available to download at no cost). ‘Stay Straight’ features hints of the expanded live personnel with brass and live drums in support of Najia Bagi, whose vocal lead displays an added confidence following her debut solo record, Six Months, released towards the end of 2011.

Now Then Manchester returns to the scene where Najia Bagi, Tullis Rennis and new live drummer Dave Johnson discuss the latest project and tour, the development of the ‘electronic exchange’ composing technique and ‘toolshed dub’.


Now Then: How does this show compare to previous full band performances for The Electronic Exchange at Band on the Wall and Umbro? What can people expect?

Tullis Rennie: It’s a step up from the Umbro show at FutureEverything because we'll be playing a full headline set with the whole 6-piece group on every tune.


NT: For what reasons did you make the change from a duo to include a larger band?

TR: I think both Najia and I have been feeling increasingly strongly over time that the duo format of the group doesn't quite do a 'live' show justice and that both of us are bursting full of musical ideas that need us to include live musicians.


NT: How did you recruit the other musicians? Are they involved with any of your other musical projects?

TR: They're a rum bunch of old friends, ex-band mates and new collaborators. After the Umbro show, Najia worked with some of the string players again for her solo show, so they're becoming more regular collaborators and closer acquaintances. Andrew, our new cellist, is completely new to the project and he's got stuck right in. I can't wait to meet him!


NT: For the debut EP you initially labelled The Electronic Exchange project as “toolshed dub”; has that outlook changed in any way? Would you alter that label now and to what?

TR: Ahaha, yeah I'd forgotten about that. It was one of those things that you write at 2am on a press release to try and keep yourself and the person you're writing to interested. It had some merit, as I was tinkering around in my compositional shed trying to be a beat-maker and the dub thing was apparent on most of those tracks.

I think we've progressed and broadened our scope and sound. 'Fit Right' for example is the first time I’ve strayed into using actual electronic drum sounds.

I'm going to steer clear of any new tags, for fear of getting myself into more hot water. Although, today I wrote an e-mail to a friend describing Machinedrum's Room(s) (incidentally one of my favourite records of last year) and I described it as “electronic dance music but with heart, soul and bits that make you cry.” I'd love to achieve that one day. I think we're on the right track...


NT: Dave, as someone new to the ‘electronic exchange’ process, how did you fit into it?

Dave Johnson: The practicalities are that I receive a version of an Electronic Exchange song online, which I listen to, a lot. I then think about possible percussion parts that could go with it as part of a live show. I try these parts out alone or with Najia and then describe them as best I can online. This is read by all the other musicians involved. They are then free to leave any comments or suggestions. It’s similar for every member, so I can find myself commenting on ideas for cello parts or vocals or even about the structure of the song. It’s very refreshing to just throw as many ideas around as you want; it’s all been very open. I’ve basically completely indulged myself in talking about my own parts and receiving feedback about it. It’s lovely. I feel very validated.


NT: What did you know about the production techniques before joining the band?

DJ: I knew how the process would work because I’d been involved with the last performance at FutureEverything but before that I really couldn’t see how productive it would be until I started doing it. I am really used to just sitting in a practice room for hours on end and trying out any ideas and I like working that way because it’s immediate, so trying to collaborate online with a group classical musicians sounded very daunting. But I got a lot out of working a different way and I was genuinely surprised with how strongly it all came together and how well everyone gelled musically.


NT: Would you do the same again in the future?

DJ: I would definitely say yes to anything Najia and Tullis asked of me. They are sexy, bass hungry animals. Every tune I receive of them is a sonic beast with a wide mouth ready to be stuffed full of beats. I really love working on this music and it’s been an opportunity to work with musicians that I would never cross paths with otherwise. I would love to do it again. Please.


NT: Was it difficult to fuse more ideas together through the impersonal realm of the internet or was there some leadership from Najia & Tullis? Is the overall process still democratic, even now that there are more voters?

DJ: There is a certain level of leadership from Najia and Tullis and I’m impressed with how efficient they have made the process. They might take the lead by introducing a new song and beginning a conversation thread but they have never ruled out anyone else’s ideas. The fact that you read someone’s ideas means you really give them some thought before you respond to them. In a practice room setting it’s very easy to dismiss someone’s idea because you have a different one or because you’re in a bad mood.

Also, because everyone is from fairly different musical backgrounds, there seems to be a genuine interest in hearing suggestions from a totally different perspective. I would say that it’s sometimes hard to imagine how all the ideas are going to work and that you don’t really know until you all try them out in a room together. We’ll have three rehearsals to do that. Easy.

TR: I think it’s democratic, although we do have to show leadership in some aspect, to get the ball rolling, chivvy people into responding...


NT: Have you encountered anyone else who works solely through long-distance means in composing songs?

TR: I think people are doing it all the time, for example remixes are basically only done this way, as most of those DJs and Producers are in different continents or constantly hopping around the country and globe. However, I think nearly all of those processes happen out of necessity. The way we work is to use the process as a creative tool – it’s the element of surprise and the liberation of ideas - working collaboratively in a duo or group but with ideas sprouting solo in the first instance.

Najia Bagi: Since telling more people about how we work I have found that often people say that they email each other with musical ideas. I suppose it’s different with this project because the entire process is via the web. I think people gravitate towards working with each other in person if they can.


NT: You’re supported on the tour by different artists from hip hop to trip hop to electronica; how did you select these supports & how do they complement your own style?

NB: Well, we did some research into what was happening in the cities we are going to be performing in (as in we asked people we trusted what they thought was good). Dave found the Manchester support (Dayse & Aver) actually! He had seen them somewhere else and was really impressed. Tullis knew of Hive Collective in Liverpool and Neko Neko (Leeds support) is a friend of The Electronic Exchange, having supported us before and done remixes of our tracks. They’re all brilliant and we feel lucky to be working with all of them.

Patterns in the Ivy were new to us, but Hive recommended them highly and with the obvious link of electronics and vocals, we thought it would be fun to explore a different angle of what could be achieved with the same or similar instruments. I think it makes sense that all the supports are different to one another, as there are so many different influences on our music (as with all bands I suppose). In my mind, I imagine that each support will create a slightly different atmosphere for each show and that’s exciting!


NT: How would you define The Electronic Exchange’s sound compared with those of the supports for the tour? Do you feel that The Electronic Exchange has a different feel now with more input and how is the final sound similar / different?

TR: I think ours is a bit more of a mongrel – we're not solely hip hop or electronica-beats or soundscapes. I think the band is certainly going to have a different feel after this tour; who knows what we'll do next, but I think it might be a turning point.

Words & edits: Ian Pennington
TEE EP cover: Courtesy of The Electronic Exchange
Najia Bagi EP cover: Adam Dolan
Najia Bagi live photography: Ged Camera
Dayse & Aver live photography #1: Gary Brown GB Multimedia
Dayse & Aver live photography #2: Ged Camera

The Electronic Exchange's Stay Straight tour stops at Kraak Gallery on Friday 10th February, where they'll be supported by hip hop duo Dayse & Aver. The gig is sandwiched between shows in Leeds and Liverpool.

Now Then Imploding Inevitable: Event Photography (Thursday 10th November 2011 @ Dulcimer, Chorlton)

The first of two November Now Then Manchester shows launched Najia Bagi's new album, Six Months. The ever-reliable folk-tinged taste-makers Imploding Inevitable (who have announce the dates for their third summer festival at Fell Foot as Friday 29th and Saturday 30th June) stepped up to co-promote, with Avital Raz performing her last show in the UK before a stint travelling to Israel and USA and ex-Witness guitarist Gerard Starkie performing with his rhythm section.

First on, Gerard Starkie:






Followed by Avital Raz:






And finally, Najia Bagi, airing her solo compositions fr the first time, ably aided by a string trio:






All photos: Ged Camera
Words: Ian Pennington

Interview: Najia Bagi

One half of The Electronic Exchange; one quarter of To Sophia; one half of The Ground, Najia Bagi has been fractions of other musical projects. With the release of her solo debut recording, Six Months, she is now a whole.

Sparsely arranged pieces combining shimmering, uncomplicated piano and vocals discard the accompaniment and layering effects familiar within her other projects – most notably a sample-heavy fusion as The Electronic Exchange on the Concrete Moniker label. If that collaboration with beats merchant Tullis Rennie finds Najia pushing the boundaries of her own comfort zone, then her solo work is the antithesis of that; songs built from the epicentre of her musical learnings. There’s an added confidence born from broad musical experience, but it is a return to independence that accentuates Najia’s vocal style – fragile yet captivating – while keeping instrumental congestion to a minimum.


Najia spoke to Now Then Manchester’s Ian Pennington about her various musical projects along the road to becoming a solo artist.


Now Then: Having been a part of very different sounding musical projects, how far does your solo album define your preferred style?

Najia Bagi: I feel like all the music I’ve ever been involved in has led up to this album, which is a nice feeling to have. I only really started to write music that I was proud of with To Sophia, so I think that was the beginning of the process that led to this album. And then I found myself wanting to write music that was more and more simple and gentle until I got to this point. It can’t get much more simple and gentle than this!

Also, the music that I listen to has changed over the years, which has always been reflected in what I’ve written at any given point. But I remember hearing the stuff that has inspired me to write this album (Nils Frahm, Anthony and the Johnsons, Soap&Skin) and at the time I thought, “This is it, this is the music that I want to respond to.” I think that it is a combination of being in a certain frame of mind and being a bit tired of music that is too busy. I think it’s a bit like reading a brilliant book – what you feel and learn is held between the notes, if you know what I mean?


NT: Do you prefer the stage to yourself or with other musicians to fill out the sound?

NB: I prefer being on stage with other people. I get incredibly nervous and I’m not that comfortable with being the centre of attention on stage, so it’s hard to be up there on my own. But there is something really incredible about sharing completely personal experiences and feelings with the audience that you don’t get with a band on stage and I love that part. It’s a bit like having a really lovely heart to heart with a friend.


NT: What has been your most memorable live show, either solo or with another project?

NB: This is a hard one. I think there have been a few memorable shows over the past few years. The Electronic Exchange was commissioned by FutureEverything Festival this year to develop some of our music with a string quartet, live drums and live backing vocals, which was just incredible. It was so humbling to be on stage with those brilliant musicians – when the string quartet really let rip it was almost impossible to sing! And the first time I played these songs was memorable. I had never played piano to an audience before and I was completely terrified, but the crowd were brilliant. They were completely silent.

To Sophia had a few brilliant shows too; we were all best friends so when we felt like we were connecting with the audience we all felt completely elated and proud of each other. At least that’s how I felt! And once we played for a cocktail bar full of people at around 2am, which was pretty memorable because we were paid in tequila! I have patchy memories of that performance, which include me standing on a barrel and shouting at the poor people in the bar: “Okay everyone, we’re going to play now, so can you all be quiet!” Awesome.


NT: You’ve recently supported Julianna Barwick, who arranges her music live by looping vocal parts, and (correct this if it’s wrong!) you often loop your own voice with The Electronic Exchange. Did you consider using that style on your solo record?

NB: Well, Tullis (Rennie, the other half of The Electronic Exchange) loops my vocals actually. He records me singing and plays around with it live – he’s brilliant. But I have recently started to write music with Dave Johnson (drummer from To Sophia), which is just drums and vocals and we use a loop station. It’s hard! I find it difficult to use technical equipment but I’m learning. I did think about using effects for a while with this material but I decided not to, I think there’s a time and place for effects and stuff like that but for me one of the things I like about this piano music is that it’s clean. It’s just a set of stories, just piano and vocals. And at the moment I don’t want it to be any more.


NT: Has the experience of diversifying into different forms of electronic production (ie with The Electronic Exchange) affected your solo work?

NB: Yes absolutely. Because The Electronic Exchange writes via email, I found myself writing and singing alone for the first time in a very long time, during the process, and I loved it. I found that I had time and space to write exactly what I wanted to, without the pressure of there being other band members present. I think that this gave me the confidence to write solo material. But in terms of the music being electronic, I suppose it made me want to write something non-electronic, something acoustic and simple.


NT: What’s been happening with The Electronic Exchange and what's lined up for the future?

NB: We’ve had some really exciting things happening! This month we released a second EP on Concrete Moniker, which is two new songs and two remixes (the remixes sound amazing)! And then we played at Band on the Wall supporting one of Tullis’ heroes, Bugge Wesseltoft, which was great. Then we were off to Barcelona to play at the Apollo there, which was incredibly exciting. We’re also planning a tour next year with the same musicians that we worked with for FutureEverything and we’re in talks with the festival, which could result in something amazing happening at FutureEverything 2012. It’s all going really well!


NT: For how long will To Sophia be on hiatus? Are there any future plans for the band?

NB: Well, To Sophia is taking a break for now and I’m not sure how long that will be for. But although it’s sad not to be playing with each other, it has given each of us the opportunity to write new and exciting music. Paul (Balcombe, one half of The Ground) is writing solo material that is haunting and beautiful; Dave, Paul and Adam (drums, guitar and bass from To Sophia) have formed an amazing band called Outer Dark which I think sounds like a mixture of Radiohead and Tool, which is great for all of them and of course I’m doing this stuff which I absolutely love. We were having a laugh recently saying that maybe we’ll reform one day like Pink Floyd and that the strap line could be: “No one came to see our gigs then, and no one will now!”


NT: Finally, which records are you playing the grooves off at the moment and which of your peers would you recommend?

NB: Peers – that’s easy. Rioghnach Connolly (Honeyfeet) has the best voice in Manchester and possibly the UK. She sings all over Manchester all of the time in different bands and everyone should go to see her. She sounds like heaven. She’s amazing. And Outer Dark, of course! I also love Jesca Hoop, who plays in Manchester a lot, but she’s not a peer, she’s way beyond me in terms of success. Records, well, I listen to Rory Gallagher, The Temptations, Little Dragon, Nils Frahm and Yann Tiersen. There’s a song called ‘Til The End’ on his album Dust Lane that just keeps getting better and better until you think you can’t take any more – and then it keeps going! It’s amazing.


Images #1 & #5: Jacob Russell
Images #3, #4 & #6: Courtesy of Najia Bagi
Images #2 & #6 album artwork: Adam Dolan
Image #7 poster design: Louie Mitchell & Matthew Mathieson


Najia launches her debut solo record, Six Months, at Dulcimer bar in Chorlton on Thursday 10th November. She will be joined onstage by a string quartet, while Avital Raz and Gerard Starkie will also perform at the show, which is a Now Then Manchester co-promotion with Imploding Inevitable. Entry policy is pay-what-you-like, £4 suggested; anyone paying £4 (or more!) will also receive a download code for Najia's album.