Interview: Plyci

Our next headliner at Antwerp Mansion will be Welsh electronic music whizz Plyci, with live music support coming from Borland and Swansong and intervals filled by DJ sets courtesy of From the Kites of San Quentin’s Blood Boy and ERRrr.

Plyci, along with his label Peski Records, has been championed by BBC Introducing DJ Huw Stephens and refuses to be pigeonholed into one area of electronic music having shifted through, in his own words, “synth pop, glitch, ambient, electro, techno and IDM”.

Now Then fires some questions in his direction about that, his forthcoming EP and Welsh music generally.


Now Then: How did the involvement with Peski Records begin? You have an EP planned for release via the label – when can we expect this?

Plyci: Well me and Peski go back about 5 years now, I was asked to join Rhys Edwards in his Jakokoyak project which he released through the label; I handled all the live electronics at his gigs. We always spoke about releasing a Plyci EP on the label and now it's finally happening. We've finished the artwork and everything's ready to go so it should appear very soon.

NT: You’ve remixed tunes by your Peski labelmates; how do you choose which direction to go with your remixes? Are there any more in the pipeline?

Plyci: With remixes they tend to just happen, I never have a definite plan as to which direction to take. I begin with just the raw audio and see where it takes me. I can't really think of any remix I've done where I knew exactly what outcome I wanted, they’re very spontaneous.

NT: Aside from being part-based in Manchester, Peski has strong Welsh connections – where you’re also originally from. Do you think it’s important to keep the Welsh language alive in non-Welsh speakers’ minds through the medium of music? Which other Welsh-speaking artists would you recommend, in electronic music or otherwise?

Plyci: There's a great sense of identity among Welsh people, it's very obvious among Welsh musicians especially. My music is instrumental therefore has no language so in order to give it an identity I used Welsh words for song titles sometimes and reference various Welsh establishments along the way. In terms of Welsh artists there are some great acts such as Crash.Disco, Ifan Dafydd, Y Niwl, VVolves among others. There really is a lot of ace music in Wales; the scene in Cardiff is full of great bands!

NT: How did you choose the Plyci alias?

Plyci: I made the word up, it doesn't exist is Welsh but does in English as 'plucky'. I've never really liked it but it stuck so I kept it.

NT: What urges you to sit down and write music? And what is it that draws you to electronic music? Do you think you’ll settle on any one style?

Plyci: I really love the process of creating something from nothing. I could quite happily make music all day if I could. I’m initially drawn to electronic music because you have endless possibilities in terms of sounds. There is no limit. Over the years my style has changed, I started with broken beats and moved through synth pop, glitch, ambient, electro, techno and IDM and probably won't settle on any one. I create sounds that suit my mood at the time, what I'm listening to and other things I'm into. I see influence in a lot of different places.

NT: What do you have planned for Plyci’s future?

Plyci: I want to take Italo disco to North Korea! If I can't I'll just keep on producing and promoting my work, keep busy and hopefully create some sounds that people enjoy listening to. After releasing the EP I hope to start an album, we'll see.


Interview: Ian Pennington
Images: Courtesy of Plyci & Peski Records
Flyer design: Hattie Lockwood

Plyci headlines Antwerp Mansion on Thursday 26th April. Support comes from Borland (whose recent Islington Mill performance is described here) and Swansong (whose performance at Gulliver’s last year is reviewed here). Blood Boy and ERRrr take to the decks between performances. Pay what you like; £3 suggested.

Review: Stickman EP

Stickman’s three-track EP on 12” vinyl follows earlier Mindset Records output by the likes of xxxy, Synkro, Hatti Vatti and AnD, many of which were debut physical recordings by a Manchester record label willing to take chances with electronic music producers they believe in.

This latest record falls somewhere in the midst of techno, future garage and post-dubstep music makers from Scuba to Burial and is akin to both his label mates and some of the line-ups of the Sankeys’ monthly new music showcase Continue.

The music itself often seems manic, belying its subtle minimalism that remains darkly ambient despite the persistent pulses. It varies across each of its three parts though. ‘The Verge’ welcomes tinny shuffles before expanding into an uptempo march of squashed and fizzing synths.

‘If You Stay’ holds the urgency of deep house with its metronomic beats and edgy dystopian fills, while ‘Known’ relents into a less forceful atmospheric funkiness, which although lacking the earlier energy still drifts into a crowded musical space filled with echoing clacks and claps, stunted bassline thuds and wailing vocal clips.

Words: Ian Pennington
Images: Courtesy of Mindset Records

Nicolas Jaar & Scuba Vs SCB @ Sound Control, Saturday 28th January 2012

“Gotta love student crowds... The educated face of the nation,” tweets Scuba sarcastically during a performance in his SCB guise down in the Sound Control basement.

A brash, acerbic, unnecessary and incendiary statement, yes, but it’s hard not to agree with him on some level, university attendees or otherwise, even if not for the same reasons.

In following up with another tweet (“So bored with the music upstairs at Sound Control I’ve been forced to switch on data roaming”), he unwittingly puts himself in the same musically unappreciative boat as the audience in his crosshairs.

The issue is this: it’s as if the venue has been turned on its head as punters pile upstairs en masse for Nicolas Jaar, seemingly expectant of an uptempo rave to the tune of techno. Many are unsuspecting of the subtlety in Jaar’s set; his soundwaves flowing through the room with a sobriety not shared by those busy flexing their vocal chords.

Jaar and his Clown & Sunset cohorts replicate more Mulatu Astatke’s jazz than the 90s techno and house peddled by SCB. Acid Pauli trots in with Balearic clips and clops at a mellow canter before Soul Keita adds an engaging fusion of highs and lows with bursts of jazz samples amidst echoing clacks akin to Baths, both facing sparse to average crowd sizes.

But by the time Jaar steps up for a live laptop set (a disappointment to those expecting the advertised ‘live’ show to mean his instrumental arrangements), the full effect of overselling tickets can be felt by those prohibited from accessing the packed main room.

Where SCB is right is with those who do manage to squeeze upstairs; many not only chatter over his ambient glistens and downtempo minimalism, but also complain that they’re not enjoying it and didn’t even enjoy his latest record, Space Is Only Noise. Jaar continues regardless, filtering in elements of his Darkside project with slow-burners such as ‘Don’t Break My Love’ alongside vocal samples by Scout LaRue and live, effects-heavy mixes of his own words – exhaling into the microphone to coin a Leonard Cohen lyric, “I can feel you when you breathe.”

When he does raise the tempo, such as with ‘Space Is Only Noise If You Can See’ dropped in towards the end of an hour-long set, it is incongruous to the soundscape as a whole. Using his own choice of rolling visuals for imagery, it is like barging through the bucolic as a bulldozer would through an open field. Many snap into movement with the onset of pulsating basslines, but in truth he has more in common with the progressive guitar chugs of Malian blues ensemble Tinariwen, whom he often references through his music both directly and by influence.

After the scrum upstairs, SCB’s room is busier for the early hours. Judging on its merits, the Hotflush label founder produces a diverse set ranging from 90s techno such as Moby’s ‘Go’ to acid and cosmic house both old and new, as with Boddika & Joy O’s newbie ‘Swims’.

But SCB himself should be content with second billing, particularly given Jaar’s hype explosion with the end-of-year lists, without which this show might’ve made for a good split between a chilled out attic and techno in the basement. Contrary to Scuba’s dismissive tone, the split isn’t between boring and exciting; that would be to neglect the challenging intricacies of Jaar’s work. And in any case Scuba in SCB form settles for mimicry by spinning others’ songs via CDJs, while Jaar performs his own compositions. Which is the more boring of those two options?

Words: Ian Pennington
Images: Camille Uliana