In the Designer Magazine Readers Poll last year Echoboy were nominated for the Best Live Act. After a couple of months out of the limelight he's back again with a remix of the new Starsailor single "Good Souls" and a single in his own right with "Turning On". You can catch in on the road later this month alongside Lupine Howl and later in the year we can expect a new album from one of the pioneers of the Left-field.
Q: So what have you done with Starsailors "Good Souls"?
A: I've made it psychedelic rock out of the acoustic sweetness. I've just ruffled it round the edges, made it that little bit tougher. I've just took the acoustic guitars off. Kept their drums, vocals and structure cos it works well as a pop song so I didn't want to mess with that. I've just put a new guitar part on gone for sort of Beatlesy "Revolver" backward guitar solo's and done a part which goes into a Chemical Brothers style drum break.
I think it will only get played by Lamacq, Jo Whiley and those types. Its not the type of remix meant for daytime radio.
Q: Are you getting into the remix side of things more?
A: That is the first one I've had in ages. I like doing them cos it gets you away from just doing your own thing. I quite like the idea of being a producer anyway and I look at it more from the idea that I'm re-producing somebody than remixing, yer know what I mean!!!
Most remixer's are dance remixes and I come at it from a completely different way. I like to remix more dance people and turn their dance songs into proper song. I did that with Luke Slater, he gave me a techno track and I did a Gary Glitter glam stomp on it.
Q: Who would be your ideal person to remix?
A: I'd like to remix a Richie Hawtin track. Band wise it would be good to remix somebody big like REM or Depeche Mode. It would be good to give the REM fans something they wouldn't normally expect.
It would be good to do somebody silly like All Saints - just do some mad fucked up version of an All Saints song.
Q: Back to Echoboy . What line up have you got for the Lupine Howl tour?
A: Its a 3 piece power-pop trio now. No tapes or electronics. Just guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Basically the drummers got it through Fuzz Boxes and Delays and stuff. I got bored with my guitar effects and gave him my effects rack.
Were not rehearsing for it either. Were going out blind. There's 5 songs I want to incorporate in there which are the vocal ones. Were giving ourselves half and hour and were just doing one long song. It is literally an idea and that's how its going to stay - were not rehearsing at all.
Were all into jamming so its going to be a cross between Noi!, Subway Sect and The Jim Hendrix Experience. Get it back down to rocking grooves.
Q: So what's happening after the tour?
A: Just writing and recording. There is a big producer come forward who's really interested. Volume 1 & 2 are great for what they are which is me learning how to use a lot of that electronic equipment. They're being released as a limited edition Box Set in the next couple of weeks.