Interviews

Since the late ‘90s, Infinity Plus One has been quietly toiling away, letting his music do the talking for the past two and a half decades. He is next up on London label Cyphon Recordings with a rare four-track EP of Detroit-infused, future-facing house and techno laced with the compelling lyricism of JaronX. On the week of the release, we get a chance to put some questions to the veteran producer.

Thanks for talking to us. Where are you this moment and how are you spending the day?

My Pleasure! I'm in my studio at the moment chilling.

Where were you born exactly?

I was born in London and proud to say I've always lived here - Finchley to be precise. Always been in North London and love it for better or for worse.

What do you love most about where you are living?

My area has got people, shops and restaurants from every corner of the world you can think ok – Iranian, Turkish, Greek, Vietnamese to name just a few. Things never get boring round here. The food choices are also amazing. I've also got great connections to all the other corners of London.

What kind of artists, DJs, genres were you into growing up?

Electro and Hip-Hop were my first loves but also had a big soft spot for Motown and (classic) RnB. That was closely followed by acid-house which I mainly discovered via pirate radio and then began avidly taping every station I could lock into (albeit I only had a handful tapes back then so had to be quite picky about what I recorded!). Then we started going out raving and early 90s rave sounds, in all its wonderful forms, was my soundtrack.

Is there an album that sticks in your mind from when you were a kid?

Chaka Khan's album – I Feel for You (actually my sisters originally!). Amazing futuristic soul funk produced by Arif Marden. Everyone knows the title track, but the other songs are amazing if not better. The programming of the samplers and drum machines is way ahead of its time. Check it out if you get the chance.

What came first, Djing or production?

Production. Which was really an extension of me playing around with keyboards, 4 track tape machines and drum machines.

Where are some of the first places you played out?

I've played a few parties and small gigs over the years but usually too busy dancing to want to DJ. I’ve got a lot of admiration for DJs – everyone else is there to have a rave-up but they have to stay focused and make sure everyone else has a good time.

What kind of stuff were you playing in your early days?

When I did get behind the decks it was usually early techno and house music. The music of 1990 is especially important to me as that’s when me and my mates started raving hard. That was the year the UK came through with its own sound – the bleep.

When did you first step into the studio?

Really depends how you define -studio”. Me and my good friend JDub (from the DnB crew the Architex) had a small collection of bits and pieces in the early 90’s but we did get the opportunity quite early on to do a session in a dedicated studio space which was jaw dropping to me back then as I had never seen so much gear (and I seem to remember we almost set fire to it at one point – lol).

What was the first production that you made?

Probably something with JDub – we made tons of hardcore tracks at his and then I just evolved into doing my own things. My first release was in '97 which was a collaboration with the Architex which I will always be grateful for.

What were you using to make music on in those early days?

Yamaha SY-85 (including its sequencer to make entire tracks – so painful), a Juno 60 and D50 (borrowed from my secondary School, I kid you not).

What do you think was your most notable release?

Probably my first techno release on Drenched around 2003 – “Rhythmatic Unison”. That was the first time I got deep into chopping up vocals and so I suppose found my own sound.

How much has your creative and production process changed since your first productions?

Massively. I mean it took me ages to get to a point where I really knew what I was doing. Loads of trial and error and learning from others. There were no Youtube tutorials back then! I would say I do things in smaller chunks of time nowadays and am not in such a rush to share. Some of my tracks take me over a year to finish just because I like coming back to them with fresh ears or knowing they need more work. That’s also a great thing about technology today, being able to work on multiple projects concurrently.

What do you make music on these days?

I’ve built up a little collection of outboard now – my Hydrasynth and Minibrute are probably my most used synths though. I force myself to use my outboard gear in conjunction with Plugins and I think the balance works well.

If you could choose a few words to describe the vibe of Infinity Plus One currently, what would they be?

Spoken words fused with electronic beats.

Who do you think is making great music right now?

Loads out there, I find it quite hard keeping on top of who’s who now due to volumes. Tal Fussman is doing some great stuff as is Stefan Ringer, Eddie Merced, Bruise.

What is the most recent record you purchased or downloaded?

Bread & Souls Chapter 3 on Mark De Clive Lowe’s label.

You have done a lot of collaborating with rap and spoken word artists. What is it you love about this type of collab?

Well I love the power of Rap music when done right and I think it shares a lot of common roots with techno (via early Electro). Techno has a lot of emotion and energy as does Hip Hop.

Your new EP you collab with JaronX. Tell us a little about this artist?

He’s a very talented MC from the east coast that a friend of mine put me in touch with. When I told him the theme I had in mind to Context is Broken he instantly related to it.

Tell us a bit about the lyrics and the message.

I’d been thinking a lot about how important context is when looking at what’s going on in the world. We are surrounded by messages and information continually from news media and due to our busy lifestyles, they are often now reduced to sound-bytes or headlines designed to grab attention. Quite often it’s the details that make up the full picture but we often miss that. I have a huge respect for many journalists, many of them put their lives in danger to report us the news but we also need to remember that one big story does not reflect an entire country or population. Also, the stories that the editors put on the headlines are nuts when you think about what else is happening out there. We’ve made a short video to accompany the track on the same theme which is on my IG @infinity.plus_one

Talk to us about the new EP. Has it come out as your intended?

Yeah very happy with this EP, I feel like these are some of my strongest works to date. So glad for this to be coming out on Cyphon who are releasing amazing material at the moment.

What are you most proud of with this release?

I feel the balance between vocals and music & beats is about right – although there’s always room for improvement!

What was the most challenging part of bringing the release together?

I almost lost Context is Broken at one point due to a corrupted Cubase session but lucky enough was able to rebuild it from an older backup file.

What drives you to create music?

Making people dance and think about things in a new light.

What has been one of your favorite moments from the past year?

I went to Paris earlier this year, I love that city. It’s so close to London but yet feels so very different. I love the way all the bars and restaurants are independent and got their own unique vibe.

Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music?

Mostly radio shows – I regularly listen to Richard Sen, Colin Dale and Julian Garnett who are amazing DJs and play a whole spectrum of different styles. I usually get a whole bunch of Bandcamp purchases after listening to their shows!

What can we hope to see next from Infinity Plus One?

I have an EP coming out with Fresh Tunez from Berlin later this year which I am super excited about. It’s 4 tracks that took me a few years to get to the stage that I was truly happy with. The lead track “Survival” is about mental strength and resilience, something that isn’t very often talked about.

Check out the latest release from Infinity Plus One.