Squarepusher

An interview with Squarepusher about Shobaleader One, his latest project:

1. What is Shobaleader One?

Shobaleader One is my band. Last summer a bunch of kids got in contact
with me. They were talking about forming an ensemble, which I thought
was a ridiculous idea but I was impressed by their perseverance so we
met up. Their idea was that they wanted the 'fantasy group' I had
written about in connection with 'Just A Souvenir' to become a real
entity that would record and tour. So we had a go at doing some
recording and the story so far is documented on this record.

2. Who is in the band?

Basically a bunch of people who you may or may not have heard of from
other bands and projects. Part of their idea is that this music is a
completely clean break with whatever they've done in the past so I'm not
allowed to mention any names. I can tell you that they are pretty
frightening players.

3. What are the aims of Shobaleader One?

The overall aim is to articulate my music through the medium of a band.
I always thought that a band would be a limiting thing. I've got very
used to being able to make music by programming or playing without
having to explain anything to anyone, and I assumed it would slow
everything down if I had to. Actually it has made it quicker because I'm
not trying to be four people simultaneously anymore. I'm not
over-explaining anything to them as they've got strong ideas of their
own and I want to hear that in the final results.

4. Do you have live plans?

At the moment the plan is to tour next year after we have recorded more
material. Playing live is part of the focus of this music. I'm really
excited about playing live as this group of musicians is an extremely
potent mixture. I've no idea what it's going to be like touring with
them as not one of us is what you'd call easy going. Every member of
this band is a high-tension freak so who knows what'll end up happening!

5. How did the Mr Oizo remix come about?

That was Pedro's idea from Ed Banger. I've always had respect for that
bunch. I thought it would be great because Oizo is on quite a different
tip to Shobaleader One.

6. What's next?

I'm writing more material for the band to record. It's an ongoing
experiment. Each one of us is trying to develop the sound of their
instrument. It's really exciting to be involved with instrumental
players who are as into sonic experimentation as much as the actual
music. There are plans to meet up with Andre 3000 from Outkast in the
autumn as well.

7. How would you describe the sound of Shobaleader One and are there any
specific sounds, artists or albums that have influenced this new
direction?

We are playing my compositions, so in that respect it relates quite
clearly to what I've done before, but as I'm not doing much playing or
programming it is sonically quite different. It sounds more focused.
Lots of musos end up just making their music a platform to display their
skill. The great thing about this lot is that although they are amongst
the best players I've ever seen, they keep 99% of that hidden and just
use it to give a very acute delivery of the songs.

Musically speaking these kids come from a metal background but they're
all bang into really slick R&B which I found quite funny at first but
it's making more sense as we go on. The basic premise at the outset was
'space pop' -a utopian pop music hallucination. It's a stand against the
affectation of knowing indifference in urban life and its corollary in
music. I've always wanted to sabotage coolness as for me music is about
laughing and crying, not about standing around smoking cigarettes.