One Off Remixes and B-Sides

Simon got into music as a child through the telly. He would sit with his tape recorder at the ready to capture the theme tune to "Tales Of The Unexpected" but turn off before old Roald uglied up proceedings. Sneaking into the room containing his sister’s forbidden piano he would plink and plonk trying to work out his favourite ads and then embellish them in his own way. As a teenager, "I picked up the guitar and went at it the same way - epic sessions of twatting about in my room with effects pedals and drum machines." Many a musical career has got no further, so we can only suppose that talent intervened, as Simon is now a proficient player of many different instruments, all of them self-taught.

At 18, Simon felt stifled by the "small minded town" he had grown up in and moved to Brighton, mainly because he had mates there and liked the atmosphere and because "no one is from Brighton. Everyone has washed up here."

It was here that he started to move away from the bands of his teen years and start working with computers. "Computers just create a means of production," he says. "I use samplers to take the best part of a recording I've made and stretch it out for five minutes. I use a lot of sounds I create myself and put them through the machines. You can still be musical when there is heavy programming in a track. It’s all about having a good ear for a tune and knowing how to get it across."

And while he whiled away three years at art college, Green started putting together the pieces of music that would eventually become his debut album. Playing them to local start-up label Tru Thoughts’ main-man Rob Luis (something of a legend in Brighton clubland), Bonobo found a kindred spirit and an outlet for what he was doing.

Over the next year and a half, Bonobo released a string of tunes with the label that would make his reputation. Starting with his contribution to the "When Shapes Join Together" compilation, Green then released "Terrapin," which caught the ear of Mr Scruff and hence first brought the young producer to the attention of Ninja Tune. But it was with his debut album, "Animal Magic" that Green firmly established himself amongst the leaders of "the new school of down-tempo pioneers" (Later). On a small and enthusiastic label, the record built a fanbase through word of mouth and personal recommendation. Unsurprisingly, majors and some of the biggest indies came sniffing round and Green and his friends at Tru Thought were aware that it was time to raise the game. They opted, though, for a label with a similar outlook and attitude (and also the home of Green’s friend and – at the time – fellow Brighton resident Amon Tobin) - Ninja Tune.

Since then, things have been busy. Tru Thoughts released a compilation of b-sides and remixes after Simon found a bootleg of exactly that in a record shop in Brighton. Green has toured all over the world, including three rapturously received slogs round North America. Oh, and he’s been making his new record, "Dial M For Monkey": "I think it flows well as a whole piece. The first album was a collection of tracks that I had built up over a few years where as this time I've made an album from start to finish." Which, in his understated way, hints at how the new Bonobo record moves and develops not just as a selection of singles but as one large piece of music, a suite if you want to get pretentious about it, or a journey through an imaginary landscape.

• Music > Bargain CDs
• Music > Dance & Electronic > Ambient
• Music > Dance & Electronic > Chill Out
• Music > Rock

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