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Roots Manuva It's been more than three years since the seminal, the subliminal, the sensational Run Come Save Me, the album which deservedly garnered so much support and respect for a certain Rodney Smith, aka Roots Manuva. And over those three years, much has changed in underground hip-hop. Something which Rodney himself acknowledges.
This has made the process of recording the new album, Awfully Deep, a more difficult one. So how does it fare next to the gold selling, and Mercury and Brit nominated Run Come Save Me? For that you'll need to read our review, but you can also see what Mr. Manuva himself thinks of it right here. We caught up with him at Ninja HQ, just before Christmas 2004. Just finishing off some fish and chips, and in an upbeat mood, despite the pressures of promoting his new record. We fire up the dictaphone...
PIXELSURGEON: Hi there, thanks for taking time out to talk to us. How does it feel to be Roots Manuva right now, with your new album on the way early next year?
Very stressed out, very tense. There’s a lot of things going on, we’ve got pre-production going on for the tours, the promotions, the radio, we’ve just come back from a little stint in Europe doing press, it’s all pretty manic, man. In fact I just got back from Radio 1 a minute a go.
People tend to be slowing down at this time of year, but you’re gearing up. Does it feel like a strange time to be promoting the new album, just a couple of weeks before the holidays?
Well I’m kinda used to it. It’s just weird man. Three, four records down the line. The more successful things get, is that the less actual spondooleys I seem to have in my pocket! (Laughing) It’s a pain in the arse!
Run Come Save Me had a huge impact back in 2001, which seemed to grow and grow over time. Do you think Awfully Deep can cause the same stir? Or is that down to circumstances outside the music, and outside your control?
I think it’s all to do with the, the mystic ambience, created by that magic that you put into the music that is supposed to spill over. That Ready brek glow that artists are supposed to go away and put, along with their passion, onto the tape, beyond the confines of you know, the TV ad, the video, and then it spreads by word of mouth. But even though the last album got considerable accolades for going gold, then the Mercury award nomination, great design, and this, that and the other, it’s still quite an underground independent vibe. And I think that because of that, it’ll still be far reaching.
You’ve mentioned this album being more painful to make. Why do you think that is?
Just because I’ve done and said what I wanted to say. I’ve seen a whole host of different action amongst British beat makers. A whole shift from that kind of nannying, that aping of strict American styles, into a more celebratory, organic kind of timbre. There are no rules any more. Everyone’s meshing, from break-beat, drum and bass, hip-hop, and not being contained by the old blueprint. They’re using it as a stepping-stone, coming out with different sounds. So I’m like, ‘what do I do now?’ There’s nothing to moan about. Back on the first couple of albums I was moaning about the lack of invention, but now there’s loads of invention!”
Out of all your collaborations, which one has been your favourite experience?
Most artist-friendly has been working with Leftfield, because they’re not in such a rush. They take loads of time. They turn the studio into their second home, so you know, there’s loads of fruit, loads of food, lots for dinner. There’s a nice supply of sweeties and drugs and alcohol, and it’s much more of an event. The other ones are usually kind of guerrilla. You turn up at some little production studio somewhere, and the mic’s not set up that good, and you don’t have time to soak into the vibe. You throw it down and get out. With Leftfield it’s more like you’re working with one of them superbands that go and hide away in a castle.
Your lyrics often sound like a playful stream of consciousness, moving from one theme to another in a few moments. Is this how you write them, or do you just work hard to make them sound like that?
I think that’s just how I think man, about ten million ideas a second! I like lyrics to be kind of inane, and mysterious; to have different meanings depending on how you listen to them.
What equipment do you use to put it all together?
Everything and anything I can get my hands on. I’ve got one of them cheap Casio keyboards, and a Roland 208, or a 202…something like that… an Akai S3000 XL. Logic 5.5 on a laptop with loads of plug-ins and loads of virtual synthesizers…
So do you record your basic ideas at home?
Yeah, I try to do the main, the basic sketches at home, but then I end up in the studio. I mixed a lot of this album in Moloko’s studio, on Old Kent Road, where Enya did Orinoco Flow (!). There’s a grand piano, a Hammond organ. So sometimes I come with ten million sketches but because there’s all those instruments I start messing around.
Your first job as a musician was when you worked as an engineer on a community music project. So what knowledge of recording music did you have before you started that?
None. None at all. It was through going to the community studio to try and get studio time to record my hip-hop. And because it’s a community studio they try and make sure you stay at school, and they taught us the basic engineering.
So that must have felt like you were jumping in at the deep end?
Yeah- I was thrown in! But it was a good grounding, and to be around all those different sounds. To be around that audio vibe, and really paying special attention to the vocals. It gave me a priceless schooling. I find today, going round studios, it’s an overlooked art form, of setting the mic up right. Setting the headphones up right. It’s often the last thing the studios think about. But working in the community studio, it was all vocal tracks, so it was all about creating the perfect audio setting to get the best vocal takes.
The title Awfully Deep partly refers to your love of bass, and deep sound in general, as well as the other implication of course, but from the word go, the album seems a lot deeper and richer in sound overall.
I still wanted to keep that gritty, raw, staggered pulse going on, but just layer it a bit more. Personally, I really like a dry, organic sound. I don’t like to treat things, or play with it too much, or add too much effects or reverb.
On Chin High, you talk about “the choice is there’s no choice but to pursue it.” There are lots of themes going on in that track, and people will need to listen to the whole thing themselves, but what was the inspiration and motivation for you on that track in particular?
I didn’t really think about it that hard, but it was after recording a lot of tracks that didn’t really say anything. It’s a sub-universe of having a struggle, and overcoming the struggle, kind of a warrior’s chant of some kind. It sounded pretty cold and industrial, and I just thought it needed that rant. It’s about achieving against the odds, but not specific to any situation.
How do you know when a track is completed?
Ah, It’s never finished. All these recording are just reference points. So when you do it live, you find a way to twist it. Especially working with bands, and doing a bit of live sequencing.
So what are your favourite remixes of your own tracks?
Hmmm. The MJ Cole remix of Dreamy Days is totally bizarre; it’s miles away from what I was doing. And the El-P remix of Juggle Tings Proper- it’s pretty damn mad!
What are your own favourite tracks on the new album?
At different times I have different moments. On a hangover day, I like to listen to The Falling, that’s good hangover music. On a more upbeat day, it would be more like Rebel heart, and Mind to Motion.
If you could be any other musician, living or dead, who would you be and why?
Hmm- living or dead? Kurt Cobain. You know- he just had the pain man, he expressed sweet pain in a way that is rarely heard.
Apart from Nirvana then, if you could be in any band, again living or dead, who would it be?
I like the White Stripes’ attitude. Yeah, I’d shake the tambourine for them. Or The Happy Mondays. The whole thing of the crazy drugs and rock and roll, that doesn’t really appeal to me, but their musicality does.
What albums have you listened to most in 2004?
Rodney P’s The Future…loads of things. A lot of old dub stuff. I’ve listened to Kid A by Radiohead a lot. That’s one of my favourite albums of all time.
What interests you about that album in particular?
It’s the merging of man and machine. How it switches from the synthetic to the organic, with those crazy arrangements. You can listen to some albums, and you’re like ‘Oh! They’re using the 909, and they put it through that compression, and blah blah blah’. But you listen to Kid A, and it’s like; ‘What the fuck are they doing?! How did they do that?!’
Sorry to go back to the last album just for the final question; but do you have a special recipe for cheese on toast that you can tell us?
(Laughs) Man, I hardly ever eat that shit really! I guess I was talking about when you’re happy with nothing. Nowadays I need at least some rice and peas and fried food. I’ve moved on!
Well thanks for your time. Best of the luck with the album launch and everything else that goes with it.
Cheers, no problem.
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