After trying to track down S.C.U.M to talk about their explansive new record, we just couldn't get it together and had to settle on email contcact. Turns out their not the most repsonisve bunch in the world - you'd think they have more pressing matters to attend to than responding to email Q&A's...
Firstly, you seem a band that couldn’t really exist on any other label than Mute. How did that come about? And are you pleased to be there?
We have worked with them from an early stage and it's the perfect home for us.
-Tell us a bit about the making of this record, was it done in London? Wasit a quick/easy process?It was done in Hampshire in a converted mill over a month last summer, it was a very natural process.
-The record feels very spacious, in that a lot of thought has gone into thegaps as much as the music. Was this a conscious decision on the band’sbehalf?
Yeah, we wanted the songs to breathe and have a depth of sound to them and sometimes space is what really creates that.
-Likewise, there feels (to me) to be an emphasis on atmosphere and textureas much as just songs, did you have a particular mood or feel that youintended to create through these?
We wanted the record to be one that takes you on a journey that you can absorb yourself in, so the texture is quite overbearing but we never wanted to lose the songs.
- The production on the record feels pretty meticulous, was it a long orlaborious process?
Not at all. We worked with Ken Thomas and he is so in-tune with the artists he works with, it wasn't at all laborious.-The Amber Hands video sees you amongst a sea of blurred interwoven colours,rarely are the band visible in it, while I’m sure some of the decision wasthe directors in its theme, is it representative of your view on music? i.ehiding behind an amalgamation of somewhat psychedelic sounds?
Hiding behind something isn't at all our approach to making music. The video was made by Matthew Stone, who is an amazing artist and close friend, and we wanted it to be a visceral experience. The whole thing was shot in slow motion so it really does have its own sense of time and space.
-Where there any artists you consciously had in mind whilst making therecord or that were a big inspiration to you?
We became very inspired and immersed ourself in our surroundings while making the record. So we listenex to a lot of quite primal albums like Neil Young and Gene Clarke. And also a lot of Portishead.
- Your focus seems to have shifted a little towards more onsynthesisers/subtle electronics of late, whereas the earlier material seemeda little more guitar heavy. What’s been the catalyst for such changes? Or isit something that has just organically developed in your sound?
It was organic and grew as we did.
- How is London as a creative environment for you to be in as a band?
It's the perfect city for creativity. It's a constant inspiration and allows you have control over what you do.
What would you like to see S.C.U.M doing this time next year?
The future is unwritten.