Photo: Press
It's one of those rare weeks in the UK- Summer seems to have finally hit, temperatures have soared to 28 degrees and the sun, which has been out continuously for four days, appears to be making the country shine. I'm in Wandsworth, close to the common (which is currently covered in skiving businessmen and sunburnt bikini clad yoga instructors, soaking up the weather) to interview legendary bassist of Killing Joke fame and subsequent acclaimed producer Youth, aka Martin Glover.
I'm here to talk to him about his work – past and present, the new artists he's currently producing, life, love, UK politics and most importantly his views on shamanism and the occult.
After knocking on the wrong door twice (yay, Google Maps) I finally find Youth waiting on the street for me outside his home. He leads me indoors into a living room, which can only be described as a haven to all things artistic. Giant Paisley patterned rugs lay on the floor, orange and yellow themed paintings line the walls. There are many wooden statues and crystals (a nod to Youths dealings in Druidery and shamanism), marijuana smoke hangs in the air (of which Youth is a real advocate, for both medicinal and pleasurable purposes) and I think that all together this must be a great space to create in.
I set myself up and get ready to converse with a lifetime achievement award-winning producer (he was given an Outstanding Contribution to Music Award by the Music Producer’s Guild in 2015) who has worked with some of the top musical artists in the world from Pink Floyd to Guns N Roses; and Jesus and Mary Chain to Spiritualized
Gigwise - Hi Youth, what have you been working on lately production wise?
Youth - I've just come back from (my studio) in Spain where I've been working on the new Shed Seven album. It's been really exciting working on it, as it's the first album they've done in twenty years. Prior to that I was working on Holly Cook's (daughter of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook) album, and finishing off the Black Grape album, which is due for release in July.
GW – You’re currently working with two new up and coming UK artists/bands- electro industrial soloist Lara Smiles and Gigwise faves Desert Mountain Tribe. Can you tell us a bit about why you chose to work with them?
Youth - 'Well Lara I've known for a while, as other than her solo stuff she also sings in the Aussie Pink Floyd and I have connections to them through the work I've done with the original band and (David) Gilmour in the past. Her solo stuffs got a very noir, edgy, angry vibe, similar to post punk girl bands such as The Slits, and The Raincoats and it's just good to work with someone like her and see where we can take that sound. As for Desert Mountain Tribe I was handed one of their tunes and was blown away by their sound and agreed to do a mix right there on the spot.
GW - When you’re working with new artists do you try and focus solely on their 'sound' or do you find that a little bit of the sound of Killing Joke or some of the other well known artists you've worked with filters through into the records you produce?
Youth - My manager said to me recently that as a producer I don't really have a particular sound and I took that as a compliment as I think it enables me to work with a lot of different artists across the board. I'm very much a song-based producer. If I'm recording an album, I will definitely try and establish some kind of continuity in the sound, but essentially I'm just trying to make everything sound as good as possible.
GW - It's been suggested that when Killing Joke first came onto the scene they were a band that concentrated on operating out of the mainstream and produced music to that effect.
Do you find that when choosing to work with new artists this still applies or has this changed throughout your career?
Youth - Even if we've been lumped into that category I don't think that's what Killing Joke were trying to do - we were ambitious, we were trying to get to number 1. We did definitely set out to reach an underground culture and to embody that post-punk sound and that's more or less what happened. We took a whole year out to write and rehearse and to make sure the material was there before we started to play live and I'd suggest to all young bands that they do this, because as soon as we started playing live we saw successful results (by their 15th gig the band were playing sold out shows at Hammersmith Palace to 2000 people). Today the market is heavily saturated with new music especially with social media making it easier than ever for artists to share their music but it was similar in the 80’s. Essentially your material really needs to shine and be a cut above the rest and as long as you put in the rest of the work needed you’re in for a successful career. It was always just about raw talent and working your arse off.
GW - How have you found production techniques have changed since the start of Killing Joke's career and how have they helped or hindered your work with other artists?
Youth - When we did our first single as Killing Joke (which they produced themselves) it was pre-midi, we had to play all our synths by hand with a delay to make it sound like a sequencer. Everything was obviously recorded in analogue and on to tape and we weren't advanced enough to do modular steps sequencing but we managed to get it close enough to how we wanted it to sound. Nowadays because of how much technology has changed it's possible to go through ideas and material far quicker, which sometimes takes away from the 'magic' of the recording process but also eliminates the frustrations of much of what we went through in the 80's.
GW - What books were important to Killing Joke in the early years, developing their perspective on energy, life and politics? I know they used to frequent esoteric bookstores in the early days.
Youth - We are four very strong individuals but I would say that collectively we were interested in anything to do with magic, shamanism and philosophy. Ideas from Hesse, Kant, Nietzsche and Sartre and in particular their views on nihilism influenced a lot of our earlier material. Two of the band were heavily influenced by Chaos Magic and had joined the Golden Dawn (a movement which is devoted to the study of the occult, metaphysics and paranormal activity) by our second album. I was particularly against this until I had my infamous meltdown on acid on the Kings Road, which led me to pursue a more shamanic route and develop an interest in Paganism and Druidism. Chomsky and Naomi Cline have also been big influences and more recently the social political sect politics of Osho, Dion Fortune and Gurdjieff have also been of interest.
GW – So we have a snap election imminent. Is being worried about a two party dichotomy a waste of time when we're controlled by a global cooperate elite?
Youth- I think I'd be more concerned with the fact that a two party dichotomy doesn't make for a particularly good democratic state. I’d like to see a focus on a stronger synergy of spirituality, especially via extreme eco politics where we respect the planet and the resources we take from it. For the first time in my life I'm considering voting Lib Dem, as they’re the only party who have policies on Brexit and legalising cannabis that I agree with. It's scary times out there at the moment politically but hopefully this will bring about some good reactionary art and a stronger sense of communities working together to achieve what they want.
GW – You mentioned that you’ve struggled with mental health in the past - what sort of things could be done to ease mental illness? Is there any structural change to society that could help?
Youth- I think mental illness is very prominent in today’s society, especially in the music industry where there's a fine line between genius and madness and people struggle with addictions and easy accessibility to drugs and alcohol. I think the most important thing is that if you’re struggling with your mental health to try and find a middle ground and also feel able to ask for help if you need it. Finding something that you feel anchors you, can also be helpful - for me it was Druidery which gave me a strong sense of purpose and connection to the world.
GW - What's coming up for you for the rest of 2017?
Youth – I will be DJing at Glasto. I've got gigs coming up with Killing Joke and Guns n Roses towards the end of the summer and I'm also gearing up for a festival at my place in Spain called Space Mountain which will see local acts, combine with international acts and DJ’s alongside healing arts practitioners. 2017's gonna be a real hedonistic mash up.
