Ahead of his guest mix appearance on Balamii Radio later this month, Igloo had the chance to ask Luke Williams (aka Mantle of Gets) some questions—he talked about the Jungle dons, zero waste and unreleased material.
Onwards and upwards
The year 2020 as a reference point will always be recalled for what it was. Taking a positive look at something else that seemingly came out of nowhere at this time was the return of Luke Williams. After taking a break from releasing music under monikers Quinoline Yellow, Tatamax and Tap Throw—the SKAM artist reappeared as Mantle of Gets. Showcasing a steady stream of singles and EPs on their Uchelfa imprint and a release on Schematic, it is exciting to see Luke creating again. Check out the reviews here.
The new material is distinctive by nature but does not resemble a rehash of previous projects. There are generative forms and also beat-orientated tracks, even a solo piano release—again proving there are no boundaries in Luke’s explorations.
For those who managed to catch the AMSK.live evenings that aired over the first Saturday of each month during the past year, will of had the opportunity to listen in to some recent mixes from Luke and others from the SKAM collective—much of which can be found online thanks to keen archivists on the unofficial fan YouTube page.
Ahead of his guest mix appearance on Balamii Radio later this month, Igloo had the chance to ask Luke some questions—he talked about the Jungle dons, zero waste and unreleased material.
Igloo :: Hey Luke, thanks for joining Igloo Magazine for an interview. How’s things?
Luke (Mantle of Gets) :: Good man, things are beginning to return to normal here.
Life is pretty decent; I managed to get in a solid summer break, can’t complain.
I’m in a privileged position, for sure.
Igloo :: Guessing just to jump straight in—it had been best part of 6-years since any previous release and almost seemingly out of nowhere you have returned into full-force under your latest moniker Mantle of Gets—were you intending to take a break initially? How did you find yourself back here with a new project?
Mantle of Gets :: Yeah, mad when you put a number to those years, where does the time go? I was creating a new studio space and setup, but faulty gear meant retiring some integral kit that helped define the older pseudonyms. The process had become a bit stale and I was falling back on tried and tested approaches which lead to rather dull creations in my opinion. I’ve told myself that I don’t want to be one of those musicians that make the same one track or LP over and over again, derivatively spinning off into obscurity. You know, resulting from fan influence, financial issues or a lack of personal vision. Breaking set routines and systematic behaviors can be difficult. Honestly, I packed my studio into storage and moved abroad. I cherry-picked a super minimal amount of kit and went about my business with that.
It’s been said many, many times but bears repeating; limitations are really healthy in terms of pushing to get the optimum from your machines. I always reference the Jungle dons of the early 90s, the staggering tracks they could muster from 2-8mb of sampler storage, spanned over several floppies and relentlessly churned on a beat-up Atari. They were grinding hard to produce such gold, magical. So yeah, I kept a strict-ish tool set and had a bash at trying new things out. The Gets stuff is all about zero waste, all parts are useful and complementary to the whole, otherwise they get chopped—I try to be brutal. This change of approach, environment and setup means I don’t often drift back into older habits I deem counterproductive or that negate any musical growth. Onwards and upwards.
“Limitations are really healthy in terms of pushing to get the optimum from your machines.”
Igloo :: Your most recent explorations seem to have been cultivated within a generative environment. Is this new territory for yourself or something you have kept under the hood for quite some time?
Mantle of Gets :: In terms of a creation time line, the generative bits were done after the more beat orientated stuff you touch on in your next question. I tend to work on multiple projects at once these days so keeping track of inception dates can be tricky, things can get murky pretty quickly. I honed this method of working when I wrote that Tap Throw EP ages ago. Things have happened in reverse in terms of music released. When I was enquiring about suitors for my new works, it was always with these style tracks in mind (the beat stuff). There’s probably some truth in that I’m holding back these tracks in the hope of some kind of physical proclamation that is not just solely, a digital release.
Igloo :: Aside from your Uchelfa imprint, part of your return saw a 6-tracker with some slightly more beat orientated sounds on Schematic. Is it looking likely there will be additional releases on the label, or can we even speculate something on SKAM?
Mantle of Gets :: I’m sitting on a lot of unreleased tracks and compiled releases for mates and labels, SKAM included. If we are totally honest here, it isn’t just me waiting on any SKAM resurgence—the waiting list for a ‘release appointment’ is fairly extensive by all accounts. Yes, fingers crossed for a new Schematic piece. Logistics and manufacturing on the whole, are still slow globally as everyone continues to recover from Covid-19. I did enjoy doing the recent cassette—I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Igloo :: With the throws of Covid-19 now opening up many places for gigs, can we expect to see a live performance any time in the future?
Mantle of Gets :: I fell out of love with the whole live thing, or maybe the process of simply re-sequencing studio tracks. I failed to make it inspired and enjoyable really, just laborious in nature, which is not what you ever want. I probably needed some fresh tracks. It requires a lot of love and application to get it right, for me anyway. I have been writing ‘live only’ compositions that run in parallel with studio projects. I see it more now as writing a dedicated live performance album, reserved pieces that work inside a free arrangement. I have the live setup in place; I just need a bit more choice content. With a bit of luck I’ll be able to audition a few sets here in Lisbon first, before reaching further afield. I don’t have a booking agent currently so if you want to see me play you’ll have to message me directly or badger your local promoter. Thanks for caring.
“I tend to work on multiple projects at once these days so keeping track of inception dates can be tricky, things can get murky pretty quickly.”
Igloo :: I am sure some fans who will be reading, will want me to ask about your Quinoline Yellow, Tatamax & Tap Throw projects—self-described as ‘yesteryear,’ are they well and truly gone or can we expect some archival releases down the line?
Mantle of Gets :: I suppose I’d never officially retire Quinoline Yellow or any of the aliases and I guess it’s only normal for elements of them to sneak their way into the Gets stuff, especially the darker Tatamax sound. I found some old Tx stuff from long, forgotten folders, fairly recently—they’re on Bandcamp, they are pretty raw. The aforementioned QY kit calamities and formulas (excuse the pun) all went a bit musty and stale. Mates have said ‘why didn’t you just release your new stuff under the QY banner to make life easier’. I get that, familiar name, history and aesthetic—but I wanted a clean break from it. I don’t mind people not knowing my older stuff to be honest. It’s quite likely I would do some more Tap Throw stuff, it’s top fun for sure. It’s more like putting up your studio deckchair and parasol (Cyriack) than any dedicated musical graft. Jungle forever!
You can catch Mantle of Gets in for the guest mix for chromasy on Balamii Radio later this month. Stay tuned for more details.
