The new Expanse EP by friendly collaborators Stormfield and Nonima comes across as very much alive. Its sonic boom and emotional tug on the heartstrings is inevitable while low-end thuds, synthesizer grooves, and downtempo extracts is a highlight in and of itself, with Combat Recordings unleashing the goods once again. Igloo recently had an opportunity to ask the duo a few questions regarding the Expanse EP, their influences, continued collaboration, and what’s in the pipeline.
The new Expanse EP (available in April 2019) by friendly collaborators Stormfield (Combat operator) and Nonima (Section 27 operator) comes across as very much alive. Its sonic boom and emotional tug on the heartstrings is inevitable while low-end thuds, synthesizer grooves, and downtempo extracts are a highlight in and of itself—with Combat Recordings unleashing the goods once again. If 2015’s collaboration on the Stratosphere EP—described as “A chaotic storm bringing disarray, noise and confusion and leaving more of the same in its wake,” then Expanse is a distant cousin. “Caesura” and its Part-2 alter-ego inhabit much the same space that Meat Beat Manifesto have recently on their Impossible Star album (Flexidisc, 2018)—staccato beats, bass, and blissful distortion abound. “Expanse Pt.2” is very much in tune with the original, its trove of rumbling echoes and underpinned ambient-electronic stream is a sweet foray in the darkness. On the industrial-acid warble of “Airlock,” fractured percussive bits ricochet off a glass floor while a caustic bass-line drives the entire piece. The epic, 12-minute “Void” describes its sonic siblings in a summarized viewpoint—magnetized acidic rhythms glide around shuffling beats in an inescapable dystopian landscape. Igloo recently had an opportunity to ask the duo a few questions regarding the Expanse EP, their influences, continued collaboration, and what’s in the pipeline.
The expansive framework
Igloo :: Tell us a little more about the process, how did the Expanse EP come together?
Nonima :: The title-track was initially started by Stormfield as a submission for a Sci-Fi documentary piece which didn’t happen—the music sat on a hard drive for a while and sent it over to me to rework over winter after finishing up on a remix I’d been putting together for his other project (Scald) at the end of 2018. We’d discussed sending a few stems back and forth and see what comes out of it and a handful of tunes were completed within that few weeks (most of) which became the framework of this new EP.
Stormfield :: It’s the first time I’d tried doing something specifically for that sort of brief, with a “complete” melodic narrative establishing the riff, then taking it up, sideways and down in three minutes. The documentary never happened for whatever reason, so the track sat on the hard drive (as Nonima mentioned) for a couple of years while I got busy with other stuff (doing audio for Scald, visuals for Mick Harris, and African Head Charge). I did so much visual work in 2018 that some new people went “…oh you do music as well?” Haha. So, over last Christmas (2018) I had 10-days off to hibernate in the warehouse, and by some lucky timing a friend lent me his Elektron Digitone which I sampled the fuck out of. Before we knew it, a pile of nice stems got recorded, which we swapped back and forth. Quite quickly, five new tracks took shape and we thought why not make an EP? We’re across London / Glasgow-ish, but it’s quite easy to collaborate online with the same version of Ableton, rendering stems to audio as needed.
Making broken rhythms
Igloo :: What are your influences, and what drives/motivates the dark-electronic rhythms you are both aptly chasing?
Nonima :: Sharing a common ground of appreciation for various sounds and styles while having very different backgrounds of experience I’d say. Another person working with you helps the workflow change up a little bit differently than it would producing on your own. The drive comes from just making tunes for yourself and your network of friends to listen to, some of those eventually get shared more widely online.
Stormfield :: There’s quite a lot of overlap in the electronic influences. On this side, relevant to the release would be 1990’s-era Speedy J, The Future Sound of London, Autechre, Brothomstates, Balil (Plaid) and EOG. When on my own, I tend to make acidy broken rhythms, which, in avoiding the four-on-the-floor, tend to end up sounding electro-ish even though it’s not the intention; rather I gravitate toward anything broken and bassy.
As for dark… Well, it’s partly venting. I try to survive and still be creative while living in a stressful city, it’s been a precarious existence for as long as since I’ve moved here, plus on top of that watching the whole country go down the toilet. Combine that with shit weather and a need to block the surroundings out, sounds are a good way to vent. The sounds fit the pressure of the surroundings. Oh, and a twisted gallows humor helps as well. Either that, or a punching bag. But with making music at least it leads to gigs, seeing places and meeting nice people.
Igloo :: The duo of Stormfield & Nonima have collaborated previously, have you thought about forming a duo and continuing the collaboration?
Nonima :: Well we first crossed paths on 2013’s remix for Stormfield’s Collapsing System release on Combat and there’s been a steady stream of remixes or tracks for various compilations and labels up to this point, including 2015’s Stratosphere EP. Our working pace harmonizes when it comes to projects and I always enjoy the process of working on stuff so no doubt there’s more in the pipeline, such as a remix for Scald that’s forthcoming. He’s already doing stuff with Fausten and Scald so it might start to become a bit of a juggle, haha.
Stormfield :: Most likely; there’s a lot of overlap musically so why not? Although it may be easier to use a different, shorter name for the duo! :)
A happy (dystopian) accident?
Igloo :: Expanse has a dark, dystopian groove to it, and yet it all comes together seamlessly via acidic noises, bleeps, and mechanical beatwork. How would you describe the mood of this EP, or was there a specific theme you were aiming for?
Nonima :: Not so much at the start but after we had “Expanse” and “Void” down we had the idea of aiming towards a 4 or 5 track EP framework, keep the sessions more focused otherwise quite easily it would have become a full-length release. The loose concept materialized on its own from the vibe of those tracks, and the cover art sort of tied into all of that. I like to think of these things more as a happy accident.
Stormfield :: The original brief for the film was Sci Fi Horror (whatever that means). It’s kinda dystopian (but not as dark as Fausten/Scald—didn’t want to scare them off! There’s still some feeling of hope in it. Maybe that’s why they rejected it, who knows. :)
The 303 sounds all come from patterns saved from existing live sets (current Stormfield setup is the tt303, octatrack, volca kick+fm). Some of the patterns are in 3/4 which drift across the main rhythm, handy to keep things from becoming too loopy when I’m tweaking the other boxes at the same time, you only have two hands after all. The acid lines worked surprisingly well at a slower tempo on “Void.” Quite a lot of the fizzy metallic bleepy sounds come from the Digitone without too much processing. Looking back, maybe the other tracks subconsciously took shape in reaction to Expanse, they seem to fit around it theme-wise although this was not consciously intentional at the time.
Igloo :: What’s next for the duo, any live shows, shout-outs, special notes you want to add for your audience?
Stormfield :: There are a couple of Stormfield live shows coming up, organised by NFA (March, hybrid DJ/live set) and Crux (April, live). Two Scald Process AV shows also at Exploding Cinema and Towards Collapse (12th April). Been roped in to do visuals for a housemate’s band Grave Miasma at Netherlands Deathfest, and more African Headcharge stuff in spring/summer. Production-wise, more tracks! There’s a Stormfield remix of Mick Harris (as Fret) due on Combat / Opal Tapes in May, test pressings just landed today. I picked up my own Digitone last week so the pressure is on to use it properly and make more stuff, or else it’s just pointless gear-collecting, waste of money. I’ve also nearly completed a new albums worth of Scald Process (Scald is the violin noise electronic collaboration with Líam Noonan—we met while working at the Tate), will look for a label soon. Scald also remixed Mick Harris which’ll be on the same EP in May with remixes from Monster X, Fausten, and Stormfield. The second album from Fausten (collaboration with Monster X) is nearly done so we’ll be looking around labels soon. If you like something that takes strong influences form Scorn and Autechre, get in touch! ;)
Nonima :: Probably new Mitoma stuff later in the year, a couple of currently unreleased remixes for friends to be released at some point. Also my Section 27 imprint turns 10 this year so there will be an anniversary compilation release in the works for that probably around June.
Thanks for the positive feedback on this release so far: Truss, The Advent, Boris Brenecki, Parallax, Death Qualia, Afrodeutsche, Hesska, Mick Harris, Graeme Mclean, Boycey, Subsekt Blog, Skirmish Blog, and Igloo Mag of course! Label shouts to Yellow Machines (ScanOne’s label), Jezgro, Holotone Music, Bass Agenda, New York Trax, Ohm Resistance, Opal Tapes (Combat split release in May), Kaer’Uiks, Touched Music, and Section 27. Gig shouts for Mick Harris, African Head Charge, Crux, Splice Festival, Towards Collapse, Exploding Cinema, Soundcrash, Dazed & Confuzed, NFA, Splice Festival, VJ London, Loose Lips, Mugako Festival (Spain), Norberg (Sweden), Katharsis (Netherlands), and Avant Art (Poland).
Expanse is available April 24th, 2019 on Combat.
