The Invisible - Interview - February 2009
By: Hayley Leaver
The three components who make up The Invisible - no extra 's' on the end please, there are no plurals here - may not ring too many bells, but are by no means new to the music biz. Dave Okumu, Tom Herbert and Leo Taylor are seasoned musicians from numerous different backgrounds, but together they make some of the most exciting new music around, and we're not the only ones who believe so.
With notable connections to those Hot Chip lads and an eagerly awaited album produced by the highly respected Matthew Herbert, these boys are inciting TV On The Radio comparisons all over the show. While this seems pretty off the mark upon initial listening, it is a hugely flattering statement and obviously draws on the super-smooth vocals of main man, Dave Okumu. Rockfeedback grabbed the chance to sift through the thoughts of Dave and Leo one sunny afternoon at London's annoying trendy Old Blue Last.
With regards to their supposed similarities to the aforementioned Brooklyn favourites, Dave simply chuckles: "It's beautiful."
Expanding a bit further, Leo explains, "Basically they're lovely guys; I can say that from a first hand experience: I've just done a tour with Hot Chip in Australia and they were also on the bill. And yeah, they're absolutely lovely guys and make really, really interesting music. They always experiment with the way they present their music live - it doesn't always sound like the record every time, it's mixed up. The comparison though between us, I was very confused about because we sound nothing like them."
"I get the sense it's not really a direct comparison in terms of sounding like them, it's more about the like, creative ethos, and the fact that we sort of maybe share a sense of being influenced by loads of different things, and maybe some of those things are the same." Dave explains, "But that's kind of filtered through into a unique sound, I think like for us we're not really a band that's trying to sound like anything else. We're just trying to figure out who we are and sound like ourselves."
Leo carries on; "I think they're not referencing something so specifically, they're being themselves and trying to make music that's true to them."
And this is what essentially makes The Invisible a band to get excited about in the run up to their debut record release next month. Taking time from their many previous projects (Tom - Jade Fox and Polar Bear, Leo - Gramme, Zongamin) to concentrate on what was initially Dave's side project, what made them decide to focus on the one thing?
"I think it's quite a natural thing," Dave ponders. "I mean, I think we've had a really colourful and privileged journey through music. Like playing in lots of different bands, and also being lucky to sort of, just work with people we respect and admire. Each of those situations has afforded a learning process, you learn something from each experience - you're exposed to both new things and challenges. And then I guess it's quite natural to get to a point where you've absorbed all these things you want to express them yourself in your own way. I was saying earlier on I think there's that process of growing up and becoming independent, it's like moving out of home, you know."
"I wanted my own flat basically, that's kind of what it felt like!" jokes Dave, his voice as smooth and warm when chatting away as it is on their record. "Wanting to start my own band was about wanting to have my own context that I have complete ownership of, and space that was my own to do whatever I wanted to do creatively with people I wanted to do it with most."
In the year of the synth-toting female, Dave, Leo and Tom have essentially side-stepped the hype surrounding the Florence Welch-led coup of the indie charts. Remixes of last single 'London Girl' by the ever hot, ever chipper Joe Goddard and label buddy Micachu have brought some attention flying their way. Leo explains, "I asked him to do the remix a month ago, and Joe accepted and did a fantastic job and we're blown away by it, he's really pleased with it - it's really exciting that it's coming out. It's one of the remixes he's done that he's really proud about."
Dave nods, "It's a killer, isn't it?"
"Yeah, he's done a really good job. Have you heard it?" Asks Leo, "He's been playing it out on tour, in Australia: I've been behind him in the DJ booth witnessing firsthand how it hits the audience, and yeah it's working, definitely."
It must be strange to have your own work interpreted by someone else and played in front of you to masses of people, especially somebody so respected in the music world?
Pondering over the thought, Leo decides, "What's amazing about music is that you can give it to someone else, and it comes back in a way that you would never ever expect it to."
Agreeing, Dave explains, "It's really interesting: the process of doing remixes. It's just humbling, it's a real privilege when someone you respect takes something you made and reinterprets it in a way that's personal to them, but kind of reflects an understanding of what you'd done originally. There's something very delicate about that exchange - someone could do a remix that's just quite generic and you know, whatever, just put it through their usual process."
"The thing that I love about Joe's mix and some of the other remixes that we've had, like Kwes and Micachu, is that obviously a lot of thought and care has gone into what they've made: they've thought about what the original thing is like." He continues with genuine gratitude visible in his smile. "Just the idea that someone should commit their time and energy to doing something like that is really humbling and flattering, and it also is great because then it gives you something back; what we've found with the remix is that it has then affected how we play things live. We sort of go, oh let's have that in it, and we'll incorporate that and see if we can make it better, and it's sort of this ongoing - you know, it's like this thing that takes on a life of its own."
"It's the process that's ever evolving; it doesn't just stop when you finish, when you master a record." Leo chips in, "It's the beginning of 'it', its life in the world."
And talking of mastering a record, their debut album is imminent on Matthew Herbert's pioneering record label, Accidental next month. A mastermind in the world of all things electro, will it be an obvious Herbert record or have the Invisible kept their own sound clear and true?
"Matt has a long history of making records, he has an approach and sound that's really identifiable, but I think what's really exciting about this record is that you wouldn't necessarily know it's a Matthew Herbert record, but he's had a huge influence on shaping and developing the sound of it." Dave muses of the album which has been in the making for nearly three years.
"Just creatively, what inspires me about him is that there's no complacency, he really sort of pushes it out there basically, and tries to make everything he does as special and unique and personal as possible. That ethos sits really well with us; we're really into that and without Matt - I see Matt as the force that facilitated this record, it's like it wouldn't be in the world if it wasn't for him and his belief in us."
It's obvious that the band are massively excited about finally getting the album they have conceived out into the ears of the awaiting public, as Dave continues to explain, "It's like every time I listen back to it I'm kind of taken back by the way the record's made - we went away and recorded like the raw, basic sort of materials over the period of a week in a cottage in Suffolk, we took all those raw ingredients and went into post production with Matt. He loves using the studio in a really creative way, just as a tool basically to eek things out: processing sounds, sampling and re-sampling things, like making synthesisers out of my voice, or like out of me breathing or coughing. Or like the sound of stepping on leaves outside the studio - there's all these things that go to creating this amazing palette that is a reflection of that time and that place and where we were at and what we were experiencing."
With all other side projects and business ventures on hold and the forthcoming album unleashed on the 2nd of March, what should we be expecting from the Invisible three?
"It's weird that the album is sort of, three years old, two and a half, and we've gotta go promote it," Leo says, almost thinking out loud, "And that's a challenge as well, 'cause I think we'll be pushed - obviously we want to be inspired to enjoy the gigs, and enjoy the music, so we'll find new ways to be excited about the tracks. You know, it's just another form of the music. We're really looking forward to playing - we haven't played for, two weeks? No, two months, is it two months?"
"Yeah it's been a while basically," Dave replies, "We start with a string of London dates and we've got an album launch coming up." And where else would any self-respecting band choose to host said album lunch? Why, our house(!) - The Lexington of course. We know we'll be there: with guest DJ's in the form of Hot Chip, Foals and British Males, what else could there possibly be to do on a crisp March evening?
Artists in this article: The Invisible