The Romantic, Perfectionist Rave Music Of Overmono
Joy and anguish, desire and pain, euphoria and terror: the promise of mercy and the fear that not everything is wrong find their form in the complex emotional cocktail that the song conveys. But after all, freedom is the main idea that runs through their works. The freedom to dance and have fun, to feel comfortable with yourself and not judge, to let go of ego and inhibitions and to connect with other dancers. If you listen to a song like "Gunk" you can make fun of those Dobermans.
"We always try to keep things as simple as possible, I guess, without complicating the concepts," says Ed Russell, one half of Overmono, along with his brother Tom. "I think we always gravitated towards music that felt pretty simple, and we always ended the music with a lot of little ideas that came and went but never came to fruition."
Then there is the freedom from the genre mania that defines British dance music: UK Garage Brothers, Jungle Others, etc. The lines are drawn, but they all have a certain signature, rawness and immediacy in both production and production. How they reach your heart. As they move up and down the scale under one of the duo's signature distorted R&B samples, it's surprising how much emotional energy the brothers can squeeze out of two loud, funny notes.
But getting to those moments takes a lot of trial and error.
"'Gunk' is a perfect example of how frustrating music making can be at times," says Tom. "You have a basic idea that takes shape very quickly, and we both know when there's a basic idea that we think is worth doing." But it may take years before it sounds the way we want it to. So let's say "the basic idea or structure of the track". And we'll spend hours and days and weeks and months refining and refining and making it sound the way we want it to sound."
There is a lot of equipment in two studios in Bristol and Devon. They describe their setup as "fantastic chaos and lots of gear." Every time they finish a project, they take their vast collection of synthesizers, drums and other instruments and rearrange the whole system to come up with new ideas. This is a reflection of their songwriting process, which favors simplicity and directness.
"We know in our heads what we want the record to sound like, and sometimes it takes a long time to get to that point, but we always know when we get there," says Ed. "It's a very long, very messy process, taking the raw idea and transforming it into something that looks finished but doesn't lose its original rawness."
After creative frustration, the brothers decided to create Overmono. Both had successful solo roles in the London club scene, but neither stabilised. And he was particularly impressed by his portrayal of Tesla; His song "Hackney Parrot" became an underground hit, which he recorded as a breakbeat house producer. "It was a pain in the ass because I had to use the 'think' pause on every record," he says, referring to the famous drum sample. "Tom [as Truss] had a similar experience with hard techno, and we both felt creatively wanting to get out of that. And so we thought, well, yeah, we should try to do something different ."
They both took a holiday from London to the countryside to clear their heads. "It was fun. When we started the project, we didn't start the project; we thought we were going to write some music together , more of a celebration than anything," explains Ed. "And then when we listen back to the music we wrote in three days, it actually seems more cohesive than we expected."
These sessions were the birth of the band and were named after the town of Overmno in Wales. The project has two solo careers under its belt, and they will return to Miami in May with an epic show, Good Lies , following the release of their debut album. Last year's Dobermans will also return. Appearing on XL Recordings promotional covers, album covers and most EPs, they have become the band's iconic symbol.
Somewhat embarrassingly for them, they took the controlled chaos of their studio on tour. Ed says they've brought in more tools than ever to view tracks live and change things on the go
"It keeps getting bigger, we're keeping up more," he says.
Ear mono. 11 p.m., Friday, September 15, at The Place, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; thegroundmiami.com. Tickets cost $37.47 via dice.fm.
