Ahead of the release of his sixth studio album, Defected's Ben Lovett speaks to one of the UK's most reliably consistent deep house producers, Jimpster.
“It’s a cliché but, for me, there’s no better job in the world than to earn a living from making music and getting to travel the world to play it to people” Jamie Odell opens, sonic architect behind one of the UK’s most treasured deep house purveyors in Jimpster. “I don’t ever take it for granted and I’m lucky that I still love every aspect of it so even when I’m totally exhausted I’m still able to get in a zone to make tracks or prepare mentally for my next gig.”
Odell has, of course, had ample time to plan, pace and execute his latest Jimpster project, sixth studio album Porchlight And Rockingchairs. It arrives this May, some six years after Jimpster’s last long-player Amour. Why the unusually long delay? “I didn’t really feel the urge to make an album until the start of 2012 because I was quite happy concentrating on remixing and trying to make more dancefloor-focused tracks” he confesses. The ultra-relaxed deadline actually started to work against him: “I started to feel like I was going through the motions and procrastinating in the studio a bit, so I set myself a firm new target for 2013.”
Odell’s renewed focus has finally brought him to Porchlight..., an accomplished 12-track opus which he’s happy to describe himself. “It is dusty electronica mixed up with late-night, slow motion deep house with a couple of torch songs thrown in for good measure.” Porchlight’s musical subtlety is its undoubted strength. The stark simplicity of a track like Brought To Bare, featuring vocalist Jonatan Backelie, carries with it huge emotional resonance, whilst instrumentals High Wire and Rollergirl blend subterranean skank and edge with an accomplished sense of melody and mellow warmth. Things get slightly more caustic on Cracks In The Pavement but within carefully realised downtempo parameters and then there’s the glitch-y, beautifully-crafted update of last year’s lush, acoustic guitar-licked lament These Times, recorded with singer Simon Jinadu. Beyond simply crossing genres with deep and familiar strides, Jimpster has created a rich, intricate electronic tapestry that delivers heart and vision in equal measure. Porchlight is comfort food, yes, but impeccably crafted and revelatory once consumed.
“I would say I’ve become more focused on the detail of production, engineering and programming whereas my early stuff was more about...just getting it down” Odell suggests. He’s keen to reaffirm his commitment to house music but also to the kind of experimentation and refinement that pushes his output out of lazy, black-and-white pigeon holes: “I really try and get a lot of texture and atmosphere into my tracks so even if they’re quite minimal there will be small detail that means there’s always something new to discover in a track.”
Detail is often chased by restless producers wracking over-creative, over-heated brains for perfection at a near microscopic level. Is Odell that way inclined? “I never want to hear Porchlight again but I’m happy with it!” he casually grins. “I think I managed to get it sounding pretty much how I imagined and wanted it to sound.”
Detail aside, Odell was keen, like so many other artists in the current digital climate, to return to good old-fashioned studio hardware. Why? Why this apparent trend among contemporary electronic producers? “For me, it just felt like you were making music again as opposed to doing your accounts!” he replies. “It was a case of getting lent a few nice keyboards from a friend and then feeling like digging out my old TR 808, TR606 [drum machines] and Juno 106 [analogue synth], which hadn’t been used for about five years. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of using plug-ins [software] and also quantising everything a certain way... as soon as I started recording audio by playing the keyboards live along with the drum machines it felt just like you were making music again.”
Odell is well aware of how much the music market has changed since he started out in the Nineties. Commentators will argue that original artist albums, particularly within the electronic genre, are fast becoming a dying breed, what with the public’s reliance on track-by-track downloads and the relentless posting of online mixes and podcasts. And yet Odell is keen to support the format, confident enough to see benefit – the standout - in bolting on some tradition to an industry-wide ‘do or die’ demand for evolution.
“I think albums can still play an important part in today’s music landscape” he himself demands. “They can certainly help to broaden a producer’s palette and help gain new fans outside of the straight-up clubbing fraternity. It’s certainly a different approach now as opposed to 10 years ago with having to think about the big divide between physical and digital product, and how you market albums, but the format does still have relevance.”
Odell grew up in a musical family, both parents – his father, Roger, a drummer for jazz-funk band Shakatak - taking him to gigs and the recording studio at an early age. In turn, older friends would connect him to the sounds of Mute Records, Renegade Soundwave and Meatbeat Manifesto; a passion for electronic music was firmly cemented. Odell set up Freerange Records in 1996, through which he released his earliest Jimpster material including EPs Martian Arts and Initial. Over 17 subsequent years Freerange has built a stellar house reputation based on quality releases by the likes of Shur-i-kan, Milton Jackson, Pezzner and Motorcitysoul. Meanwhile, Jimpster has released five albums, Martian Arts (1997), Messages From The Hub (1999), Live At Soundofspeed (2000), Domestic Science (2002) and Amour (2006), a stack of sharp remixes for everyone from Josh Wink and Osunlade to Bob Marley and Seal, and notable solo EPs such as State Of Mind, Square Up and Alsace & Lorraine. Odell’s alias has also contributed to live electronica group The Bays.
There is absolutely no sign of things slowing down this year. New album aside – and all the promotional activity that entails – Jimpster is currently remixing a new track by Michel Cleis, and remains firmly committed to recording Freerange’s bi-weekly radio show, as well as playing all over the world (last weekend it was Berlin and Basel). That’s not to forget Freerange’s upcoming schedule, nor that of Odell’s other label Delusions Of Grandeur, which he launched back in 2009.
“The labels are doing good thanks,” Odell readily offers. “We’ve just had a visual overhaul for Freerange which helps to breathe new life into things and keep us excited even after 17 years. We’re just about to see the release of the 10th and final Colour Series compilation, which is a bit of a milestone for us. There are also great new releases due from Freerange regulars like Shur-i-kan, as well as newcomers like Kito Jempere. As for Delusions Of Grandeur, things there go from strength to strength with killer new releases from Ben Sun, Session Victim, Soul 223 and Franc Spangler.”
What is Odell’s secret for balancing so many commitments so well? “To be honest, there’s never enough time to do everything properly these days, so it’s always a juggling act” he says. “Luckily, my labels partner Tom Roberts does an amazing job with the label management and making sure we all know what we’re supposed to be doing from day to day, even though he has a ridiculously busy day job and has to put in many extra hours at the expense of valuable family time. It’s very hard to be able to keep a good balance of work and home life, and the rewards – financially anyway – are very small but luckily we all have a strong passion for what we do still, which keeps us striving to push the labels and artists to the next level.”
Artists, obviously, includes Jimpster; so what are the longer-term plans for the alias? “I want to be able to dedicate more studio time to my own original productions” Odell ponders, “as well as starting to think about how best to put together a really strong Jimpster live show.”
For the time being Jimpster’s performances are confined to CDJ-2000s, memory sticks, a little vinyl and bag loads of enthusiasm. He can recall plenty of highlights from the past 12 months; the list appears endless. “The ones that stick in my mind include TV Bar in Detroit” he starts, “where Diamondancer got on the mic and helped take an already amazing vibe to the next level. Zoo Project in Ibiza was also a killer last year. There’s always a really lovely crowd and good atmosphere. Studio80 on New Year’s Eve was great fun and another Amsterdam gig at the Goldfish Festival...probably the largest and friendliest crowd last year....”
Which brings us back to Porchlight And Rockingchairs – it is whilst touring that much of that album’s inspiration came to pass; it is whilst touring that much of Jimpster’s discography, full stop, has come to pass. “Making tracks on the move keeps me going really” Odell explains. “I’m not someone who sleeps easily whilst travelling so I’m often using the time to work on stuff whether it’s remixes, the podcast [radio show] or just listening to demos or promos. Obviously the music always gets transferred once I’m back in the studio so I can work properly but I do find that the overtired twilight zone after gigs can be an inspiring time.”
There seems little capable of stopping Jimpster’s steady, stylish momentum forwards. Does Odell think that that might still be the case if he was launching a music career today? “I still think I have a long way to go now” he mediates. “But there was never going to be any other career for me...will never be any other career – would I make the same progress if I was starting today? Yes, I like to think so!”
Words: Ben Lovett
Jimpster’s new album Porchlight And Rockingchairs is released by Freerange on May 20.
