Tom Middleton has been responsible for evoking smiles on even the sternest of faces throughout his career. Classically trained as a cellist and pianist, it was the sounds of hip hop, techno, electro and more that inspired him during the 80s and led to a chance encounter with Richard ‘Apex Twin’ James who taught him the art of DJing and sampling in 1990. Projects he has worked on under such guises (both solo and in collaboration) Jedi Knights, Chameleon and The Bays has seen him working on labels as diverse as Warp and Good Looking.
2004 began with Middleton touring Australia as part of the Good Vibrations festival and in an interview with ITM at the time he claimed to be close to finishing his long awaited debut artist album under his solo production moniker Cosmos. As 2004 draws to a close there’s still no sign of the artist album, however, in the meantime he’s managed to compile what some gushing fans (read on) have referred to as “mix album of the year”, the very eclectic and fabulous The Trip.
As Middleton was preparing for his short east coast tour de Oz, which begins with a New Years Eve gig in Sydney, ITM’s Nojman managed to catch 15 minutes (no where near enough) of his time, finding him open on any topic from his rather limited tour itinerary to the long awaited Cosmos album.
Nojman: Hi Tom, how are you and where are you at the moment?
Tom Middleton: I’m in London sitting in the office. I did three gigs last night, two of which I was performing at and one which I was a participant on the dancefloor until the wee hours of the morning listening to Little Louie Vega.
How was that?
Ah it was lovely. Hearing him play his classic tunes and the tracks he worked with Barbara Tucker in India. It was a treat, I feel complete.
Do you get the opportunity to do that very often, go out and let loose on the dancefloor?
Very rarely these days so it was a real joy to be able to do it. I have been tending to do it more now when I’m going to gigs if I’ve got a bit of time left over to go and start jumping up and down on the dancefloor.
Who else has got you going lately?
Strangely enough the last one was Kenny Dope so I’ve seen both the Masters at Work at work! There’s various people at festivals that I’ve gone to see, a variety whether it be rock acts or dance DJs. It’s normally festivals where you’ve done your bit and you’ve got time to go and check out other people. It was Jeff Mills in Buenos Aires recently.
Did you enjoy that?
Ah phenomenal seeing that man working, my word! Incredible.
What have been some of your highlights this year?
For me it’s quite a pivotal moment in my career as I’ve finished the Cosmos album One for All. That’s taken a long time. After doing the track Take me with you, that’s almost 4-5 years ago, to a point now where I’ve got an album of work that I’m happy with and that represents who I am right now. That’s quite an achievement for me. I’ve been doing a lot of remixing and DJing and that’s probably taken a little bit away from the studio production. Equally I’ve learnt so much from travelling around and sharing music with people. Researching is who I am, a quite scientific approach to everything. Seeing how the sound affects people around the planet. Emotional content and purity of emotion is my primary concern and consideration when I’m making music now.
When do you expect it to be released?
To be honest it’s going to be summer (northern) next year (2005). I can’t see it coming out earlier than that, knowing the way the industry works.
You were talking about a journey of exploration, is it a case of the more you travel around the more you learn and the more you feel you’ve got to add to it?
Absolutely. Anyone who says they know it all is just a liar. In a lifetime if it’s possible to meet as many people as possible, speak as many different languages, and interact in as many different cultures all the better as far as I’m concerned. It’s kind of like using your senses and going on this journey of exploration and for me it’s always a real thrill and so exciting. I’m just a guy who grew up by the seaside in the country and I’ve been given these opportunities. I guess from being a music lover first and foremost, it’s kinda been really rewarding. All I’m doing is being honest about who I am. I love dancing, I love music, and I love creating music with warmth, emotion and energy. I love playing that music as well. I love getting people singing along. I love the energy of the festival and the club. That’s kinda been my thing this year, to bring the energy and excitement of pogo-ing up and down and singing along to an anthem at a festival and transposing that to a club context. Come and see me DJ and by the end of the night I’ll have leapt off the decks into the crowd and will be jumping around with everyone else and we’ll be singing along.
I’ve got a big complaint about that….
Have you?
You’re not coming to Perth!
Oh no you’ve got a massive complaint then, I’m so sorry!
When you played at Good Vibrations earlier this year there were so many delays on the main stage, it was my first Tom Middleton experience and I didn’t really feel it was a good chance to get to see you.
Absolutely not. I really enjoyed playing but it was a shame with Perth, when you’re in between live acts it’s difficult for people to really get their heads around thinking “is this guy just on filling the time?”. But I actually really enjoyed that cause there were a bunch of people who had come specifically to see and hear me and I could play some mellow music as well. Obviously as a warm up to Moloko it didn’t take long for people to come back towards the end and start leaping up and down, Perth’s a lovely place, I really enjoyed going there. What a shame, so sorry.
That’s ok, the interview is for a national audience. I must admit that whilst knowing the name Tom Middleton I haven’t really explored the sound a lot. I was using Good Vibrations as a chance to get a good feel and being a Freeland fan I’d heard the Rise Above collaboration as well as a few remixes. In the latter half of this year I was in a bit of a lull with music and feeling a bit uninspired by most of what I was listening to and then someone put me on to your compilation The Trip. It rejuvenated me, I got this huge smile on my face when listening to it and it brought back my faith in a few things and I just love this CD still and am now a converted fan.
That’s wonderful, I’m so happy. Wicked, that’s brilliant. That compilation has been really successful without a lot of press or publicity. On a word of mouth level people have been going “have you checked this CD out, it’s really fun”. It’s a really nice selection of styles. One CD you can put on for the personal party in your front room and the other for the bedroom scenario for keeping it horizontal.
Yeah definitely, I’ve really enjoyed it; it’s just so much fun to listen to, a real joy and highlight for the year. How did it come about?
I was approached by the company to do it and for me it was like I’d been given carte blanche to go through the Universal music labels publishing and record archives to use anything I want and mash it up into a compilation and use other bits and pieces too. There was a budget there to get anything I want. I’d done the Sound of Cosmos CDs which was “Rhythm”, “Melody” and “Harmony” (3 CDs) where one was breakbeats, one house and one chill out. It’s certainly not as eclectic as The Trip but again a lot of thought went into that with key mixing everything. People hailed that as a pioneering mix because I key mixed everything on the album. Three CDs, each one a different kind of tempo format and flavour. With The Trip, it was just really good fun coming up with the concept of a vertical selection and a horizontal selection; blending soundtracks, samples from films and little bleeps from TV game shows. Just blending and mixing it all up.
I read in the cover notes that you had trouble getting some of the original tracks but I can’t imagine the mix with some of those originals in it. I love some of those covers and hearing them all mixed together.
Ha ha brilliant. To come and listen to me DJing now it will be a lot of re-contextualising classic tracks. I’m loving covers at the moment and probably one of my favourite things is collecting exotic cover versions. If you come across any really unusual versions point them out to me cause I’m an avid collector.
I read that you’re a bit of technofile when it comes to recording and DJing. What does a DJ set by Tom Middleton involve at the moment?
Right now I’ve just learnt how to use CDJ decks really well so I can manipulate the tempo of any tune and basically jump from hip hop to drum’n’bass and all the tempos in between if I choose to. It’s kind of like manipulating digital audio and cutting and scratching and mashing up and leaping between genres as seamlessly and smoothly as possible without disrupting the flow of the night. There’s always a thread; one track will always connect to another, as I’m sure you’ve worked out with The Trip, it’s just a matter of joining the dots between pieces of music.
So what can those lucky people in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne expect? Is there anything in particular that you’ve been working on recently or are there any highlights that have been working really well?
I’ve remixed Adelaide’s finest singer who sings with Zero 7 and I’ve remixed Kylie this year, it’s bizarre I’ve remixed two Australian singers in one year. Both of those remixes have been going down really well and I’ll be dropping those. And some exclusives from my new One for All Cosmos debut LP. And plenty of stuff that I’ve been collecting, lots of exclusive material. Mostly never heard, a lot of it will be “I’ve heard that, but not like that before”.
A lot of re-edits by yourself?
Bucket loads of edits. I think to be a DJ with any kind of impact now you’ve got to be different and have your own versions of things. For me it’s about having good quality music and having versions of tracks and mash ups that no one else has got.
You are reknown for your remixes, is there anything at the moment that you would love to get your hands on?
U2! I’m itching to remix U2 right now. There’s a few off the new album, they all have possibility. I’d just love to have the parts from any U2 album, oh man….
15 minutes seems like 5 when talking to someone like Tom Middleton about music and if it wasn’t for phone lines cutting out exactly on time one felt that he was all too happy to keep talking. For those in Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, be sure to catch him on his brief tour down under in the coming week:
31st Dec @ 2000 Leagues Under the Sea – @ Chinese Laundry, Sydney
01st Jan @ Sunshine People – @ Atlantic Wharf, Melbourne
01st Jan @ Barbeque Breaks @ Fridays, Brisbane
07th Jan @ People Get Up @ the Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Otherwise check out his outstanding mix album The Trip or his upcoming artist album as Cosmos, All For One.
