So, what does it mean to be a plump one? To knock back a few too many hamburger and coke combos? That’s what I thought, until I discovered one of dance music’s truly outstanding acts, the Plump DJs, late in 2003. The Plump’s ‘Eargasm’ CD just jumped off the shelf. A big glitzy party boot with… ummm… well, some interesting textures in the background! The rest is history. ‘Eargasm’ was the artist album that defined it’s time, mixing often hard-edged breakbeat sounds with genuine musical genius. Serious melody, and it was super funky to boot!
The Plump ones are again on the verge of an onslaught, with Australian audiences in pole position to lap up a heap of new sounds this summer. The boys are about to visit our shores and spoil us rotten with a heap of new tracks, including some more minimal stuff, and most importantly, a sneak peak at tunes from their forthcoming artists album, titled… well, let’s just refer to it as ‘Secret Squirrel’.
Speaking to Lee Plump (I wonder if his Mum calls him that?!), I really got an appreciation for what makes these boys tick. On one hand, they sure know how to party and rock a crowd with their DJ sets. And they get to produce in the creative heart of London; Soho. However these guys take their music seriously, and we – the public – will benefit big time in 2007. Prepare for the Plumps to redefine this era in dance music. Again.
SD. Tell us about the new single, ‘Mad Cow’.
We’ve been planning [it] for some time now. We just wanted to put it out in the interim before the new album. Yeah it’s quite cool, big breaks and quite a tuff sound. And there’s this silly dance to go with it so it’s quite funny!
SD. Is there a b-side?
No, as we’re in middle of doing album we’re not really supposed to be releasing anything. ‘Mad Cow’ was done before the album project so that’s why it’s good to release it on its own.
SD. And the ‘Mad Cow’ dance instructions, were they something you put together?
No I don’t know where they came from. The dance is this thing people do where they dance around like wallys.
SD. Your new album, when can we expect it and what’s it like?
It sounds a lot fresher than our last stuff. But I suppose that makes sense given it’s been three years since ‘Eargasm’ and about two since ‘Saturday Night Lotion’. But this is a proper artist [album], real experimental, whereas ‘Saturday Night Lotion’ was a mix album. The new one will be experimenting with different tempos and loads of different ideas.
SD. Does it have a tentative title?
It does but I can’t let it out of the bag.
SD. Can either of you play an instrument or are you just computer nerds?
Andy can play piano and sax and I can play guitar, mostly acoustic. We actually just bought a plump bass guitar! But I’m sort of self taught whereas Andy’s a classically trained musician.
SD. How’s your new whiz bang studio going? Has it changed or evolved your sound?
Yeah, well, it’s Andy’s studio and he saved up a lot of money over the 5 years we’d been working together. We both put it together and it’s in Soho. One of the greatest things the studio has to offer is that we can go back to old mixes and records, to tracks not complete that are saved on the computer’s memory. It was always quite tough in previous years where we had to finish every record the day we started it. But now we can get the main groove of a track down, then come back to it later. We’ve got a load more synthesizers and compressor, and three plasma teles. It’s really like something out of Star Trek!
SD. Everything you do has a real ‘plump’ feel – from record sleeves to your website, and everything in between. Do you work closely with your creative team?
Well, all the music is done by me and Andy, and Fingerlickin [Records] sort of coordinate the internet site. I think Fingerlickin’ have always had quite a sure identity for us with Gem being the main visual source. The guys that did my website sort of wanted to make it look like a newspaper or mag and with a real symmetry with Gem’s artwork. The website is actually quite out of date as it’s currently getting a big revamp which should all be changed in the next few months and the (new artist) album should be ready a few months later.
SD. Your upcoming Aussie shows, how do you prepare for a tour such as this? Are there any special treats us Aussies can expect?
We’ve made a lot of music for the tour specifically. It’s a really big thing for us coming to Australia actually, and we always end up making some tracks specifically. For some reason, Australian tours often spurns our creativity. We did the Donna Summer bootlegs, and ‘The Gate’ was done specifically for Australia. This time we’re diversifying, including making a techno record for this tour and lots of minimal breaks stuff for the set. A lot of our own tunes are quite flamboyant, so we thought it’d be a good idea to make some more understated records to kind of make the journey more diverse. They’ve been going down really well… some may be released in the future.
SD. Where does the inspiration for your music come from? Do you hear a groove in your head or is it more through twiddling knobs in the studio and stumbling across something that works?
A bit of everything you just said. We’re actually quite regimented starting the same time in the morning and finishing around 7 in the evening. We meet up in the morning and discuss what we’re doing that day, such as a new track idea or a tune we’ve heard recently. Our new music comes from those discussions and once you have an idea of what you have in your head, then we use certain techniques to get that onto CD. So we may go out and sample a record or get a drum library together, then formulate other ideas together.
SD. Is there a stand out artist from your childhood that inspired you to pursue a career in music?
There are probably two main people for me. One is Matt from the Freestylers. I met Matt at uni when him and Andy were good friends and released a very successful track together. I started hanging out with Matt in ’93 or ’94. The other person is Chris Gibbs, an old school friend that taught me how to DJ. Actually, I think we both loved Pink Floyd when we were really young and… actually, Stevie Wonder!
SD. Do you think Stevie Wonder would like the Plumps sound? I think he’d go running out the room!
Yeah, probably not what he’d expect hey!
SD. Silly question, have you ever considered getting really fat to fit the name?
I have been putting on a bit of weight actually and been going on lots of diets to be honest. We live too well and eat too much! We have actually thought about wearing some blow up sumo outfits. Actually, I don’t think we’ll get fat as we’re quite serious about our music and the name is silly enough!
SD. What’s it like being part of the Fingerlickin’ label setup? They seem to have a really great vibe going and a very loyal audience.
Yeah especially in Australia, Fingerlickin’ is really big over there and it’s something we’re really thankful for. At Fingerlickin’ we’re all friends and have known each other for so long. I think we signed in ‘99 we’ve all been through a lot together. In some ways it’s quite tough having the business side and being friends, but we’re friends first and foremost. It’s also really good to be part of a creative team. We bounce ideas off each other all the time and play each other tracks and to get opinions.
Don’t miss the Plump DJs touring Australia this summer, playing their most extensive run of shows down under ever!
Sun Dec 31st – Melbourne, 33&1/3
Mon Jan 1st – Sydney, Field Day [SOLD OUT]
Fri Jan 4th – Newcastle, Nutshell Breaks
Sat Jan 6th – Gold Coast, Summafieldayze
Wed Jan 10th – Hobart, Halo
Fri Jan 12th – Canberra, Academy
Sat Jan 13th – Perth, Gilkisons
skywalkin_ says...
great interview! can't wait to see 'em again at FD