While Wide Angle and Morning Sci-Fi set the bar for progressive breaks, Hybrid has explored new territory on its most recent album Disappear Here. Ahead of the band’s live return on the Glade Stage at Glastonbury, inthemix heard from founding member Mike Truman where they’re at in 2010.

Firstly, congratulations on the new album. You must be very proud.
Thank you very much. We’re definitely more pleased with it now that we have had a bit of a break from it, given that we had two years of listening to the same tracks every day. It is refreshing to get away from it for a while and then come back to it before starting a tour.

Now for Hybrid fans, this album will be a continuation away from strict progressive breaks tunes towards a more symphonic sound. How would you describe this album to someone who hasn’t ever experienced Hybrid?
Essentially, this album is a lot more song-based than a lot of our previous music. It draws a lot of its lineage and its heritage from electronica – not just club music per se, but lots of different electronic styles. This time round we thought we wanted to really push the songwriting and make it a more intimate sounding album, which probably means we’ll go completely the other way for the next one! It has got a lot more film score references, which is something that we’ve always been fiercely passionate about from day one; ten or fifteen years ago. It’s that level of suspense and that ambience that we wanted to put around the album. So let’s just say it’s a mixture of electronica with film score touches I guess.

Hybrid has had several different vocalists over the years, including John Graham and Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction. This new album features Charlotte James as the primary vocalist on most tracks. What new, unique quality do you feel that she brings to the album?
We have wanted to work with Charlotte after meeting her about three years ago. It was only when we started working together we realised that she’s also a multi-instrumentalist. Because Chris and I come from a more electronic background, we are a bit limited in which instruments we can use, whereas Charlotte plays cello, violin, piano and guitar absolutely brilliantly. This meant that we could build a more substantial sound. In a way she was our muse for the project.

With an album that is not easily translated into the clubbing environment, remixes are the key. How important do you see the Kill City remixes as being to the overall Hybrid sound and experience?
I think where we have fallen down previously is when we tried to incorporate strong club tracks onto our albums. When you put a dance track right in the middle of an album that is of a very different musical style, it stands out. We made a choice not to have club tracks randomly in the middle of the album and just to have them as remixes. We have remixed three or four tracks from the album so far and we’re in the process of doing some more of those, which is something we’re looking at releasing separately later in the year.

There are also lots of other remixes appearing from artists such as Eljke Klein and Barry Jamieson. How do you choose who will remix your tracks?
Chris has led the charge [as the main DJ of the group] on who we should get to remix our tracks. He’s spoken to Eljke several times and we’re both good friends with Barry Jameson. We’re lucky we can call upon people we respect to remix our tracks; that is the most important thing to us. It’s not about how many units get sold – we just wanted to work with the people we love and that we think will do a good job.

Disappear Here wasn’t just an album – it contained a digital artwork booklet, shirts and a beautiful canvas print. What inspired these artworks and do you think it is important to give your fans more than just a CD these days?
Releasing an album isn’t enough anymore. There is such a wide choice of music out there and it is a lot easier to get music out into the public domain. I think people want value for money and something a bit more tangible with their music purchases, so we’re looking at more videos for tracks. It’s actually more fun expanding it to give people a little more value, so look out for a Blu-ray and DVD later this year.

There have been a lot of rumours about the return of the live show to Australia. Can you confirm anything?
I can confirm that we will definitely be coming back very soon. Most of our best tours ever have been in Australia – in fact, I think all of our best tours have been of Australia – so we’re dying to come back. Every time we come down to Australia, no matter where we play the crowd are just so friendly it’s an honour to come back every time cause we meet the most fantastic people and just have the most amazing time. With Glastonbury around the corner, we have our first live show in three years. We will be posting clips up from there to keep everyone entertained in the meantime.

You have played at some unforgettable parties, including the infamous set at LOT 33 in Canberra in 2004 and NYE at Chinese Laundry with Quivver a few years later.
Oh yeah, both of those were crazy. Every time we come down to Australia, no matter where we play, the crowd are just so friendly. It’s an honour to come back every time because we have never had a bad gig in Australia and we have meet the most fantastic people and have the most amazing times.

Massive Attack recently did a sold out show on the stairs of the Sydney Opera House overlooking the harbour. Would this be the sort of thing you would like to do? Or do you prefer a large festival or small club for performances?
I think for the live show, festivals are always a phenomenal amount of fun. There is something unquantifiable about playing in front of a large sea of people, but the Opera House sounds amazing. It’s very Massive Attack, very cool.

Will it ever be possible to incorporate a full live orchestra into a live performance, given how crucial it was in this album?
We definitely hope so. We’re getting closer to being able to do it now. It’s something we have wanted to do for a while but because we’re ramping up the gigs over the summer (doing several European festivals and some short tours) it has been hard to put more thought into. By next year we should be in a position to look at doing something incredible like that.

Music is changing so fast these days. With the move away from breaks, the rise and fall of electro and this new techno sound, where do you think electronic dance music is going and what part will Hybrid play in it all?
Electronic music is splintering and crossing over so much these days. To be honest, because we have had our head down in the studio for so long, I haven’t really been able to keep track of all this new music for a while. I just finished Trentemoller’s new album which I literally got yesterday. It is just phenomenal; it’s got that edge of techno but it also has this ‘80s/’90s kind of shoegazer distortedness about it that just creates this wonderful kind of realm. Now I’ve had a bit of a chance to catch up, I think the cross-pollination of genres is getting more and more extreme and bizarre, which is creating all this wonderful music. It is getting harder and harder to put your finger on the definition of particular styles, but becoming more about what certain sound they can actually make.

Thank you for your time.
You’re welcome, look forward to seeing you all soon.

Disappear Here is out now on Distinctive Records through Inertia. Read the album review on inthemix.