Jamie Lidell

Doug Fir, Portland: rocking immaculate white shoes and a dapper plastic tie, Jamie Lidell exercises immaculate larynx mastery as he vacillates between crooning and belting out “Multiply.” The massive throng of onlookers at the club sorta rhythmically pulsates as one uniform body; it’s as if all present are unable to stop swiveling their hips in time. Cut to Seattle’s Chop Suey the following evening, where Jamie’s performance has precisely the same effect on the sweaty, packed club. It’s a syndrome, apparently: Lidell-induced pulsation-cum-gyration. Because witnessing a true master performing his craft is intoxicating and heady. You lose yourself in the sound, just as Jamie does.

Jamie is something of an enigma. See, there’s the ‘90s Lidell: a glitch techno maven who performing in dim Berlin warehouses alongside his Super_Collider cohort, Cristian Vogel. Both Jamie and Super_Collider spawned a bevy of productions on Mosquito, Warp, Klang Elektronik and !K7. The laptop-loving technite drew a steady legion of fans that remain faithful to his earlier and less accessible releases to this day. Then there’s the crooning Jamie of 2006, a Casanova-looking fellow who shaves onstage from time to time. It’s as if Marvin Gaye were reborn into the body of a skinny white guy from rural England, and let me tell you: it’s perilously hot.

Jamie and I discussed his craft at his Jupiter Hotel digs prior to his Doug Fir performance. Regarding me levelly through thick Elvis Costello-ish glasses, he pontificated on industry expectations opposing his own musical desires, having lots of majors at university, his perfectionism, and an inability to feel pure satisfaction with anything he does. As my pinchy recording equipment went kaput, Jamie cheekily answered a few email questions you see in the Q & A below. He speaks in code throughout, but he’s got a motif: he’s healthy now. He’s ready for his much-awaited success, thanks in part to organic body products and regular colon cleanses. Yep, he’s got antics.

How do you feel that your new album is a departure from the older Super_Collider stuff? It seems your new style is less constrained than your older tech-y approach. What does that say about the headspace you were in when producing under each moniker?

In a nutshell I think it's obvious to the electronic community that I am healthier now AND that means 30% slimmer, thanks to a new diet and training regime change. I am now officially an optimist, and run on a fuel of non-filtered, post-organic, semi-skimmed almond milks and a plethora of natural skin and hair products. I shall soon be branching out into these businesses perhaps merely to prey and play in and on the pockets of the rich and slightly less than secure. I cannot, sadly, reveal my motives.

What's next for you? You're English, living in Berlin, dating someone in France, and touring around the world. Do you plan on staying in Germany?

That's personal. Did I say we could do personal? Is this a date? For the files, I am officially an eco-gypsy, darling.

You've talked before about how your drive is at once positive and negative. You're a perfectionist, and while this can propel you further with music production, you are never satisfied. Where does this come from?

I blame it on diet. Quite simply, an unnatural fetish with all things carb. I know, I know. Self control. The rice and bread was first to go, and I can tell you that since then I'm way more focused. I'd say it's up 40% or so. Then there's the saturated fat intake. SLASHED! No more compound butter in this body temple, I can tell you. Skin care products also get absorbed into the blood. Yes I know. It's terrible. Something nobody really ever talks about. Let me address that right now: choose the wrong deodorant and suffer mental instability. Is it really worth it just to smell good?

What do you think helps you arrive at the spontaneity to create a track like "A Little Bit More" in four hours? I know you're a perfectionist as a musician and have spent months on one single track. What do you think lets your genius loose enough to create a radical work with such little time input?

Actually, through a painful process of deduction, I have worked out the B vitamin intake required for a mental explosion of the sort you mention here. It leaves you a little drained, but it's really worth it. Don't be fooled by the cheap solutions, though. It has to come from organic or pre-organic matter.

What's the deal with the costumes?

50% off in the first quarter, which really hurt, but things are picking up. I didn't want to source material from non-secure government zones. Thank god I've found another way. Strive for the best people.

The general feeling of your new album is this sort of bollocks attitude, like, "I'm living now, 'gonna at least go under with a smile….' It's a departure from your former work, which was detailed and methodical. Why?

I feel you have me all wrong, my dear. How about Tuesday week?

You've labored for many years somewhat under the radar of popular culture, and it seems that there is a great fanfare around what you're doing following your recent tour. How do you remain so down to earth when you're surrounded by the ego of the music industry?

Obviously, there's the ego UV one must protect oneself from. I use an oil based zinc. Dangerous in high potency, but so effective. It's effectively a total block.

Your new record uses minimal electronics and remains mostly acoustic. Do you think your next projects will have a similar approach?

I am purer now. Leaner. I hope to trim the juice intake I currently imbibe to remove what are essentially "bad" habits that still linger. YES, I still crave sugar like a fool. YES, it even comes through my larynx. See, until the colon is cleansed, there really is no hope. Inner strength, people. SERIOUSLY now.

Can you talk about the constraints of the equipment you use? Do you feel that software limits your approach for production in a way that instruments don't?

The peach has a fleshy skin. Oh and how I enjoy sinking my teeth into and THROUGH that skin to the juicy flesh that lays in wait beneath. The skin alone is not a pleasure, BUT it is PART of the experience of eating the fruit. It both contains and adds to the joy of the juice.

What else?

I think that's quite enough.

See Jamielidell.com for more lunacy.