Interview: Julio Bashmore Reinvents The Dance Album For A Nu House Generation

The toppa-top house producer talks us through the making of debut album, 'Knockin' Boots'.

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Encapsulating a smooth-sailing kind of happiness, Julio Bashmore's effortlessly cool state swims calmly through his tidal when building up tracks. Igniting spiritual moments of clarity and calamity, the producer's slowly-impending chorus drops explode with serotonin, fueling all-night-head-bobbing-floor-dropping energies. After tinkering with computer games in his Bristol bedroom, Bashmore relocated to London's Red Bull Studios for a year before taking production to his New Cross ends to finish album proceedings. 

Patiently allowing a tenuous three-and-a-half-year roll out—marked from when his "Battle For Middle You" single floored the electronic charts, to now—Julio's 'give a shit' attitude (parring off chart expectation) is exactly what benefits the album's unique finish. Personally seeking out soulful, irreverent vocalists to collaborate with when writing vocals and pairing to a track beat, Bashmore's understated debut improves on every listen. Knockin' Boots delivers everything the dance world hoped it would, and leaves the beat-wizard with a nu house classic on his hands.

Interview by Milly McMahon

From the very beginning, you worked quite simply on making beats and tinkering with sounds. Were their elements of that earlier style you were actively looking to preserve or change with the release of your debut album?
It's just continuation. I've managed to keep the spirit of now knowing entirely what's going on. So it was all about gaining that introverted sense of being just into my own weird music and not paying too much attention to what's going on around me. To be honest, it goes in waves. I go on mad YouTube searches and come across some really bizarre stuff. For example, there's really good theme music that goes to '80s archery tutorials; I've exhausted all of them from the '80s. I'll type in 1979 archery tuition, then 1981, and then once you've done that, you can translate to Japanese and it takes you to some pretty nitrating places. 

Your track "Bark" features your dog, barking. Is the initial inspiration behind most tracks just a simple moment similar to thatand does your dog recognise himself on track?
Yeah, that's right. I just followed him around pinching his balls, trying to get him to bark. I don't think he recognises himself though [laughs]. If there's one thing I can guarantee, it's that the way I make music is far from complicated; I like to keep it as simple as possible. It comes from messing about and having fun, for the most part.

Did you arrive at a natural end point, to end and render the content, or did you just step back and force the finish because you weren't sure if you would ever arrive at that place?
I think it was a bit of both. I think one of the hardest things when you're doing anything creative, as an artist, is there being no official beginning or end; letting go was a hard thing for me. I worked on the album, officially, for three-and-a-half years and I still didn't think it was done but I remember at one point, Christmas was coming up and I wasn't going to stay in the studio over that time. I needed to be eating turkey and not worry, and that really motivated me. So it just came together in that last week. I forced myself to do it! I've always just casually made music, and then I got serious at the end of the album's production. In 2013, there were two points when I could've finished it but I just thought it wasn't saying what I wanted it to say. I'm glad I continued with it though because I feel like it does what I want it to now. What it had lacked before, was not expressing a lot about me and, fundamentally, that was a big issue for me. I realised I had to draw from other influences. There's a whole other side to what I do which is a bit more song based, such as making more mixed up music like Jessie Ware's production. I had to merge both worlds to make a rounded album. 

Were your vocalist friends, or people who you actively sought out?
I sought them out: J'Danna, I saw do a cover of Gil Scott-Heron at a Gilles Peterson event and it blew my mind, and I came across Bixby's stuff online. With Seven Davis Jr, I started hanging out with him a lot when I was in Los Angeles... I loved the stuff he did on the Funkinevens label.

Do the vocalists listen to the beat and come up with the words or are you doing the writing and directing? 
I like to build relationships with the vocalists to the point where we can sit and write songs together; it's just more organic that way. The collaboration with Okmalumkoolkat, that took place when he was in South Africa. I really wanted to work with him, from what I had heard of him before, so I sent him some beats and he did his thing from his base.

Your granddad, Don, said he listened to five minutes on Annie Mac and that was enough. Does he struggle to understand the music you make?
He likes the music, but he's a country and western guy [laughs]. His roots lie firmly cemented in Don Williams and Dolly Parton. Stuff like that. We listen to his music, and it's pretty cool. My uncle used to listen to it in the car when I was younger. My uncle gave him his old XR2 and so he treated that like a rally, car bombing it around playing rhinestone cowboy. I have pretty good memories of that. I went to Nashville last year and I brought him some souvenirs back from there. There was this tailor there who makes all of the suits for people like Dolly Parton, with all the rhinestones. My biggest regret was not getting one. I didn't even try one on! I just think I was totally overwhelmed. If I'm ever in Nashville again... The tailor was super-impressive.

Why did you go out to Nashville?
Just for fun, really. I played in America loads last year, and have been going there for about four years off and on. I love it out there. What fascinates me right now is being in the middle of nowhere. In the States, they have these massive antique malls in the middle of nowhere, full of stuff. I'm just fascinated by Middle America; it's very strange and there are moments of things being pretty extreme. I went with my girlfriend, and before we went, we made the mistake of watching the whole True Detective series... It was exactly like that show; the scenery and everything. There was this one moment where we went to an old outdoor drive-through cinema. We arrived really early and there was this old cowboy stood there with a cigar, hat and sunglasses, being really weird, shaking his head. He came over to the car, looking pretty creepy, but ended up being a really sound guy. All he wanted to say was that the cinema was open.

House isn't as popular in the States as it is in the UKbut things seems to be picking up.
The shows out there are either really incredible, or the people just don't get it. There are pockets of house having history along the West Coast, San Fran, but in places like California, Middle America, it hasn't quite yet reached. Canada, Toronto especially, is pretty sick for house music though. But what I like about America is that some places can really surprise you. When I went to Calgary, I wasn't sure what to expect because it isn't really a very big place, but it turned out to be one of the best shows I have ever played. It was one of the first places I ever played in North America, about four-and-a-half years ago, and when I went back the same dudes are still running it. 

'Knockin' Boots' is out on August 7. Pre-order it here.

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