2 Fingers, UK

 

The Two Fingers project consists of Brazilian beat-adventurer Amon Tobin and Joe “Doubleclick” Chapman. The digital duo got together when Tobin lived in Brighton and bonded over an interest in music that ran way beyond the boundaries of so-called “electronica”.


In Montreal they applied production techniques associated with UK music styles like drum & bass to the template of hip hop, then teamed up with MOBO-winning MC/producer Sway (now signed to Akon’s Konvict label in the US), sometime Missy protégé Ms Jade and dancehall legend Ce’Cile to embellish their innovative sound with a strong vocal presence.

Sitting somewhere between hip hop, drum & bass and grime, the duo’s eponymous debut album is an ear-splitting experience, ranging beautifully from the scatter-gun riddims of opener “Straw Men” and the sub-bass grooves of “What You Know” to the raucous title track and the Banghra/dancehall fusion “Jewels & Gems”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you remember of the first meeting between you two?

Doubleclick: It was upstairs at a pub on Queens Road, Brighton ten years ago. I was one of a few people who played digital music up there. Amon knew the others, but he didn't know me yet. I wore a suit and sensible shoes to match the desk and computer for the full "get out of my office" effect. God knows what he thought of the shaven-headed monkey creature in the suit.

Amon: I was intrigued straight away. After all, how many people performing with a PC see it through to making an office environment on stage? The beats were tough too!

When did you first get together to actually make music?

Doubleclick: We first collaborated on a track for Amon's "Collaborations" EP at Amon's Brighton studio.

Amon: We both had some pretty solid ideas for that track. In the end it didn't turn out as good as it could have but was enough to motivate us to want to do more.
    
Would you say you share a natural common vision? Or differing visions that are complimentary?

Doubleclick: A little of both. When we were discussing what kind of music we were going to make as Two Fingers, we both knew what it would sound like. Then again, it's also true that each of us comes up with ideas that the other wouldn't, but it all fits together. We have a clear vision of what is or isn't a Two Fingers track, but each of us brings different things too.

Amon: I think it goes wider than the music. A mutual arrogance about the way things should be with an understanding that it's not really arrogance, but sometimes it's more fun to present an opinion from an unmoving standpoint to provoke a discussion of some kind.

Doubleclick: We're usually polite and reasonable, but we both like a good focussed rant.

Were you based in the same place when the album was made or was it a case of swapping files across the ether?

Doubleclick: I came to Montreal to make the LP with Amon. It was two years of many long nights in the studio, followed by a wobbly walk home across the ice.

Amon: Sometimes I'd go to get some milk in the morning and find Joe frozen on the steps. I'd take him back in thaw him out. He'd ask me "What year is this? Who's the president?" then we'd start on the next session.

How do you two work generally in the studio? Specific roles or more of a ‘jam’ approach?

Doubleclick: Usually one of us will have the skeleton of a track underway before we begin, but sometimes we would just start by generating and gathering sounds. Any noise that gets either an "oooh" or a laugh would go in. The idea with Two Fingers is that we can work together or separately. Either way, it's still "us".

Amon: Exactly, we both know the sound we are after but have different ways of getting there. It's a pretty healthy situation and it helps to keep each other on a roll too.

Were any special machines used in the making of this record?

Doubleclick: Yeah, my beloved self-built PCs, sadly deceased. Overseas shipping companies buckled them beyond recognition: one on the way to Montreal, and one on the way back. Very sad. My new one looks like a Soviet tank and weighs 24kg. I'd like to see them try and break this, the bastards.

Amon: We used Chandler compression quite a bit as well as a lovely Manley valve EQ. Mainly it was a mixture of hardware and software though.

The name seems provocative yet ambiguous. What made you settle on it?

Doubleclick: Exactly that, the ambiguity. Two Fingers could mean a measure of alcohol, something sex-related, a gun, a peace sign or an offensive gesture. A French fan asked us about the name, because it reminded him of a French phrase about friendship which translates as "like two fingers on the same hand" - kind of like the English phrase "two peas in a pod". So it means many different things, and it works for us because you quickly forget it means anything at all after you've heard it a few times.
     
How have people taken the project so far?

Doubleclick: Very well, we're happy to say! It's a tricky thing with the kind of music we're making, because it can really throw people if you veer even a tiny bit away from the centre of the style. We always hoped that the impact of the tunes would win people over in the end, and so far that seems to be the case.

Amon: It's hard to get it across sometimes that you really are motivated by the process of making the music itself. People can end up criticising you for not fulfilling some other agenda that you weren't ever particularly bothered with or even aware of, but I have to say this record has so far managed to sidestep a lot of that. People seem to be taking it more at face value and appreciating it as the mutant child of bass and kick drum fetish it is.

Was TF an instrumental project at the beginning, or were you always intending to work with vocalists?

Doubleclick: This was always a project for vocalists, and we will produce for more vocalists in the future.  

Amon: Producing for vocals was new to both of us. It was a challenge to make a vocal record where the music was more than just a loop or backdrop. From a technical point of view we both appreciate well-constructed songs, regardless of whether they are instrumental or not, so our approach was ambitious. We wanted each single element including the vocal to have character and be special in some way.

How did Sway get involved, and what do you think he specifically brings to the project?

Doubleclick: Sway was the prime candidate while we were making the tunes, so we were very happy that he wanted to be part of this too. He flew to Montreal to record with us, and his presence defines each track. We wanted him for his technical ability, intelligence and humour, and he delivered.

Was the album already ‘done’ when he got involved?

Doubleclick: We'd made an LP's worth of material so there were plenty of tracks for Sway to choose from, but he came in about halfway through. The LP was shaped to some extent by the choices the MCs made about which tracks they wanted to be on.

And at which point did you get Ms. Jade, and Ce’Cile involved, and how?

Doubleclick: I was still buzzing from having worked with Sway when we were having to think of who to contact next. I loved Ms. Jade's "Girl Interrupted" LP, and we wanted to get female voices on the LP too. We got in touch and headed down to Philadelphia, and working with her was another highlight of making this LP. Ce'Cile was brought on board by Amon with the help of Ninja Tune's Jeff Waye.

What key musical influences did you draw on? Drum & bass, dancehall and hip hop are the obvious ones – anything else? Wonk? Dubstep? Grime? Armenian folk?

Doubleclick: All of the above and more (ok, maybe not Armenian folk). It's a sound built from listening to UK, US, Middle-Eastern, North African and Japanese music, anything that we've heard and liked. '92 hardcore, soul, electro, even bands like Cardiacs, it all feeds into our style.

Amon: We wanted to let in all the things we loved about different kinds of music, but ultimately come out with a focused style of our own that was consistent throughout the record.

What inspirations outside of music did the project have?

Doubleclick: We take a lot of inspiration from films and computer games, especially the approach to sound design.

If you had to describe the sound to people in five words, what would you say?

Doubleclick: Gargantuan. Filthy. Alien. Swagger. B-b-b-b-bass.

What are your thoughts on the current state of drum & bass / hip hop?

Doubleclick: I'm just as excited by the possibilities in healthy times as I am by times of crisis, and depending on who you listen to things are either great or at rock-bottom. There are murmurs in both camps that hip-hop's dead, d&b's dead. I don't think that's true for either side - it just means we're about to see some things change.

Who would you most like to work with for a follow up?

Doubleclick: I would be glad to work with any of the vocalists again - they've all been great. I'd also like to work with more US MCs and singers next time. I'm very impressed with Finale and Phat Kat right now.

Amon: I'd like to try a few different things as one-offs for a while, just get a broader feel of working with vocals. There are some great lyricists out there but I'd like to find someone who has a special flow and tone to their voice. Something that really lends itself to the overall sound of the production.

Doubleclick: This is the thing about having a sound with a lot of weight too; the power in a male voice like Sway's is a great match, but the tone of a female voice also makes a great contrast.