Modular technology and a bit of folk
Two decades into his career and Simon Green’s Bonobo is still reaching previously unexplored heights. Having debuted with the downtempo, trip-hop vibe of Animal Magic in 2000, his multi-layered sample-based approach to production has enveloped jazz and world music styles, attracting numerous Grammy nominations. Mainstage performances at major festivals raised his profile further and he even climbed towards the upper reaches of the UK chart with his 2017 album, Migration.
Increasingly enmeshing electronics and live instrumentation, Green’s onstage setup has become increasingly expansive. However, his gruelling live schedule took its toll. Stimulated by writing on the road, the pandemic now found Green wrestling with his own isolation and seeking impetus. Investigating the world of modular synthesis, on Bonobo’s seventh album, Fragments, the producer’s self-made systems coexist with live instrumentation, sample-based strings and upbeat rhythmic frameworks.
Beat / Your last album Migration was a top 5 hit. Does that sort of success hold meaning for you?
Simon / I’m from a generation where the charts do mean something – back in the day I’d listen to the Top 40 on the radio every Sunday night. These days, it’s all about the first week and whatever happens after that is fair game, so while that sort of success is not everything it is a nice thing to have on your metaphorical shelf.
Beat / Your debut album Animal Magic could definitively be described as trip-hop, but do you find these labels cease to apply within electronic music today?
Simon / I’ve never been that fond of genre-assigning. Trip-hop was a very specific scene that was a lot narrower than people imagined. It went on for a few years in a few places, and I was definitely influenced by it, but by the time I started releasing stuff in the early 2000s there was this whole ‘chillout’ scene that I spent years trying to keep at arm’s length. You get all these little micro-genres too, like vaporwave and chillstep, which are quite funny actually. Stick a ‘wave’ on anything and it seems to be a genre right now.
Beat / They come and go, but techno and house
