After Jonnie Wilkes arrived at James Savage’s mastering studio with his debut release in considerable need of attention, the duo formed a friendship and decided to work together, leading to the creation of electronic project Naum Gabo. That was over 20 years ago and the duo have been working together on an almost weekly basis ever since.
Following a host of disparate, idiosyncratic releases on notable labels including Kompakt and Wilkes’ own Optimo Music, the double act decided to ramp up the output, resulting in enough material to finally release a debut album. Sitting somewhere between dark ambient and industrial dance, F. Lux sparkles with murky, cinematic atmospheres and dystopian themes.
You’ve been working together for some time now. Tell us how that lengthy association began?
“Our first record on Kompakt came out in 2004, so it’s been 20 years, but I actually met James a couple of years before that. I was making music and brought some tracks along to his studio in the city centre after hearing about him as a mix engineer. These were the first tracks made in a bedroom studio and I knew they weren’t mixed right and could hear that they didn’t stand up once they went through his desk and monitors. I thought there was too much bass on them, but there was no bass on them and massive errors in referencing. James was very polite about it, but I realised it was going to be a big learning curve
