Luke Vibert Interview: Who Else?

Last month saw the release of Bizarster, Luke Vibert’s seventh studio album under his own name – that figure grows significantly if you consider his work under aliases such as drum'n'bass project Plug, the junglist Amen Andrews guise and the Wagon Christ moniker, through which he presents spaced-out trip-hop of gratifying looseness. Also dabbling in everything else from acid and rave to disco and hip-hop over 25 years, and always doing so in a distinctive fashion, the veteran producer is by now fairly comfortable in shifting perspective with ease. On his latest offering, many of these styles sit side by side, somehow tied together by that unmistakable Vibert touch.

“It's a big old mix of stuff Mike [Paradinas, of Planet Mu] hand-picked from tons of tracks from the last few years,” he tells us. It’s easy to imagine he has the same kind of vast cache of unreleased music as fellow traveller Aphex Twin, who recently sent sections of the internet into meltdown with a mass dump of years' worth of tracks via an obscure Soundcloud alias – an idea Vibert admits does have a certain appeal for him too.

Yet while many may have initially speculated about the possibility that Richard D. James’ bulk upload, and last year’s release of the album Syro, was a way of drawing a line under one era in the history of Aphex Twin, it somehow seems less likely that Vibert could ever be as pre-meditated in his approach. Rather, he seems content to continually revisit different styles and aliases whenever the notion takes him – evidenced with this year’s welcome return to the spellbinding disco house of his alias Kerrier District, a move which delighted many who had suspected the project had been consigned to history.

That said, when asked if he feels any pressure or level of expectation when producing new work, or whether he instead takes a more carefree approach, his answer is tellingly simple: “Pretty much the latter.”

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This nonchalant sensibility is also writ large in the tongue-in-cheek flourishes found throughout Bizarster, firmly placing it within the Vibert canon. Whether through playful samples, cartoonish sound effects or simply in the use of silly track titles, Vibert has always appeared to shirk the po-faced indulgence that plagues many electronic artists – even those who have had much less of an impact and lasting influence than the 42-year-old from Cornwall.

“It's pretty subconscious,” he says of the way in which this skittish side finds its way into his music through the oddball samples and sounds he utilises to devastating effect. “It’s just putting bits together, one by one. I sometimes don't quite realise what's happening under my nose!”

Unsurprisingly, Vibert’s approach to DJing is as intuitive as the way he produces music. In the past he has spoken about how he rarely plans his sets until shortly before taking to the booth, taking his cue from whoever has warmed up and feeling his way through the set by instinct. “I love the varied nature of DJing,” he explains, comparing it to his back catalogue, in terms of the variety of moods on offer. “But obviously a nice banging set every now and then clears the air out,” he jokes, with an eye on his upcoming appearance at The Art School, where he is joined by Planet Mu labelmate Konx Om Pax.      

All told, it would seem that very little has changed for Luke Vibert, in terms of how he views his working processes at least. Can he pinpoint any shift at all in recent years? “Hard to say, really. I suppose I must have become more knowledgeable somehow, but it doesn't particularly feel like it.” In fact, his reflections on making music would seem to echo the sentiments of his most enthusiastic fans, who rather convincingly point out that however retrospective some of his output may feel, it still blows most of the contemporary competition out of the water: “It feels pretty damn similar to 25 years ago, I'm happy to report.” We suspect that feeling is mutual, Luke.

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Luke Vibert plays Something Wicked at The Art School, Glasgow on Saturday 28 Nov

Bizarster is out now on Planet Mu