Conquering Animal Sound: The Great Escape

Ever taken a trip to the heathery moors of the Highlands to gaze at the long grass, feel the quiet wind on your face and squint at the blurry skyline beyond the hills? Me neither, but if you’re looking for a cheaper way to a relaxing getaway, Conquering Animal Sound are the band equipped to transport you to a better place. A duo that teamed up only last year, CAS have kindled interest with their unique take on folk music.

Unusual song structures find vocalist Anneke Kampman dusting off beautiful melodic mantras with a carefree finesse whilst Jamie Scott (also known in his sometime solo guise as The Japanese War Effort) provides battered electronic loops of toy instruments and haunting unidentifiable percussive nuances.

Where did it all begin? “We first met at university," says Jamie. "On our ice breaker session we were paired into a band, covering Stevie Wonder. The fact that we both clearly hated the experience was our first positive exchange.” Since identifying this shared disdain, CAS have played extensively around the central belt, receiving curious compliments throughout. “At one gig a chap came up to me and said "keep at it, that's how Enya started out,'" Jamie elaborates. "I don't think Enya ever used a loop pedal but apparently if she did she would sound like us!”

Imposing limitations is often a way to spark creativity and CAS know this all too well. Recording without taking "the easy route of a laptop,” they assert their creativity the CocoRosie way, with “cheap keyboards, toy percussion and lots of effects pedals," suggests Jamie. "Whatever happened to be at hand when we started playing.”

This nth degree of DIY is communicated especially well in the live setting, as Anneke keenly points out. “From the get-go it was always our idea to create 'live' electronic music," she says. "I don't mean to sound overly critical, but If I wanted to listen to someone press space bar then I would stay at home. The key is live, live, LIVE!”

CAS’s first release is a twenty-five minute one-track mixtape, downloadable via their profile page on last.fm. Why choose this method of putting the music out there? “I think it was hearing Micachu's Filthy Friends and downloading LuckyMe mixes that got me thinking on the mixtape format," elaborates Jamie. "At the expense of sounding nostalgic, I still enjoy albums as a whole piece of work.”

The mixtape features a host of ideas, some full songs, some minute snippets of quirky soundscapes. How did they collate the range of material? “For me, inspiration is a matter of keeping a notebook,” muses Anneke, “We collect together sounds from as many sources as possible and then try to structure them together to create something we like.”

In Conquering Animal Sound, disagreements only arise over style, with Anneke taking a stand on the “matching luminous orange ponchos” Jamie wants for the next photoshoot. “He can think again. Our next photoshoot will involve 'Papillon-esque prisoner stuck on an island' chic,” she jokes (we think!?).

Besides this internal war of fashion photography, the near future yields bigger battles for the twosome which will hopefully open them up to a wider range of possibilities. “We are currently recording our debut album” Jamie offers. “It's due for release in late summer. Before that, we'll be embarking on a U.K tour. Very exciting!” If the LP and tour turn out to be half as fun as the music on show so far, there'll be a bright season on the horizon for this adventurous duo.