Gallops: Under The Influence

Wrexham-based rock machine Gallops first made waves following the release of their debut album Yours Sincerely Dr. Hardcore back in 2012, before promptly splitting up the following year. Having since realised how much they missed playing together, they now return with Bronze Mystic, an electronically-charged, sci-fi-tinged and thoroughly compelling follow-up – here multi-instrumentalist Mark Huckridge talks us through the records that inspired their thoroughly welcome return.

The Beatles – Anthology 2

[Apple Records, 1996]

When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my parents brought me back the CD of Anthology 2 from the supermarket as a surprise gift. They could see I was getting into music and it's an obvious introduction to guitar-based music – you can't avoid [The Beatles], I guess. I must have listened to that over and over again; I remember it being a real eye-opening thing. There's a demo version of Strawberry Fields Forever, it's just John Lennon doing a cassette recording of that track: I remember that blowing me away at the time. It's so primitive, just a dude and a guitar. It sounds like something that's achievable, something you could do by yourself.

Oneohtrix Point Never – Garden of Delete

[Beat Records, 2015]

This is really direct and pointed, and appeals to my inherent sort of geekery. The midi programming in that record just completely blew my mind. It was quite influential in some ways to our most recent record, purely because I heard he was using a software synthesiser called Omnisphere. So I thought, 'Oh, he's using that, that's for me!' The sounds you can create with it are amazing and they've made their way onto Bronze Mystic, particularly digital synth sounds and synthetic choral patches. I couldn't believe what I was hearing when I heard it. I'm still not sure how one guy can think of making music that keeps you that interested throughout, it's that crazy and detailed.

Holden – The Inheritors

[Border Community, 2013]

I wasn't really that aware of Holden until this record. What appealed to us with that was he mixes electronic and live instrumentation in a way that works. It can be quite touch and go, that hybrid. I think on that record it manages to be quite out there, electronic-wise, but it retains an organic feel to it that is really hard to do. It led me to get into [synthesiser manufacturers] Modulus too, so it comes back to influencing technology and stuff we buy. I'd love to see Holden live!

Jaga Jazzist – One-Armed Bandit

[Ninja Tune, 2010]

I'm really impressed by Jaga Jazzist, particularly the album One-Armed Bandit. There's one bloke who composes it all, Lars Horntveth, I think he's totally underrated as a composer and an artist. The way he uses melodies and counterpoint between different instruments and makes his whole ensemble work.

The only way I can describe it would be a bit like Frank Zappa but current; a bit cooler than Zappa. It's the sort of record that constantly keeps you interested – there's twists and turns round every corner but it's not clever for clever's sake. There seems to be a reasoning behind every choice on it; from start to finish it's incredible.

Holly Herndon – Platform

[4AD, 2015]

Herndon's a solo laptop artist from San Francisco and has been a huge influence. We ended up stumbling upon her at Primavera, the way you do at a festival, and she was really impressive. The pressure from the bass and stuff was overwhelming.

One thing that particularly impressed me and struck true with what we're trying to do was the visual effects: sometimes with instrumental music it can get a bit boring, you don't have that sort of lead singer to focus on, there's no spectacle. Some bands get away with it and some don't. I think it'd work with our music; it was like she had this sort of retro 90s technology computer aesthetic. It was a crazy film that drew you in and enhanced the music. 

I love what she does with the vocal sounds as well, turning them into, non-traditional vocal sounds. We're tech geeks!

Factory Floor – Factory Floor

[DFA Records, 2013]

I loved how minimal and stark the first record was, and the idea of using a lot of percussion. It's something we're very interested in and they leave a lot of space in the compositions so it doesn't get too cluttered – which is the opposite of Oneohtrix Point Never; he tends to use a lot of layers. This has a different appeal. It's really danceable, they really tapped into a certain sound. I'm into a lot of no-wave stuff and 'disco not disco' and late 70s/early 80s New York stuff, and Factory Floor have that ESG drum sound. It's just really upfront and I really admire that. I love the use of guitars on it as well, it's really off-kilter.

Arca – Mutant

[Mute Records, 2015]

Arca's done a lot of production work for people like Björk, FKA Twigs, even Kanye. I tend to be into the sort of electronic music that suits headphone listening like Mutant. The way Arca uses textures here – it's mostly beatless actually. He uses this palette of sounds which is really unique. You stick the record on and you know that's an Arca record straight away.

That's something that a quite lot of electronic artists miss a bit of a trick on, I think because when you're sitting in front of an arpeggiator or synths or whatever – because the options are limitless – you end up with a bunch of tracks that just don't have one common thread running through them.

Emeralds – Does It Look Like I'm Here?

[Editions Mego, 2010]

This record came out on Editions Mego, which is Peter Rehberg's label. He's put out stuff by Fennesz and Cindytalk. The use of arpeggiators on that album, and the 80s Berlin school sound... it's really impressive taking that Tangerine Dream thing and running with it; changing it into this modern thing without being too retro. It's got its own merits. The use of guitars on that record as well – it's quite minimal, trying not to overdo it. We love guitars as much as we love electronic stuff, but electronic stuff with guitars can sound pretty poor at times. Emeralds were one of these groups that did it in a really measured and tasteful way.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – A Year With 13 Moons

[Mexican Summer, 2015]

It's got a really sort of foggy and hazy sound. He gets put into this shoegaze revival category but I think he's really carved his own sound. He's doing shoegaze in a modern way on his own terms. I just love the use of chord phrases on this album, just beautiful. He's got this sort of tapist sound throughout it, like he's made a record in his bedroom, but not in an amateur way. It's an intimate record. It's quite strangely mixed so instruments you wouldn't expect to take a lead role in a track do quite often. It's my go-to 'can't get to sleep' album. It's that sort of record.

The Necks – Sex

[Spiral Scratch, 1989]

I am a fan of jazz but it can be a bit po-faced at times. The Necks have got this kind of a punk aesthetic to them, a punk quality to their attitude that's really raw. What's influential about this record, because we're obviously not a jazz band, is how they work as a unit. They use repetition a lot, which is quite rare in jazz particularly; they take it the furthest they can go but with real development. This album is one track and it's just under an hour long. It takes on a life of its own after a while and it's really hypnotic.