Since his early days with Supercollider, Jamie Lidell has always tried to push the boundaries of electronic music, marrying the old with the new through his experimental sound and rich, soulful vocals. Going to a Lidell gig is to expect the unexpected as Jamie is equally happy beat-boxing or fiddling with an array of audio effects as he is actually singing. With support from Beck, Lidell is now set to release his third solo album ‘Compass’. I spoke to him about Beck’s involvement and what we can expect this festival season…

Hi Jamie, what are you doing right now?
I’m in Hoxton at the moment, nursing a particularly bad hangover. I’ve just come back from a tour of Australia which was pretty mental. That combined with my move to New York has left me more than a little knackered. So I’m recharging before it all kicks off again.

What’s the story of Compass?
Well, when I moved to New York last year I got a call from Beck, who I’d toured with in 2006, asking if I wanted to work with him. It was insanely good timing because I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do. So he just called to get the ball rolling.

We then spent two days at his studio in LA bashing out material I’d written. But whilst we were doing that we all got sucked into the Record Club project – which is Beck’s way of gathering loads of musicians together to record a cover of an album in a single day. He’s already done INXS and Velvet Underground like this but I got thrown into the deep end with Skip Spence’s ‘Oar’ which I’d never heard before. So that was a challenge!

Through that I’d met the legendary drummer James Gadston who’s played with everyone including Bill Withers and Marvin Gaye. We really connected as musicians so Beck said we should schedule a session together. So before I knew it I was rehearsing my little sketches with Beck and James and then all these other characters who joined us in the studio. It was an incredible couple of days.

Is that how the collaborations happened on the album?
Well, not all of them. When I went back to New York with all the outtakes, everything was a complete mess even though it sounded brilliant. So I reached out to artists like Wilco and Chilly Gonzales to complete certain tracks. All in all this album was a pretty fast process like rustic cookery. Like throwing coarsley chopped basil into a pan – it should still taste fresh and delicious when you come to eat it.

How would you describe your approach to making music?
I usually just have sketches when I write songs. Very Tony Hart, lots of brush strokes and then I try to find ways to fill it all in. If I can’t sort it out myself I reach out to other people. Part of that is also being completely open to any idea, any genre.

How are you going to perform the album live this Summer?
Well, it’s going to be four people onstage including me, it’s going to be really varied. Anything goes. I’m really looking forward to Coachella and Glastonbury although Holland and Belgium also have some great events. I don’t know why but I have a huge following in Belgium!

And do you have an idea for future collaborations?
Well, I’d like to work with Squarepusher. Then again there’s always Christian Vogel. We started work on a third Supercollider album some time ago but I just side-tracked by all this solo work. So, you never know, watch this space…

http://www.jamielidell.com/
http://www.beck.com/recordclub/

Jamie Lidell Band Rehearsal NYC from Jamie Lidell on Vimeo.

An edited version of this interview will appear on MSN Music here