Wonky electronica fella Nathan Fake braces himself for the usual line of intrusive questioning
For people not familiar with you, Charlie Brooker is a fan isn’t he?
I’m not actually sure if he’s a fan… but a version of one of my tracks is the ‘Newswipe’ theme tune.
You grew up in the Norfolk village of Necton. Tell us something interesting about Necton
Umm, I dunno… erm, I once named a track, ‘Neketona’, after it.
On a night out, would you head for the bright lights of Swaffham or East Dereham?
Ha-ha! I’ve not been to either of those for a long time. I think you’d have a very similar experience in both those towns.
The Editor of Electronic Sound went to Hammond’s High School…
I went there! Who is it?
He wouldn’t have been in your year. Maybe your dad’s year. You, Luke Abbott, Factory Floor, Electronic Sound is made in Norwich… what is it about Norfolk?
There’s also my friend Rob Lee aka Wax Stag, the stuff he’s working on now is pretty next level, then there’s Luke Sanger, Mark Broom… It’s the new Berlin! Gold Panda mixed his last album with Luke Abbott in Norwich too.
The new album ‘Providence’ is your first long-player since 2012’s ‘Steam Days’. What kept you?
Various things! I think it’s worth the wait though, if that doesn’t sound too wanky.
There was a spot of writers’ block wasn’t there. Does it go away as fast it arrives?
It did actually go away very quickly. I think the new LP was probably the quickest I’ve made an album, but the most detailed production-wise. It was a pretty intense couple of months recording.
You describe ‘Providence’ was a kind of music therapy. Care to expand on that?
The definition of “providence” is divine guidance or guidance from a higher power. I’m not religious, so it wasn’t divine guidance as such, but just a reference to certain things that helped along the way.
The weapon of choice on the album is the “quite crap” Korg Prophecy. Not got a decent synth?
I do have some decent synths! I just found the Prophecy really inspiring for some reason. I randomly bought one and just suddenly started making loads of good tunes on it. It’s an odd, ill-conceived synth, but I love it… I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone though.
You’ve also worked with vocalists for the first time. Is that something you’ve wanted to do for a while? ‘RVK (feat. Raphaelle)’ is a belter.
Thanks! She’s a very skilled vocalist. I didn’t really set out to collaborate with vocalists, it’s just encounters with friends and fellow musicians that led to these spontaneous collaborations, I think that’s why they worked so well.
‘Providence’ is out on Ninja Tune
