So how did you both meet and who plays what in the band?
Alec: I don’t remember where we met. I don’t think we ever did. I play the Macbook Pro, occasional Samsung X15, acoustic guitar & bass, drums, djembe, piano, musical saw, Nord Modular, Latronics Notron, broken & fixed drum machines, voice, Cracklebox.
Kingsley: Yeah, we did meet. We must’ve. I can’t remember it either though. Samsung X15 and Macbook Pro as well as occasional tootling horn, drums, yang chin, piano noise, post / hunting horn, Cracklebox, tiny drum, voice …hitting things with sticks.
Alec: We create all our own noise, produce it, mix it and then turn it on its head and tear it apart ‘til we’ve got something that we want to hear… We're very particular. It has to be just right, but it can come from anywhere at all.
Kingsley: Then we’ll often rip that to bits too. We have hundreds of hours of archived recordings, which get recycled/ distilled/ purified/ contaminated/ mulched and otherwise chewed up and spat out as something completely different.
Where did you both start out in music?
Alec: Playing organ in a Baptist church in the south east of England, when I was five I began. I’ve sat on the knees of Reginald Dixon and Robert Wolff… during one performance all three of us played ‘Chariots of Fire’ to a packed house on a huge Wurlitzer and string synth - there were hundreds of tiny automated clockwork animals that moved about to the music… incredible to believe, I know, but true. I haven’t found a more gorgeous string synth sound since.
Kingsley: I fainted in the kitchen when I was about 10 and my dad carried me into the music room to recover… I felt really sick for a bit but I’ve loved music ever since.
What’s your favourite of your own tracks?
Alec: Void, a long and frenetic track from our forthcoming Lumberton Trading Company release that is utterly mental, very intense, especially live. It has a horrible time signature, it veers from industrial acid to screaming ambience and it was great watching people try to dance to it last time we played it live. We made a video for 'Void' as well, which will appear on a computer near you very soon.
Kingsley: Faces of Fire another new track where I sing like a sweet, sweet angel.. Also, The Untitled Wasdale Recordings, our latest release, is still sounding fresh as the day we made it.
Kingsley: We haven’t decided yet but it will be immense. We’d like to frighten people a bit.. Alec: Or at least intimidate them… confuse them slightly. 'Have they started?' Make them wonder how they could possibly be dancing. Like that feeling when you fall down the stairs and completely have no idea if you are upside down or not…. total disorientation. Unless we decide to play an entirely ambient set, in which case we guarantee uneasy dreams.. At the end of our last gig this guy came up to us and said "I heard this noise and I thought 'I wish that was the band on tonight, but it's probably just the air conditioning starting up'" He was genuinely over the moon when he realised it was us. That was a big compliment.
What are your favourite hangouts in Nottingham?
Alec: Kingsley’s house, Selectadisc, Squeek, Alley Café, disused buildings. I like ponds, rivers, canals and lakes too.
Kingsley: The Tap, The Pit, The Sal, Reflex, Game.
What was the last thing that made you laugh?
Kingsley: Trying to teach my wife to make a dripping noise with her cheeks. Alec: Watching him try to teach his wife to do that. It’s not easy. We went to see The Mighty Boosh in Derby which was also very funny.
What was the last thing that made you cry?
Kingsley: Trying to teach my wife to make a dripping noise with her cheeks. Alec: When I accidentally drove over a pigeon in town and the people trying to cross the road near my car got sprayed with blood and tissue. They were covered with it and pigeon bits got all over my car. I laughed ‘til I cried at that. I always thought they would just fly out of the way, but no.
What are your plans for the festive season?
Kingsley: Being continuously drunk to numb the pain.
Alec: I’m going to be in hiding in the studio for as long as possible… I might cook my mum a nut roast, I suppose. Yeah, that’ll probably happen.
What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever been bought?
Kingsley: I don’t remember any Christmas presents. I don’t mean that I’ve never had any, I just have a really bad memory.
Alec: A remote controlled submarine is. No, that was a birthday present. A good one, though.
What’s coming up for you in 2007?
Alec: More tattoos. Writing music. Buying records and machinery. We’re about to release a CD called The Untitled Wasdale Recordings which we’re really proud of it. It’s going to be free from our website too.
Kingsley: We're also releasing it as a limited edition of 23 in deluxe handmade wooden boxes, they cost £23.00. More details on our website.
Formication website
