Mailinterview met Jamie Lidell By Chris, 7 October 2004

I've seen you for the first time on '5 days off' in the Melkweg in Amsterdam. You stood there singing, sampling and making music in a way I never saw before. Can you explain what you do and how you do it? Or is that like asking a magician to unfold his magic trick?

I push a few buttons pull a few strings sing a few sings and ding a ling a lings and heah heah heah bobby's yer unk

How do you see your live-act evolving?

as c'ape to glove

Is there a big difference in the way you perform live and the way you make music in a studio?

yeah, the buttons are bigger live so you can drink n drive

And is there a big difference in the Jamie Lidell we see on stage and the Jamie Lidell in normal life?

I'd have to ask

Together with Cristian Vogel you are Super_Collider can you tell more about that project? Will there be a Super_Collider tour again?

later, much later, we only have 4 new tracks…might take us a year or so to get this baby back on the road!

The 9th of November, you will perform with David Link and FM Einheit as Echohce making use of the "Poetry Machine". What can we expect?

a lot of paper and freestyling all over the place .,.,, it's a mystery, it's a mystery as the song goes/.. to me too.. honestly I have no idea yet… Our first practice is in the middle of october

Hearing you sing made me believe you could be a good soul or jazz singer as well. In your youth you've played trombone. When did your interest in Electronic music grow and why did you choose for that direction?

"bigger buttons and less wind, I could grow to like this" sic. j.
lidell aged 16

Did you ever attend a singing course or is it something you learned yourself?

do ray me what? I done learned to sing from reckids

Richie Hawtin once stated in an interview one of his reasons for moving to Berlin was that he had the feeling 'something big' was about to happen there. A lot of other great dj's and producers live there also. I've read in an older interview that at first you had a though time there. How do you feel about Berlin now?

it's alright, it's cheap enough, with good friends on the rise, we roam and until a wiser option comes along we stay. that's all
I have no special love for berlin right now
I just have a house and studio here that's all
I only stay here because of my friends

How did your connection with the Warp label influence your music?

they gave me a lot of money, I spent it on old vintage recording gear that was often malfunctioning
I spent years making a new album for them
just finished it
the rest is not history yet
we shall see how my new direction fits the warp label, it's not clear yet

Are you looking forward to your performance on the Amsterdam Dance event?

why not…I've played a little too much this year so it's hard to separate shows from shows
I just remember when things go well
or BADLY
I try to give it juice so that bit always remains the same

Anything else you want to share with us?

watch your pockets in barcelona and lisbon
I got robbed
it can happen really bloody easily
that's all