CLUBS

The last time Bristol saw Bonobo, he was leading a grandiose band. A year later, he's moved to the USA and is about to go uptempo for the dancefloor, discovers Adam Anonymous.

If ever proof were needed that television scythes away time otherwise available for indulging creative impulses, Simon Green, aka Bonobo, backs the theory. The 34-year-old freely admits he hasn't owned a TV for years, despite providing the soundtrack to countless series and adverts. That time not spent goggling at pap? Well, a good deal of it went into last year's serene downbeat album ‘Black Sands’, the record that catapulted the Ninja Tune stalwart from cult concern into full-on broadsheet-pleasing, ticket-shifting entity.

Recreating his delicately textured wares on tour at Bristol Academy last May required an orchestra-sized backing band. Since then, he's moved from London to New York, and is winding down from selling out venues across the States with a series of DJ dates back in his homeland, hitting The Blue Mountain for long-time cohorts Futureboogie. “My DJ sets are usually a lot more uptempo,” he explains, a couple of days after touching back down in Blighty. “I play as much of my own stuff as I can but tend to prefer to make it about the dancefloor. The live show is about playing the Bonobo music; the DJ sets are about making people dance.”

Already writing for the next Bonobo LP, Green's present muse is New York. And it seems America has mutual love for the simian-inspired multi-instrumentalist. “It's going really well out there. I moved at the end of last summer. I was spending a fair bit of time there anyway and it felt like the right thing to do. Being in a new city is inspiring, especially in New York. But it takes a while for a city to really get under your skin to the point where your music reflects the place. I'll probably make more of a 'London' album next because I'd been living in London for five years. I'm starting to get new stuff done and it is sounding very 'London' at the moment.”

For the time being, though, Green is simply relishing the freedom of traversing the UK without a touring leviathan behind him, before reconvening with his band for a sizeable European tour throughout April and May. “A DJ set, logistically, is easier,” he reasons. “You don't have to spend all day in a venue, you're not travelling with, like, 10 people. You get a laptop, a toothbrush and a bag, then you're off. It's a lot of fun.”

FUTUREBOOGIE WAS AT THE BLUE MOUNTAIN, BRISTOL ON FRI 4 MAR. FFI: WWW.BONOBOMUSIC.COM
 

Copyright Adam Anonymous 2011

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