PORTICO QUARTET
Three record deals, a change in name and losing two band members – the crazy life of a quartet (now a duo)
Portico Quartet’s quietly-brilliant fusion of jazz, world, electronica (and more) has landed them fans across the world, at least three record deals and a Mercury Music Prize nomination. It’s not been an easy ride, but with a new album just out (and another on the way), it’s time to pause, reflect and, well, hang…
Portico Quartet have enjoyed – and endured – quite a history. They have been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize, had at least three record deals (including Ninja Tune and Real World), a change in name, a change in line-up (actually more than one), a change in musical styles and indeed, really, a total change in band. Look, it’s complicated, right? The band initially hit world – or at least Mercury – wide success with their world/jazz/ ambient sound, often based around a hang (percussion instrument). When hang player Nick Mulvey left, the band changed style and dropped the ‘Quartet’ bit of their name, but later returned both name and sound (with an additional band member and sampling). Now the band comprises founders Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie, and they have just released the album Terrain, a three-part suite ‘drawing on American minimalism and ambient’. Jack Wyllie attempts to explain all
1 Tell us how you got into music production in the first place?
Jack Wyllie: “I started playing the flute and the piano when I was about seven, and started playing saxophone and guitar when I was about 14. Then I played in a handful of bands at school; I went to university but kept playing music with friends. We formed Portico Quartet in 2009. We were actually flatmates first and we started busking and travelled around Europe. I also started playing with Szun Waves in 2016, a trio more focused on improv, and worked with Paradise Cinema, with Khadim Mbaye and Tons Sambe, after spending a year in Senegal in 2019.”
2 When did you start to feel you were getting somewhere in music?
JW: “I think after we were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize we were just about able to make a living from it. We were playing a lot of shows at this point and we really grew our fanbase. However it’s only in the past few years that I’ve felt like I’ve been making a decent, stable living from it.”
3 What is your overall music and production philosophy?
JW: “To try and make original, personal music and art. I find the following Brian Eno quote helps: ‘People in the arts often want to aim for the biggest, most obvious target, and hit it smack in the bull’s eye. Of course with everybody else aiming there as well that
makes it very hard and expensive to hit. I prefer to shoot the arrow, then paint the target around it. You make the niches in which you finally reside.’”
4 How important is the computer in your current setup?
JW: “They are integral to the way we work with Portico Quartet now, especially as there are only two of us; we need to be able to use the computer to record other parts into. We also use computers to help layer and manipulate sounds from various sources. For instance we might layer a saxophone arpeggio with a vocal fragment in a sampler.”
5 Tell us about the rest of the gear in your recording studio
JW: “There is a drum kit, two pianos, a Juno-60 synth, a Prophet 08 synth, NordStage 2, a bunch of saxophones, a few guitars, a Casio CZ1000, a Prism Atlas interface, plus a few mics (two Coles, a Newman U87, a Re20, Akg d112 and lots of Shure SM57s etc ). Then we have a lot of effects pedals (Space Echo, OTO BAM reverb etc). It’s enough so we can pretty much record what we need for our records. We might go to another studio to do some string parts or record piano or even the drums. Then we tend to mix in a different space, run our stems back through some nice preamps and compressors etc.”
6 What are your favourite plugins?
JW: “I like using the Soundtoys
Tremolator – it’s a great way to add rhythm to a part in an interesting way and it can also help create space in a mix.
“I use [Native Instruments] Driver quite a lot. I’ve found it hard to find good plugin distortion, but this one does a pretty good job. However, I run stuff out through the Elektron Analog Heat when I’m putting a mix down.
“I like the Eventide Blackhole reverb. It is great for big ambient reverbs; it’s really transparent and you can make it really sparkle.
“I use the Doubler from Waves a lot. This lets you very slightly re-pitch and move audio to two separate places and you can put an LFO in the pitch. Really great for adding character to synth sounds.”
7 How do you tend to start a track?
JW: “Normally one of us will come up with a small looped idea, then the other person will work on filling it out, so that it feels full even though it might be quite short. Then we both work together on this idea, giving it a full structure and finessing the sounds. Then finally when we have a strong draft of it we will re-record some parts that we think could be improved and run some stems back through some nice pre’s and compressors/EQs.”
8 How do you know when a track’s done?
JW: “Between ourselves and the record label we have deadlines that we work towards. So we basically get as much done in that period as possible. I find there is always more you can do to tunes when you’re making them on a computer. It’s not like capturing a live performance. You can always edit and change them so it’s harder to know when they are finished. I find taking some time off from working on music can help you understand a piece more clearly and understand if you are happy with it. Ultimately though I think it is very hard to be totally satisfied with something and I think there will often be things you might change, but part of finishing music is being OK with this.”
9 Do you have any production tricks?
JW: “I often use pitch shifting on the saxophone. I like to copy a part a 5th up and a 5th down and pan these to the left and right. I also like making little loops with this saxophone sound as textural elements.”
10 What is on your studio wish list?
JW: “I’d like to buy a new Prophet 6.”
11 What advice have you got for playing out live?
JW: “I think almost every gig has had something I’ve learned from and enjoyed. In fact some of my favourites have been to very few people with very bad equipment, but getting through these challenges and making something special for the people that like your music has been a real joy.”
12 What about studio advice?
JW: “Try not to get too bogged down in the small things at first. Start on the bigger picture and focus in on the little bits at the end.”
13 What about advice from being in the music industry?
JW: “I think the Eno quote above is relevant here again. I think just try and make music that you love and find interesting and make that the main goal. There is so much music now and so many releases that it’s super hard to stand out. But I think if you’re able to get to the point where you love the music you’re making and you’re enjoying the process, then that can be extremely rewarding.”
14 Tell us about the latest album Terrain?
JW: “We were very pleased with how it came out. It is quite different to our previous records, in that it is just three long pieces. We are going to perform the album at St John at Hackney, a really beautiful venue, on
29 October. It will be a really unique show with an extended ensemble: the quartet plus three string players and an additional pianist, who we aren’t allowed to name yet, but who we are friends with and looking forward to performing with.”
15 What have you got planned for the future?
JW: “We are already finalising our next Portico Quartet album, so keep an eye out for news and I am also enjoying some other collaborative projects and working on some new Paradise Cinema material.”
“Start on the bigger picture and then focus on the little bits”