Sweet Dreams...
ROB FIDDAMAN TALKS TO JON ALDERSEA AND RACHEL POOLE, THE DUO WHO ARE DREAMS OF DELVAUX
■ Tell us about Dreams Of Delvaux
Inspired by our love of surrealism, our music reflects a concept that we have called, ‘The deeper majestic’. That is, the space between the real and the imagined; the dreamscape and the reality. Our sound is conceptualised by dreamy vocal textures, electronic beats, sultry saxophone and synthetic arpeggiation. A mix of synthwave, electronica and dark disco.
■ So how did you both meet?
We met properly through a previous band where Rachel was hired as a session keyboard player. Not long after rehearsals began, the group disbanded, leaving us both feeling disappointed as we had only just met and started working together. We felt it a shame to part musical ways so quickly, so during a debrief at the local pub, discussing music, film, art and lucid dreams, we decided to join forces and write something together. The aim was to create something visual, original and surreal. Our very first track was Erase Me. This soon rolled into the second, third, fourth and fifth track… It wasn’t long before we realised that we had our first EP.
■ How do you normally describe your sound and style to people?
Minimal Electronica: Programmed retro drum beats with dreamy vocals, 80s synths and a splash of sax.
■ Do you write the songs together?
Yes, but the process can initially be separate.
■ What instruments do you play?
Rachel is the main vocalist and plays the keyboards and saxophone and is assistant producer. Jon provides all the drum programming, plays keyboards, vocoder and is the main producer.
■ Do you both have the same musical influences?
Yes, we connected musically very quickly. Our favourite artists and filmmakers always make for a constant source of inspiration. These include Paul Delvaux, Rene Magritte, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Andy Warhol and Samuel Taylor Coleridge with musical influences including David Bowie, early 80s Electronica, The Velvet Underground, Brian Eno, Joy Division, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Vangelis, Saint Etienne, Air, Aim, Giorgio Moroder, Boy Harsher and Julee Cruise.
■ You have an EP out now called Air Without Gravity, can you tell us a little about how you both wrote and recorded this?
We work from home studios that are situated 10 minutes walking distance apart with a pub halfway. Living in close proximity and being a duo rather than a larger band has certainly aided the writing and recording process.
Each track has followed a different creative route. For example, Jon may come up with a beat, a bass line and perhaps an arpeggio and then send this to Rachel who then may add lyrics, vocals and saxophone.
Or, for example, in the case of Turn Off To Hear Me (Track 2 on the EP), Rachel came up with the chords, bass, lyrics and vocals and then sent this to Jon who added drums, synth programming and refined the bass and production. Our writing is fluid with no set structure of who does what. We like to create and refine the process together, using the latest technology and experimenting until we are both happy and ready to take the track to the final stages of mixing and mastering. We always make sure to celebrate each completed track at the halfway pub.
■ Will you be doing any gigs soon?
We are currently focused on writing a 10-track album and once that is completed we aim to showcase our project by combining our sound and vision as a live show.
■ Do you record and produce everything yourselves?
We write, record, produce and master everything ourselves. This includes our art, promotion, music videos and film related content.
■ Any artists you’d love to support?
We would love to support Air and Boy Harsher.
Our favourite artists and filmmakers always make for a constant source of inspiration