Skinshape interview and mix

Join us as we find out how fish bowls, Donald Byrd and empty plastic cable spools have all had an impact on Skinshape’s most recent album, Filoxiny. Will Dorey, the mind behind the musical project Skinshape, talks us through his journey, the most recent destination along the way being Filoxiny. Dorey’s wider body of work showcases an ever-growing web of influences which has moulded every album in a unique manner, while each one giving us a characteristically Skinshape sound.

In his early days, Dorey experimented with samples (especially drum breaks) to create instrumental Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop tracks but after this initial use of other people’s music, he began to chop up his own sounds, recording into tape machines. From our chat with Dorey, and from listening to his vinyl-only mix, we gained an insight into the world that the brilliant Filoxiny was born out of.

First of all can you tell me about the name Filoxiny. Also, while we are at it, Skinshape? 

First comes the name Skinshape. That is a name I came up with around the age of 16. Unfortunately there isn’t a cool story about the name, it’s just something I came up with one day looking at the fishbowl in my parent’s house (not kidding). As to the album title - Filoxiny is basically a mis-spelling of a Greek word I learnt from a friend of mine in Athens. The original word is ‘philoxenia’- which is basically an advanced version of hospitality and generosity of spirit, ‘my house is your house’! The word doesn’t exist in English, which is a shame.

Having followed your music since the self-titled debut album, to hearing Old Days played on Gilles Peterson’s show, I’d love to find out more about the beginning of Skinshape and the journey that’s led to this album. 

That’s a long journey my friend. As I said it started way back around the time of the name, and even back then as a teen I had some idea of what I wanted to do with the project. I would sit for hours with a computer and a few instruments and make ‘beats,’ abstract stuff with drum samples and that, but also with original guitar and bass parts that I would play myself. I still have all those tracks on a hard drive somewhere! Anyway, that really just developed over the years to what it is now, which is essentially the same thing but with a lot more finesse, better equipment, and more artistic options available to experiment with. 

I started to record the drums myself with a tape machine in around 2012, resulting in everything being original and no samples being utilised. I know now that even the process of clearing the samples from other artists’ tracks would have been a real pain in the arse had I chosen to make my music that way. Needless to say, I’m extremely relieved and happy that I chose to do everything my own way. 

I’ve found that with every new release there’s a clear sonic similarity but each time I hear a new one, I’m gripped by the new material. What’s changed in focus for Filoxiny?

Filoxiny is more about cinematic sounds and textures. I’ve always loved Film Music, and this is sort of like my attempt at a soundtrack. I like the idea of merging the lush strings and horns of film music with more funky beats and psychedelic guitars. That is how I see it. The album before this - ‘Life & Love’ - that was more 60s hippie vibes, and before that it was lo-fi psych with trip-hop influences. Whilst I try to maintain a feel/sound that runs through all the records, it’s a lot of fun to take it in all manner of directions and see where it goes. Each new album brings a new set of challenges! 

With Filoxiny, I composed a lot of string and horn parts with just a MIDI keyboard, only later to physically write out the parts for the orchestral players.  I wasn’t able to do this entirely by myself though, so I got my long-time friend and occasional collaborator Jon Moody (in the band Franc Moody) to arrange some of the parts and help me with getting the best performances possible from the musicians. I also enlisted the masterful drumming of another friend Dan Hale (also a member of Franc Moody!), his drumming is an essential element of the Skinshape sound that I could not do without. 

I also tried some more experimental recording techniques as well. For instance, the drums for ‘After Midnight’ were recorded in the local Town Hall near the studio in London. I rented the main room for 3 hours, and brought down a 4-track tape machine, a mixer, some microphones and another master drummer friend, Mr Chris Brice. The aim was to get a ‘natural’ reverb sound, using the sound of the room that you are recording in, as oppose to using digital or spring reverb. There’re also some mad sounds that you might just be able to hear in the track ‘Metanoia,’ during some parts of the song. That intro is me walking into the large main room of the studio with a shit load of spring reverb on it, but then down tuned to make it deeper-sounding! I was also rolling empty plastic cable spools across the floor past a microphone and all kinds of stuff. It was a weird day, but it’s cool to think that I’ve been able to use that stuff. 

Please forgive the overused question but, in an album (and wider catalogue) where I can hear moments of The Kinks, St Germain and Wes Montgomery, it would feel criminal to avoid asking who or what your influences are?

My influences are in a lot of different music’s. But in particular I would say US funk and rhythm & blues, 60s folk music, 60s-70s Jamaican reggae, 90s trip-hop, British and US psychedelic music from the 60s, film music, and African music from 60s-70s. I wouldn’t say Jazz has had a big impact on my music, but there are some artists like Donald Byrd that are influential. 

My influences have changed quite a lot of the years, and whilst I enjoy all the music that I liked when I was making album 1, I am not so much listening to that stuff now. These days I am listening to quite a lot of Latin music, Indian and Pakistani funky and psychy music, and enormous quantities of African music, you will see when you listen to the vinyl mix I just recorded! I am particularly drawn to African music as it is so deep and so vast in its scope, and there is always an amazing rhythm and strange time signatures. 

How does the live show come together – I dream of smoke-filled satin-lined basement somewhere with a miss-match band of interesting folk.

In short, the live show doesn’t come together - because at the moment it doesn’t exist. That is a question that seems to be on a lot of people’s tongues if they ask me about Skinshape. ‘Why don’t you play live?’  The reason I don't have a live show is mainly because I am happy with how it is going focusing just on recording new material. I don’t feel a need or desire to perform the music live, although I have sometimes thought it could be cool. I’m thinking more about my own happiness and wellbeing really, I don’t want to be away all the time playing concerts, and I know that as the main person involved it would be most stressful and financially challenging for me, and I’m not sure I want to put myself through all that at this moment in time.

Being a London-based artist clearly has its merits, having a base melting pot of musical creativity, but how does a new artist stand out amongst this ever-growing collection of talented musicians 

There are copious amount of musicians in London, and yes it has many merits as you say! I can find all kinds of musicians and singers just by asking around a little! It’s great. But to stand out amongst the masses, I think it takes a lot of perseverance and even more patience. It doesn’t happen overnight. Just keep working away at your craft, and if people like the music you will get there eventually! The best kind of growth is grass roots organic growth where things are slow and natural - people discover your music and it slowly spreads. The great thing for me was that there was never any time pressure, right from the start it was relaxed and there was no major label breathing down my neck telling me I needed to write a ‘hit’ or some such nonsense. I just wrote and recorded the music I wanted to make, and that was it.

Listen to Skinshape’s latest album, Filoxiny.

03/12/18
Words: Fred Trevor