TN:179 TOMORA (Tom Rowlands of Chemical Brothers & AURORA)

Introducing Tomora and Come Closer

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1:00Hello and welcome to Tape Notes, the podcast that looks behind the scenes at the magic of recording and producing music. Every episode, we'll be reuniting an artist and producer and talking through some of the highlights from their collaboration in the studio. So join us as we lift the lid on the creative process and the inner workings of music production to see what lies beneath. Here's your report. Oh, thanks, Jane. I wish I could hire someone just like you.

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2:29Hello, I'm John Kennedy and joining me for this episode of Take Notes are Tamora to talk about how they wrote, recorded, and produced the album Come Closer. Tamora are an electronic music duo consisting of Tom Rowlands and Aurora. Each are highly regarded in their fields. Tom has one half of the Chemical Brothers helping to define British and global electronic music with 10 landmark albums. Aurora building a worldwide following from Norway through her ethereal, introspective songwriting across five albums.

3:00Their creative worlds began to intersect when in 2019, Aurora featured on the Chemical Brothers Grammy Award winning album, No Geography. Tom later returned the favor in 2024 by producing parts of Aurora's What Happened to the Heart. That natural chemistry between the two artists has brought us to Tamora and their debut album, Come Closer. Today, I joined Tamora in Baltic Studios, and what better way to start than by hearing something from the album.

Ring the Alarm

3:26This is Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. Ring the Alarm. it is ring the alarm by tom aura from the album come closer and i'm very pleased to say that i'm

4:05sat in baltic studio two with tom rowlands and aurora who together are tom aura hello so i guess the first question has to be when did this come about because there's a a long-standing relationship in terms of aurora contributed to the chemical brothers back in 2019 to no geography is that when tom aura was born or was it more recent than that it is quite more recent but it came from because i guess now we've almost known each other and worked together for 10 years you know

4:41back and forth i for you guys a bit and tom for my latest record as well so it kind of just began and that's the thing because we went back to kind of working because we trust each other we know we work well and we know the feeling we get while working on music is just you know really free and really back to just creating because it's nice to create it's important to focus on what feels good and what is fun in this world without having any expectations from it so that's the reason why we

5:15kept going back into the studio i guess just a feeling it's a beautiful feeling yeah it's a beautiful feeling when i was born i think two years ago yeah maybe yeah one year ago somewhere somewhere in between somewhere between those dates yeah it's constantly being reborn it's exhausting yeah it's well it's it's an exciting combination and i guess in a way you explored beyond aurora's own work beyond your own work with the chemical brothers this is

5:45something else a new yeah for sure i think that's why it went beyond just being a you know a featuring thing wasn't it we when we actually got in the studio i'd finished being on on the last chemical brothers tour and it was a feeling of like i'm not sure i could go in and make a 10th 11th chemical brothers album straight away it's like i need some other you know i spent every day of 30 years whatever thinking about the same thing every day and it was like it'd be nice to use some other bit of the musical brain kind of thing and i guess i remembered the feeling of working with aurora and

6:21how kind of energizing and inspiring it was and it was like okay okay pick up the phone and see you know just if you want to do a session want to make some music come to my house we'll hang out and yeah it's just fun isn't it make something yeah yeah so the key thing was to get in the same place at the same time to see what would happen yeah and just with no you know there was no thing of like this we're gonna make an album or we're gonna do this or that it was like have you got a week free

6:52and shall we just make some music and what we made was so like fun yeah it was so like whoa it was fun but it was also so good wasn't it it was like it kind of we were both like oh this there's something in in this combination here yeah fantastic well i i think you can really hear the fun that you have with this project and we're going to explore that today which is very exciting and the first song we're

Somewhere Else

7:18going to look at is somewhere else so maybe tom if you could give us a blast of the master of somewhere else blast of the master oh my god what do you think so you the Thank you.

8:15It is Somewhere Else by Tomora and it's great watching your reaction to that because you couldn't resist moving the two of you. And when I was listening to it in preparation for this, I was thinking, well, it's going to be hard to not move because it has that effect, which is so exciting.

8:51So how did this come together? Well, that was, actually, I've got here like a very early demo I made of that basic idea, which went.

9:02Which I think is what I played to Aurora. I don't know if it had that guitar on. No, it was without the guitar. It was without the guitar. Because it had the... Yeah, it was almost like that.

9:26That was another version of it.

9:30There's a lot of different... Anyway, because the fact that there's so many different versions of it was like that was the kind of problem I was having. You know, I knew there was something in, basically in that little, I don't know if it's even a chord. It's like this sound here, this. Imagine the guitar is not playing, just the chords at the bottom. Yeah, the Rhodes or whatever. Yeah, Rhodes.

9:52And it was like, there's something in this idea. And I must have spent almost like 10 years circling around this thing and like, okay, we're going to try this again. And we're going to try and try and unlock this idea. Because I always think when you come back to something again and again, it means there's something in it that you're drawn to. But it was never felt complete. And I was around, I played it to Aurora. And it was about a minute. She was going, you know, singing. And I was like, fuck me! And you're like, this is it.

10:24What have I done for 10 years? You know, and she just came in and was just like, oh. It did feel like the key was put in the lock. And I was like, oh. You know, when we talk of fun, it's not like fun in, it's not how much fun you're having. It's just that feeling of making something and like the puzzle becoming. Complete. Yeah. Ah. Yeah. But that really illustrates the human interaction, the importance of it. You know, you might have been working on that track for 10 years, but you have a reaction to it, an emotional reaction, and start doing your thing.

10:57And it's so, like, a huge part of my language when I create is melodies. Like, my melodic universe is very important to me. You're saying it's not important to me, Aurora.

11:11This is the good thing. In the vocals, like, when I sing, it's very, like, I just love it to feel like a river all over the place. And that's why it's very important when, either if you make things from scratch in the studio, or if you have, like, things like this, where you're like, you know, what do you feel? And what is this, it's always very important that I don't hear anything before we are together in the studio, and I'm actually able to sit with you, and we, like, sing together, and we talk, and we speak in tongues, and we manifest the devil.

11:47And then we, you know, things pour out. We don't manifest the devil. No, we never. But it's very nice that it's always so, you know, in the moment, and I think it's easy to overthink things, but we never allow there to be any overthinking. Not in the creation phase, isn't it? In the post, there's a lot of thinking, but in the moment of creation, it's like every idea can come, you know, which is, I think it's important to us, isn't it?

12:18It's like. Yeah, it makes the ideas feel welcome, I think. Yeah. Aurora's melodic sort of sensibility, it was, like, I'd play some, last time we got together, I'd play just the most horrible kind of baseline thing, and she was like, I hear. You know, she started playing this chord sequence over it, and it's just like, my mind can't work like that. It doesn't have that harmonic, I know there's something in it, but Aurora just has a laser guider on the harmony world. But also, the sounds that come out of you is, like, it's things I don't even have access to where I live, where I am, and it's such a beautiful universe to be able to walk into, and then, you know, to get, like, it's absolutely, it's so inspiring.

13:05Sounds are the seed of so many melodies, as much as the emotion is the inspiration, and it's absolutely so fun to play with. It is nice. Oh, my God. So, what happened next?

13:23We probably had a cup of tea to celebrate, didn't we? A cup of coffee, it was like, oh, that's good. Yeah, because I remember, we were just like, dude, yeah, we, that was recorded, one of the first things. Do you have an early recording of that? Well, I have, like, a session here, but it's, it's a bit small, isn't it? But, like, the way I work is in the studios, usually I use Ableton as, like, a kind of playground, and it's, like, so easy to throw things around, and why don't we try this, a different pitch, different speed, da-da-da, and get crazy kind of thing, and then generally move everything to logic, to a range.

13:59And then all the mixing, I work with Steve Dubb, who's been our chemical buzz engineer since the start of our band, and I work with him on the mixes, and Magnus, obviously, mixed some of the record as well, didn't he? Very beautifully. Yeah. So, everything goes through a lot of processes, so it's not like I can bring up the session, and it's, like, the session. I'm just intrigued to know how, in terms of the development of the song, because at this point, you played a version of that original item that you had. Yeah. Aurora reacted to it and came up with the doo-doo-doos.

14:31And it was after I sang this melody, when you were, like, ah, the birds. Oh, yeah, the birds felt like waking up. And you added the birds, yeah, because you were, like, this is, like, a calling, like, this mysterious voice being, like, hello. Yeah, yeah. I have something, you know, for you. It's very eerie, kind of. It was this sound, wasn't it? And you added the birds, because you were, like, oh, I hear. This sound. Which came. Yeah. Which is a very important part of the emotion you want people to have.

15:02Because this, to me, sounds like when something begins to glow a little, and if that had a sound.

15:20That sound was actually, most of the synths that we use are hardware kind of ones. But this was on a very nice plug-in synth called a cursor. I don't know where it is. This synth here. Yeah.

15:36And then where do we go from there? Well, that's kind of set the mood, didn't it, for, like... Yeah.

15:44These are very early. Yeah, the very first, like... And would you just be singing any words that come to mind at that point, or do you take a little break and start writing some things down? Sometimes Tom hears a word. He's like, oh, I hear this. And sometimes I hear a word. And often, as I... When I say, like, okay, just put it on, and I want to sing through it and breathe with the ideas, and we kind of just know, when we look at each other, we're like, okay, yeah,

16:16that was right. Let's do that again. But, like, this is very, like, improvising, you know, but with very, very, very intentional improvising within a very open space that's also framed, because we are very agreed on the emotion we want the song to have. So it's quite fun to improvise when you also have a very clear idea of the identity of the song, if that makes sense. Yeah. Also, you know, one of the things that always blows my mind with Aurora is, like, the kind

16:50of how ideas arrive. Yes. You have, like, a concept comes on quite a lot of the songs, and it's just like, ah. Yeah, that's true, I guess. It's the... The character, almost, isn't it, of the song, isn't it? Yeah, it's always the woman first, or the human. Because I don't always think it's me singing on the song, because you can do so much with your voice that doesn't sound like you or doesn't feel like you, and I'm not so important to me when I write. And I... You see, like, a different person, and you think, okay, who are they?

17:25What do they want to say? Because they might know things I don't even... I have never experienced, and I try to take inspiration from that, like, somewhere else felt very, like, it's quite a cryptic story. But you can see this lady kind of, you know, we always kind of thought about waking up to the bird noises or to the voice, and being like, I feel like I walk up on earth, and

17:59I hear a purpose calling to me, but I don't understand who I am, or where the purpose of the voice comes from, or what I should do with it. Is it important, or is it dangerous or kind? I don't know, but I'll figure out during this song. And it feels very, like, knowing that, oh, I've forgotten something really important, and I've got to just walk until I find it. And that's the lady I heard in this song, for example. And then you kind of...

18:29I've forgotten something really important, is it good? Yeah, and then you need to go somewhere else to find it, so the title... What I like is you play so a bit of music, and Rora's like, a part of her mind is already constructing the world, and you're like, yes, take me into this world. I know, I love it. Because it's often something you are also like, yes, exactly, that's what I see. It's just that I may put it into words, but you also... Yeah, you can communicate. I'm like, oh, yeah, that is what I... That's... Because I hear it in the...

19:00You know, it's there. Oh, wonderful. Maybe we could hear it, too. Illustrate, maybe going through the song, how things arrive. This is like earlier... We hadn't really worked out the arrangement. Because there was a moment, wasn't it? It was like, all I want to hear is da-da-da-da-da-da for like three hours. That was one concept. Thankfully, for everyone involved, that didn't come to pass. Yes.

19:26You was like this little bit... Yeah, I was like, louder, put it up. Louder, more. Oh. And the... Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. That comes later. It always sounds better. Because it sounds so much like now it's becoming a bit serious, a bit dire. I have time, but also I need to figure this out now, before the voice is gone, you know?

19:54Bass. Oh, yeah, it was that bit, wasn't it? Yeah. That's my favourite sound from the song.

20:03And what are all these sounds, Tom? What are we hearing? That's a good question. Let's have a look.

20:11Oh, yeah, that's... Yeah, we know this. See, that's from the very early version of the song. That's a Octave Plateau Voyetra 8 synthesizer, which is one of the great polypholic synthesizers. Beautiful. It's nice, isn't it? Beautiful. That's amazing. It looks amazing. Big new order synthesizer, it's very cool. is that live percussion that you're playing in there i'm not quite sure what that is that's

20:52again from deep in the recesses i think that's very messed around with i really like the beginning because it sounds like if you meet strange creatures on your journey and in the video it's obviously just me meeting people but people are the strangest and most dangerous creatures in the world so this sounds to me like those spiders or like teeth yeah and i love the the noise because it sounds like danger and i feel like it's the sound of the humans around you and the chaos you

21:23know that's more of that intro synth that played around with it yeah here's a nice swell to what is a song without some hidden bongo yeah oh the hell is that i don't think that actually made it to no it didn't why there's a mono machine doing yeah yeah you were like this cannot be on this record no i kind of like it but also what

21:57was it that's an electron mono machine that's just yeah i was like no but the voice is human yeah what was that another thing now maybe it's like to remember that you're a human i'm sorry that it's so messy you deeply apologize that didn't make the cut did it no maybe for good and what are you using to play around with this so this is this is all done in ableton and you're just adding in sounds and instruments records yeah like the drums i always

22:29generally do the drums still in like hardware samplers or like mp60 or sp 1200 and then with steve i mentioned before engineer i'll get him to come down and like i've got these drums and they sound pretty good but we need to rinse them and he is quite good at making you know then we do like hours of passes of drums where we just go crazy and like and then we we record them and then we treat them like a sample so it's like we chop them up to basically making our own loops and sample

23:04stuff and then we resample are you able to show any of that development just to illustrate what you're saying so we'll we'll record we'll have that through the desk and set a emu sp 1200 i think it was just doing just doing drums and i'll be on the on the machine and he'll be eqing it and compressing it and then we'll get on the on the desk and then we record it all and then i would have resampled it

23:37and pretend i found it on an old record and be like yeah this is cool isn't it yeah which is a nice feeling because you don't treat it with the respect that you would have treated it if you're like oh i've done this amazing thing yeah three days to do it you're just like yeah it's the drums yeah it's that low bass clear good it says it's been so long since i've seen this it's so fun

24:17because now you kind of understand it's all glowing now but in terms of the evolution of the song i mean that that first session where you hear the original track that you'd made and you react to it aurora are you then for the next few hours fiddling around like this or so like that stuff with steve that would be a few days later that's another session that's like months later

24:49kind of thing where we've got together we get the idea aurora and i of where we're going kind of thing and then steve usually comes in when it's like mix mixy time but then but then also but mixy you know we'll just focus on the drums you won't try and mix the whole record we're like all we're going to think about is making banging drums yeah for a couple of days so in a way you've kind of sketched out the structure of the song you've got a good idea of of what's happening and then then you can finesse the different unfiness or unfiness yeah mostly unfiness make it have

25:24put your disrespect on this and then make it fabulous because it's also like we we do a lot of like as the the baby you know it goes into a fetus thing and we're like okay now the song is quite clear to us what it is and where we want to take it and we often like re there's a lot of restructuring of bits moving around and like and there's always with every song one particular sound that i love that is like this has to be yes everywhere there has to be the intro because

25:56i'm very particular about the intro of the songs so it's very fun with especially in ableton how you can just so easily move around everything and recording the vocals enable to me like i like doing that because so fluid you can just be recording and get up a new track and the war is singing you're like okay the whole thing is running all the time which a lot of the other doors you can't really no it's very true the feeling moving along it's very fluent and how do you get to the final arrangement then you know at what point do you think oh you know what we're kind of done

26:30i feel like we know sometimes when we are like done like some done yeah done so the arrangement is always you know so fluid it's like aurora is very good at arranging i think you have a very good sensibility of like get rid this is the yeah away with that i've always just been very like maybe it's because maybe it's like a neurodivergence thing that you get like hyper focus on particular things and then it's so becomes easy surprisingly sometimes to be like oh this is very clear while other things

27:04are more like less clear but the the storyline often is very like black and white to me like this has to be this i love it when someone says this is very clear it's like fantastic i will follow this yeah can be a weakness too but it's so far it's good quite stubborn i like it it's nice when someone says this is it okay thank you but it's good it seems like this is part of the the chemistry and the magic of the combination of the two of you that you know you have different approaches and different

27:37ways of seeing and hearing things and so bringing them together means that you can come up with this other thing that you wouldn't arrive at otherwise and i thought you know as you were saying earlier it's like whenever we make something together we always have to be in the same room doing it there's no like we don't send smiles or anything yeah because just picking up as you were saying earlier like the non-verbal thing of you know aurora will sing something you lean forward or you'll be dancing around the room or you'll be crying yeah because it's very yeah and we cry together and we dance and

28:12we we you know we it's like all the sounds of the songs have different dances or like movements that we we both know you know what this is or like and like we have these movements for the music and i think even though technology obviously has done a lot of favors to humankind there comes a time when you shouldn't take advantage of our current evolution in technology because i think sometimes in music and art it comes in the way

28:46especially creating i think it's such an important thing to be in the room as humans because surely something is lost when you don't yeah that's definitely what i'm getting out of this you know that you need to be together you know and communicating no and and discussing you know think all the great ideas that are missed by an email an mp3 file you know it's like because it's hard to judge yourself yeah like we look so much kinder and more openly at everyone else than

29:21ourselves just as humans and i feel like that's why it can be easy for me to say tom this is it this is great because you will be more um what is it called what the shit is it called you would be more demanding of yourself than i you know i will also be but it's easier for me to see tom this is great it's easier for you to see that in me because we aren't our best judges in this life and a lot of things that you wouldn't thought about as good or important wouldn't be captured

29:53unless there was someone else to hear the whisper like the tiniest thing that's like ah yes yeah often we'll as you said earlier we'll zone in on some sound that i thought was not important and it's like this is beautiful this is like this this is the point of this song but also in the same way it's like sometimes maybe i have an idea and i'll play it to aura and she just goes no no you know next yeah it's no mercy which is fine i love that's a good that's a good

30:24and that's valuable too isn't it yeah yeah yeah is there anything else we should hear before we move on to another song or maybe we should just anything else in this did we play any because it's very fun when we have the music on really loud in the room like we're on a on a show and then we both just play synthesizers or whatever to kind of and it becomes so meaty you know and it's the best feeling when it's just loud and i don't know if there's anything of that on i think you played some this

30:56moog i think you played is it on this oh yeah and that's on the beautiful synth it's a big uh in my studio's a big um move old move system 55 which is a big modular and aurora came to the studio and was like well you were like there was some song from hannah wasn't it you're like what made this escape escape whatever that's the escape escape wait anyway yeah she was like what what synth was on that song and it's like oh it's that one in the corner and she's just like okay

31:27take her to me until i got amazing like you know big speakers and so powerful like a spaceship and i just had to go over and honka honka on that synth let me touch please so good should we should we hear that in the context of the song um somewhere in the song yeah oh yeah so here you know we're talking about the like with steve dub who is like you know

32:11amazing guy it's like would run the track for ages and on the desk we'll get loads of different effects and we'll just do passes of the drums where they're just like so he'll be eqing and maybe he'll be eqing it and i'll have the delay and and effects and was just called like hours of and it's so fun to work like that because it makes you know obviously it's quite deliberate and you know what you're doing but often when you

32:43play like this you have not always full control which is so nice it's like a third brain in the room never full control you know and you can just it really is so alive even though it's kind of all twisted and wrong i i just love the way it comes alive in a new way because it's very like this other brain that we don't know how it works yeah it's really fun a lot of physical hands-on making sounds you know and then just recording them and then recycling them into your

33:18arrangement going oh where's that cool bit where we distorted you know we just we just do it for hours and hours and find just the tiny amount one bar please the three hour jam but it's like you know they all feed in to the finished thing yeah yeah it's all necessary in a way should we have a blast of the ending and then we'll move on to our next selection we'll be right back

34:14destined to be the soundtrack of the summer of 2026 i think with all your festivals that you're playing and and it's it's going to be fun to play for all the people out there searching for the thing they forgot something important they forgot yeah it's all there and somewhere else excellent we're going to take a quick break and the next song we're going to

34:45look at is i drink the light yes you know that moment where you thought everything was silent and then in the mix you hear hiss hum distant voices electrical buzz a constant low level background wash uh oh no thankfully tape its new denoiser handles it for instant studio quality sound just drop it on any mic'd track and it lowers or if needed completely removes any background noise to scratch the surface

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35:52launch offer of 50 off head to tape dot it forward slash denoiser and hear the difference for yourself that's better here's your report oh thanks jane i wish i could hire someone just like you try linkedin hiring pro it's more than a job board it's like the recruiter you always wished you had hiring pro uses real-time insights to match your role to linkedin's unique network of professionals and delivers a short list of best fit candidates you'll spend less time sorting applicants and more

36:22time talking to the right people let's do it you're irreplaceable jane but another you would be great hire right the first time post your job for free on linkedin today at linkedin.com slash quality the next one we're going to look at is i drink the light but before we get there i'm going to ask a couple of questions from our patreons one is from robbie scow when you're building a track together how do you decide what stays human and raw versus what gets processed and produced is there a moment where you feel like a live take needs to be left alone and how do you protect that moment from the

36:54instinct to keep polishing it we both know exactly what this answer is because it's very i think that's why i'm having so much fun i always have fun when i make like you always have fun when you make music but in this project it's exceptionally fun and free and when we hear the music back it's not uncomfortable it doesn't feel like i have to meet myself too much it feels yes i do like how this is enjoyable which is rare when you're the creator of the music it's hard to enjoy yourself but i think

37:30it's because we don't polish anything almost like all the vocals are i think recorded on you know the initial day some the first take and the ideas like we don't polish too much but we refine a lot of things if that makes sense yeah i mean i the idea that you polish and something becomes like cleaner or something we we maybe polish in the other direction polish with some sand grease not grease like

38:02some grit some grit because grease is not the stony thing no like when you go we give it a peel yeah yeah but yeah we we put it's like the other direction direction yeah yeah which is fun what do we do we're like um those people who like age guitars yeah instead of we age the songs yeah so a lot of processing might happen but it's not towards like a like an idea of making it clean and perfect

38:33you know it's all all recording for me is like just the emotion yeah it's not about trying to capture perfection at all it's like and we are very attentive attentive is that the word to all the mistakes that happen and like oh we did the wrong thing there perfect that's better that's it sounds great or like we it's we are very always just listening to those really small voices that could be mistaken for mistakes but are not yeah it's just yeah also i was gonna say with the you know with that question

39:07it's like there's no there's no tuning you know a lot of sometimes vocalists get very into tuning and never would ever think of you know like auto-tune on aurora's voice like no thank you yeah or any tuning it's like it's not it's not the thing we're going for no no airbrushing no photoshop of the image is there it's like no it's the real yeah also aurora's like incredible singer yeah it's like it's quite good it's like okay there's no need no need like no nudging and sometimes

39:41it's nice if it's a bit off yeah your timing you're like aurora has a sense of timing and you know like phrasing and stuff and i love it it's like it's just how she's responding to the music and it's like some people might say oh well it does not fit into the exact millisecond it should but it's like that's life yeah that's life man um the other question from patreon comes from hugh catchell what elements of aurora's creative routine will tom bring back to the chemical brothers and what

40:13elements of tom's creative routine will aurora bring to her solo projects hungry can i eat another banana while he answers yeah i'm sure i'm not gonna chew in your ears delightful listeners it's a very good question i forgot to eat breakfast you see thank you breakfast was a long time ago yeah but i'm i know different time zone uh it's a good question aurora is very uh direct in communication which is good but i mean it's very different you know ed

40:47and i worked together for so long you know our relationship in the studio has you know we have a special relationship of like a long time making music together and quite so maybe aurora's general sense of like it'll be wonderful it's quite good i'm quite used in going sometimes yeah sometimes ed and i can drive ourselves pretty mad with the with the making of a chemical brothers record whereas a war can be it's just going to be fine it's gonna be fine it's a good it's a good approach

41:18to life that's what i'm gonna try and take on for my general approach you'll turn to ed and say you know it's fine it's gonna be fine man don't worry about it and do you think you'll take something from tom's practice yeah i think i can forget sometimes to when i produce alone especially to take off my headphones and hear it and like in the room in its loudness to kind of feel it physically you know because the music is also felt even if you can't hear you can still enjoy music because of the rhythm and the way it affects your body actually physically

41:51and i think i want to do that more when i work alone to have because you're very good at okay let's take a moment and blast our brains out which i never do you know i always just all day sit with the headphones on i don't even know why i'm on the lawn i don't even need to have the headphones on yeah my room actually it sucks with them you know the it's very when i was working at your parents as we had the windows open the fjord was bouncing my mom coming in with a tray of like nuts like

42:23squirrels like crazy music flooding the light fjord taking the moment to simply just listen i always do that at the very end and i think also i'm very bad at remembering to eat and pee when i work and i can just sit for way too long in one and maybe you do too but when we're together you're so good at time for a flat jack yeah and time for some water let's go and breathe a

42:54bit have a satsuma let's remember that we have a vessel as well that needs things and i'm very bad at remembering that and i don't know it's really inspired me a bit even when i'm home painting i'm like okay i should drink something and eat and take care of myself as well which i have actually learned from you i think because i yeah i didn't do that before so that's a good thing yeah that's a very good thing yeah it's a really valuable thing to learn we both learned deep psychological a deep psychological shit man fantastic easy peelers you get easy peelers in norway

43:30easy peel easy peasy easy peelers the satsuna we get through a lot of those little satsumery things people call them easy peelers yeah easy peelers like the oranges yeah that thing is clementine well it's not quite a clementine is that an easy peeler no no that's why they're marketed as an easy peeler ah we got through about 3 000 easy peelers they do peel very easy they do tom always peels them i don't like how they make my hands orange right fair enough offer up the easy peeler

I Drink the Light

43:57i drink delight is the next song we're going to look at could we have a blast of the master of it the last of the most the last the last the last the last

44:28the last I don't think I understand this feeling Just a little taste of I Drink the Light by Tom Ora from the album Come Closer.

45:10And I'm going to describe this as the epic centrepiece to the album. Is that an understandable description? I mean, it's nearly eight minutes long. It's quite long, yeah. It's kind of in the middle of the record. What? It is? Yeah, yeah. Are you kidding me? No, but you get lost in it, don't you? Yeah, you do. It's dangerous. Yeah. I didn't know that it was so long. We just let it ride, man. Yeah, we really do. And eight is the best number, so I'm very good with that. Well, yeah, I guess it is. It has a very clear identity on its own as a song, which I really like.

45:44And the way, I mean, the songs that follow it go in another direction. It's almost, you know, you reach us. I suppose it is the pivot point, yeah. Yeah. It is. And it all started with that, with that, this riff, didn't it? This. Yeah. This is a very early take. That's the first thing I think I heard, that you played me this song. Yeah, this is the part.

46:08How are you creating that, Tom? This is on a make noise oscillator called a DPO, which is like a complex oscillator trying to replicate a kind of boot club approach to oscillators from my sort of modular setup. And I've done the take of that that's like about five minutes long where just messing around in the studio, as is my day. Yeah. But it was always coming back to this.

46:39Oh. Yeah. So it's all over. Can you change, man? We never bothered with that. No. No. Not clever enough. But this bit, it was, again, it was like, this makes me feel sparkly or something. And we played it to Aurora and she was. I was like, oh, this is perfect. It was the first noise or the first piece of music I heard that morning. And it was, what a wonderful thing to touch your eardrums with. Yeah. And I just thought, this is wonderful.

47:10This is very, and we both agreed very early that this is just like the water, you know, ocean, really moving water. And the way the sun glistens on its surface, especially if your vision is a bit bad and the light is a bit more like glittery looking, you know. And we just knew, yeah, that is, this is a song about a human who wants to drink everything, the sun, the earth, music, people, and the light.

47:43Because I guess the light is everything, isn't it? But yeah, so it has very hopeful energy, which I think is very nice. This, I love our process in the studio because I'll play Aurora that sound and then this will flow from Aurora. And it's like, yes, this is, you know, like I know there's something in this sound, you know, this sound has like bewitched me. And I'm like, I need to listen to this sound a lot. To me, it sounds like, you know, you have the idea. You're like, oh, I know, I know.

48:14It's like the thing you're looking for in a somewhere else. With this sound, you know so clearly what to do. And I love the fierceness and direction of it. Aurora had this idea, you know, like the sparkles from the top of the light. If you can only drink the very top, imagine how good it would taste.

48:43This is how we spend our day. It's a good way to spend the day. But this fires your imagination. You have an immediate reaction to it and you start thinking about, you know, a meaning in a way. Yeah. And then, but then how do you evolve that? Where do you take this? Because it's already very exciting. It is. Well, then it was the noise that you had already on there and I just thought it was delightful. Oh yeah, what was that noise? It made me feel. It was kind of weird. It was a resonancy kind of. Yeah, this.

49:14Isn't that nice? Yeah, it's exactly that. It was that one noise in the background. What were you obsessed with? Because I love the frequencies. Or like when it's almost like a Norwegian mouth harp. It's very, something in it to me that's ancient and like, yes. And that wasn't in the song all the time, in the beginning. But it was one of your noises that I just fell in love with. And we gave it an honourable place on its throne now in the beginning of the song.

49:51But this, I remember this little sound you were like. These little.

49:57It just sounds so beautiful to me. If I was ever in contact with an alien, this is what I would show. I would have been like, see, we can do it too. It's just so beautiful to me, the resonance. Yeah. I resonate with the resonance.

50:18And what is creating that sound or those different sounds? Yeah, well actually I did find, I had a session called Rezo Experiments, which I think. Oh, that sounds hot. That sounds very sexy. Led into that sound. I was running this thing called Strokes, which is cool.

50:52Okay, so it's basically made out of me playing the bass guitar into this Ableton sampler and just playing around with the resonance to the velocity. But the harder you press it, the more resonance will happen. So you go.

51:16And is that through a plug-in that you've... Yeah, this is like just the Ableton stock sampler. So it's just the bass guitar and then playing around with the resonance and then I'll record like a whole jam with me doing it. I just love the way it sounds so much because it's like the subconscious part of a sound

51:47and often it's the part that you would remove in a mix, you know, because they get in the way of the full picture and you remove these resonant noises all the time. And I just love when they're emphasised. I always want to add them back in.

52:09So just, you know, so I must have recorded loads of that and then... It's like a little... Ghost. A little something speaking to me. It's really interesting though that it starts with a real instrument in a bass guitar. So you've got the bass guitar, you're making some sounds with that and then you think, what else could I create with that sound now? Yeah, I love, yeah, I love the interaction of acoustic instruments and electronic sort

52:42of processing for everything really. I love sampling the guitar. Guitar is still like the unknowable instrument. Yeah. Just because there's so many variables, you know, it's like so many, the touch, you know, so physical and then to bring that world into, into kind of processing synthy world is a good combination. Yeah. The same with the voice as well. Like Aurora's voice is like, on this song, there's a lot of interesting sort of granular processing of Aurora's voice. And I don't know, there's so much in, inside the voice.

53:16It's like some, you know, it's got some... So Aurora's opening her mouth and pointing inside. Yeah. But it's true. I mean, it's interesting. I mean, across the whole of the album, the range of the sounds that you make with your voice is quite incredible from these crazy screams and wails to the tiniest of intimate sounds. And in this track, you invent your own new language, it seems at some point, which is quite exciting. I promise you in a few years, you will all speak it fluently.

53:48And that was the very last thing we did, almost. Because of your Norwegian roots and your background in the countryside, I'm imagining you on the mountaintop, kind of calling to the herd of deer that, you know, look, we're moving on

54:22now. Yes. And then only two sheep come. But I'm fine with that. Okay, we three will make a difference. No, but it's very... The song just needed something like this, something a bit incomprehensible. Because I feel like once you've drunk the light, imagine if you got out there and the perspective of the glistening didn't move with your eyes, but it stayed. Like how the rainbow moves when you move, you know, you can never find it. Like, but it's there somehow and you drink it and then you're like, oh.

54:55This is the after effects. I know, because then you see everything and it's impossible to see the whole world at once while not speaking in tongues. I don't think that's exactly the right reaction to it now. And then Tom, you know, messed up the vocals a bit, which is really fun to do. Is that process, though, do you have the raw version? Or we're getting the raw version as raw... There you go, you see?

55:26Like, that's how I was singing. And it just came as a... Kind of as a joke at the end of a recording through the song. It's interesting, like the combination of that with the resonant thing is... It has very natural... Like, even though it's just like a sort of... I always thought of it as like a sort of weird digital shaman kind of speaking to me. But then the resonant little harp kind of mouth... Yeah. It's very natural. Yeah. But it's freaking you out. Like, you know, this is like... This is like my perfect music, basically.

55:57Just listening to this for seven hours. This is our ideal music.

56:05It really is, because it's the nice hybrid. I love when things are so ancient and also so new. Yeah. Yeah, it has that combination. Yeah. Because it sounds like throat singing or something like that. Yeah, yeah, for sure. It kind of does, but it's the same, like, spirit. Yeah, yeah, totally. Almost. But it is processed. There is processing on it. It's a tiny bit pitch, it must be. No pitch. What is it? Never pitch. Never pitch. Isn't it? I think I just... I mean, like, pitch down. Wah, wah, wah. Or maybe I sang it like...

56:35Wah, wah, wah. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. I think I was just looping bits of it and getting like, whoa, that's a freaky loop. So I was speaking in tongues. Yeah. I don't know what I was drinking that day, but it worked. Well, you had drunk the light. Yes. And it had gifted you this new language. Don't ask me what I had to do to do that.

56:57Yeah, I guess it was just... I guess it's not really processed that much. I was just finding interesting loops of it, I seem to remember. I thought it's... Here, there's a lot of... In Ableton, there's incredible granulator, granulator 3, which is like... I've used... Which is... I love using Aurora's voice because it's... Why is that better then?

57:30Feel, feel, feel, feel, feel, feel... And when you're recording these vocals, I mean, are you using a particular microphone or do you have any... We use the U87, like an old mid-80s U87 one. All the songs, isn't it? Yeah. Well, then we... Yeah, we used another cheap one, didn't we, as well, the SM9. Yeah, I think so, on...

58:01Something. Yeah. Was it an anomaly? But it's a nice U87 really used. Used on mostly the same. We have a nice... You know, like... We have nice options in the studio for preamps and compressors and... Yeah, it's nice in your laboratorium of machines and spaceships because it's so... You know, a lot of the effects on my voice, at least, is done while recording. And it's also tactile, even though it sounds like, you know, this robotic weird machine.

58:35You know, it sounds very non-human to a person who likes country music, for example, which is very human or human sounding, you know. Mm, good clarification, good clarification, yes. Yeah, good clarification, very importante, which sounds very human because we know what the instrument look like in our brain. But this is very human as well because it's so tactile. And it's so nice because I can... All the synthesizers and a lot of the effects that are on it, I can picture them in your studio and know how they look.

59:10I've touched them, you've touched them. And that's such... Weirdly, such a comforting feeling. Just to know that they're there. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. I just really love that my fingers know them as much as my ears.

59:29No, I completely understand what you're saying. The mixing desk is like an important part of my studio, still having like a massive mixing desk and have on one side of it, 24 channels that are just all effects. So it's like you can just balance between loads of different effects and just be like, oh, more this, more that, you know. And often while I record, you will do things and then I change. Oh, is this what you hear then I'll... Because you change the way you sing also, if, you know, because we...

1:00:02I think that's really important. Even that is a creative in the moment. Improvisation. Often we'll have like crazy delays or effects and it just changes completely how you sing, doesn't it? When you're like suddenly, oh, my voice is singing back to me at... Every second. ...minus an octave and it's directly out of time. But it's like I can, Aurora will then play with the effect, you know. I think with always recording instruments, it's like find a new space and new inspiration, you know, do something to make the performer like respond and play.

1:00:37Especially when you've got what you think is the central bit of your song maybe is then let's push things to the side. And so how big is your studio, Tom? So we're in quite a big studio here at Baltic Studio 2. It's a big room. It's a big space. But it sounds like you've got banks and banks of this equipment and you've got a big desk and obviously you've got different instruments around you. There's a lot of different... There's like... Yeah, there's a sort of control room that's kind of regular size. It's not as big as... This is a nice room to sit in this room, isn't it?

1:01:09It's quite... Especially with my air conditioning wasn't working in the summer. I don't notice. It's hot. I'm like... All the machines are on. I don't think I would notice if there wasn't air in there. No. I would be like, I'm fine. But it's like, what I like about your studio, if you look closely, you just see truly treasures everywhere. And they're so... They all have their space. They're all in, you know, activated, all with lights on already. No, nothing is just bought and forgotten and put in the back.

1:01:42It's all kind of placed on top of each other and it's up the walls. But it's not in a... That you feel like, ooh, look at all this. It's more like, oh, I feel warm and safe and in tune and very... I feel respected by the instruments and I respect them in return. It's a beautiful thing. But it's a very nice balance that it feels very humble, but also very just full of treasures. It's truly a dream to be able to be there, to come to you and work with...

1:02:15Oh, it's absolutely a dream to be there. Aurora's so open to like playing, you know, she's amazing, as well as a singer, amazing musician, you know. So are you. Wow. We both have different skill set, don't we, maybe? But it's, yeah, I mean, Aurora's, yeah, just... I love it when we often jam on the synths together and they're kind of like four, you know, four hands working this machine. And it's like amazing kind of interactive way of making music. It's very hands-on. Fascinating. I think we need to have a blast of the master of the end of the track and then we can move on to our next song that we're going to look at.

1:03:15So that is I Drink the Light by Tomora from Kumkai. So that is I Drink the Light by Tomora from Kumkai and Kumkai is the song we're going to look at next.

1:03:48We're going to take a quick break and we'll be back with more from Tom and Aurora in just a moment. Here's your report. Oh, thanks, Jane. I wish I could hire someone just like you. Try LinkedIn Hiring Pro. It's more than a job board. It's like the recruiter you always wished you had. Hiring Pro uses real-time insights to match your role to LinkedIn's unique network of professionals and delivers a shortlist of best-fit candidates. You'll spend less time sorting applicants and more time talking to the right people. Let's do it. You're irreplaceable, Jane, but another you would be great.

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1:04:54So the next song we're going to look at is Come Closer, the title track of the debut album by Tom Ora. And you have brought some equipment. I'll talk about the equipment in just a moment. But I think we should have a blast of the master so we get a sense of what this track sounds like. I think we should have a blast of the master so we get a sense of what this track looks like.

Come Closer

1:05:10I think we should have a blast of the master so we can get a sense of what this track looks like.

Come Closer

1:05:11So the next song we're going to look at is Come Closer. I'm closer to you, I'm closer to you, I'm closer to you.

1:05:42Come closer to me, come closer to me, come closer to me. So a little taste of Come Closer by Tom Ora. Now, we were just talking about Tom's studio and the different equipment it has and what kind of setup it's like, etc.

1:06:17But Tom has very kindly brought in a little piece of that studio to this studio, to Baltic Studio 2. So you carried some equipment from your studio to demonstrate elements have come closer. But I carried it not very well, it seems, because a fundamental piece of it has not survived the journey. Yes, it's been a bit bruised and it's a bit tired, but so are we all. We have set it up though, nonetheless. So this is the EMS Synthi AKS, is that right?

1:06:48Mr. Synthi, he prefers. It's the, you know, it's the briefcase synthesizer for every modern musician jet setting around the world. In fact, I did take it to Bergen once for a session with Aurora. It's the best vision to see you there at the airport with a suitcase. And when he opens his suitcase, this little spaceship is inside it. And for the people who don't see it, it's like this little kind of black suitcase. It looks quite old-fashioned and like beautiful. And then when you opened it, it's like it has, it looks like it could control some kind of sci-fi headquarters on, what is it called?

1:07:27On some kind of satellite. Or in a submarine. Or yeah, it could be a Sputnik. Yeah, it just looks very like... So there's a collection of knobs, there's green and blue and silver and gold, but there's also a little pegboard. It's like a, you know, it's a modular synth, but through making the connections with little pins. And so often with a big modular synth, you get too many patch cords and it's a pain. And it, I remember it was the first, the studio we first worked in with Steve Dubb, Ed and I together worked in, was a studio in Clapham called Dada.

1:07:59And the guy who ran it, this guy George Holt, had one of these synths that I ended up actually buying off him. But he got it in a plastic bag from the Greater London-like Education, what was it called? GLEC. And it had all those GLCEC stamps on it and he'd rebuilt it from this plastic bag. And it was the first meeting with a synth like this really. And Steve was a master on it and it was just like, whoa, what is this thing?

1:08:29I, you know, it was so exciting. It was like everything you put it, anything through it or made sounds with it, it was suddenly like, ah, this is, this is that wild. I mean, you know, it's a famous synth that was very, you know, Brian Eno kind of synth or Pink Floyd or, you know, it's like a well-known synthesizer, but that was in 1993 for us. It was like, whoa, this is another dimension. And so we bought many of them. It was like, but it's like the most inspiring piece of gear, really.

1:09:03You know, we often will be in the studio when we're working together in the main control room. And then, and I have another little studio next door that is full of more synthesizers. Yeah. And Aurora was like, let's just go and make something together that has no starting point. You know, sometimes I'll go, I've got this, as we've seen, I've got a little synth or something. And she was like, no, let's begin with nothing. And so we came to this synth and we started playing it together. Like, the thing that didn't survive the journey was the keyboard, which is one of the great ways of interacting with this machine.

1:09:44So you can play it in quite a harmonic kind of way. And as you clearly can hear, it's sick. It's very sick, isn't it? The keyboard looks, it reminds me a little bit of a xylophone type keyboard. Yeah. And they're all completely blue, which is a very nice thing. And they don't really have a dimension. It's not like the black keys are higher than the white ones, but they're all just flat and they feel your touch. It's not like a mechanical thing almost.

1:10:15It's more, it's very, it feels very in tune with your skin, you know, in a way. Right. Which I love. But this ended up providing quite a few sounds for Come Closer, but some other songs on the album as well. Yeah, I mean. The thing, it's on there quite a lot. It's on a boy like, in fact, a boy like you really starts with. Which you really can hear. Where is it? I remember playing you. Yeah, the intro. Just like. I don't know, I love this. It's the beginning of the song.

1:10:48Imagine it at like 120 decibels in my studio. Like, get aboard the rocket ship. I haven't heard anything since. Label's working. Yeah. And you're sort of there holding on to the, where are we going? Where are we going?

1:11:10Yeah, we added that. Body, heart, rhythm, start. That before we pitched. Yeah, that's the only version of it, yeah. Anyway, back to Come Closer. Yeah, we were like, let's begin a song fresh. And this machine is always a real inspirational kind of thing. Because you can make things that are melodic, yet wrong. Yeah. And this song is like, I think it was the moment where we found we had something we thought was really special, didn't we?

1:11:46We really did, and it feels like, I guess we both often describe this song as the most perfect essence of what Tomorrow is. Tomorrow is a lot of different things, but this song feels the most in tune with what we both wanted to create as Tomorrow, because it's such a good mix. Again, the word hybrid comes to mind, between something really earthly and human, you know, because it's kind of pagan almost with a doom, doom, doom.

1:12:17It's very like a ritual, isn't it? But then the synthesizers is kind of like this, and it's only my voice and this synth, Mrs. Sinti. And it's all, the vocals were recorded once and then never touched again, because we've really felt like we wanted to hear the take where both the words and the melody came to life. It's birth that is on the recording, it's not anything after, which felt nice.

1:12:52And also the birth of your, because I think you were playing here, and I was singing, and you were turning the knobs and making it beautiful and ugly, which is so perfect for this. And me saying, come closer, and my volume is almost lower than the synth, it's always in the way. And I say, come closer, and you're like, yeah, but I can't. There's this sound wall in between us, you know, which I love, that my vocals are so low at points, and then the scream comes to kind of break through the wall.

1:13:28So it makes the mixing of it, to me, is very poetic, part of the storytelling. Yeah. And it has a cathedral-like sound, as if this is a massive organ in a cathedral. Yes. It's weird, because, you know, this is a monophonic synthesizer, but we were feeding it through this other unit here, an AMS pitch shifter and delay. So we had, like, different pitches, either on left and right. I mean, it's a shame that he's not playing ball today. But you can carry on playing, but you've brought in the AMS to go with.

1:14:02So the chord is being created by the AMS harmonizer, and we had an even tied H3000 on it as well. So it's making a chord together, and then we're distorting it. And the great thing about the synthy is mine has a mod where you can get the two oscillators to sync together. So if you have a hard sync, the two are totally locked. But it has variable sync, so you can bring it down a bit. Yeah. And you get these bits where one oscillator is struggling to get in pitch with the other one.

1:14:34And it's so... And Aurora responds to this thing. This moment very well. Yeah, it's like when the thing is struggling to lock on, one oscillator is struggling to lock on to the pitch of the other. Yeah.

1:14:48Like, you hear that. And it's just so beautiful. It's like a sound, seeing a sound struggle with itself, but also dancing with itself. And then the moment they join in harmony, it's just like this puzzle you didn't even know needed to be figured out. It's there, and it's so peaceful and beautiful. And then it goes out again, and they start fighting in a beautiful way. I just, I love it so much that it's such on a minimal level, and it can still be so emotional, you know.

1:15:25It just breaks my heart in the best way I know. It's seen so much, and it's all over the album. Can't believe he didn't, he wasn't able to... Survive the journey. Survive the journey here. And you respond vocally to those changes in terms of what you're singing. Yeah. Yeah, we should hear that now. That change there just kills me. It's amazing. Come closer.

1:16:04Come closer. And this wailing was in that moment as well. Yeah, it's very strong. So this is all in that moment. Because, you know, in the room, the sound of that bang was much higher. And it came on really strong, and you were really crunching up the whole thing.

1:16:37I just, that's what came out, because it was like, oh, that feels so orgasmic, but also so spiritual, which an orgasm is, if it happens in the right way. But it's very, yeah, it's very, it's a dance, you know, between, and I love that about this song. It's very, it's very, no looping, just a journey, which is, it's meant to feel like a dance between that sound and the vocals. Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, for me, it was an amazing thing being in the, just being there, when it happened kind of thing.

1:17:15It was like a really, I was like, yeah, brought a tear to my eye. You know, someone just feeling this in the sound we were making and just communicating it so directly. And it was profound, yeah? We were crying, it was very nice. It felt like, yeah, I mean, you know, it's a funny feeling. Did you do anything else to it? I mean, not really. I think we added, we just added the drums after, didn't we? Which are just, yeah. To have like a bit of a, like a heartbeat in it. Yeah.

1:17:45So in a way, I mean, this is the closest to a pure live performance on the record. Yeah, it is. I think that's why we cried a bit because it's such a specific feeling on earth when something that only happened once and you love it and it's captured and you know it's kept and now it exists forever. It's like how I would imagine it feels to become apparent when you think, look at this, now they exist.

1:18:16A soul from nowhere have entered this body and now you are with me in my life forever. And that's how it feels with the song as well, especially when it's captured like that. So in the moment, it makes you feel like. We're all going to start crying again. But like, you get so grateful just to exist because you're like, I can't believe this can just happen from nowhere, you know, and then it arrives and it makes life better. It's so cool.

1:18:47Yeah, fantastic description. That's the joy of creating, you know, of making things, isn't it? It's like, yeah, it's a deep thing. And are you going to get to experience that then when you perform these songs live? Is Mr. Cynthia going to have some work done? She's going to go straight to the doctor. Yeah, poor thing. Because will you be attempting to become a person? Yeah, well, I've got like a more modern. A sturdy replacement. The only thing about it is it's very hard to make the same thing twice, which is the joy, you know, but it's like you can.

1:19:19And the grief. You can be very attentively and write down every single thing. And it's like, and also because on the desk was such a combination of different routing and effects levels and the balance of everything was very specific. You know, it's a very, it is like a moment. And it's not, you know, and you're capturing, as Laura said, you're capturing that moment. But to make it again, we cannot make it again like that. Which is so hard to live with sometimes, but also the thing that makes you so grateful of just, you know, the moment happening.

1:19:53But we found a more sturdy guy to pretend he's him. Right. But we haven't told him yet. So we know what we need of equipment to kind of feel playful enough and free enough, but also achieve what we want. But yeah, good point. I haven't thought about that. We get to feel like that every night, not every time we play the shows now. And the audience will also kind of get to share in that too, that moment.

1:20:26Only after they get after that four-hour version of I drink the light. Yeah, you'll see in like eight minutes. No, and it's going to be a special experience for everybody. Very exciting. We hope so, eh? Yeah, we don't know what we're going to do, but we know it's going to be all right. Yes, this is what I'm learning. Fantastic. We're going to let you go. So maybe we should have a quick blast of the ending. But we have a couple more questions that we ask everyone who comes on Tape Notes.

1:21:10We didn't put no harmony. No harmony. No harmony. No harmony.

1:21:22See, that was added after the... Come closer to me.

1:22:09I feel very honoured and privileged to have experienced that just talking about it with you. It brings us closer to that moment you must have felt. It's really exciting. It's the only thing the song wants the whole time. It's the only thing it asks for. So that's great. We ask everybody who comes on the show about equipment and about gear.

1:22:40And I'm wondering, what is one piece of kit that was essential to the making of this album? Is it the EMS Synthi AKS? Or is there something else? It probably is quite important, isn't it? It is very important. He was always there for us. Except for today. But back then, he was always there for us. We did a lot, especially when you came to Norway. Yeah, yeah. It's the only thing you brought. Yeah, we wrote songs. Yeah. The side by side. It's one of the... Yeah.

1:23:11And side by side. This is the one equipment that I think the album couldn't have existed without. It wouldn't have sounded the same, though. No. But then again, you know, I know this is a gear sort of podcast, but as we've been hinting all the way, like the key ingredients are our connection. I mean, it's like how we make music, isn't it? But it's nice to have all the other things as well. I suppose it is actually important. The way you... The way Aurora responded to these tiny details in the sound, you know, Aurora's very...

1:23:43I don't know what the right... Your mind is open to the frequencies, and also you've got like a good interpreter of the frequency. Tiny person right in there, telling me what to do. And then I'm like, yeah. Yeah. If I had one of those, that would be saying the same thing. So, yeah. He pays no rent.

1:24:06The other question we ask everybody is about advice, whether you've learned something that you would pass on to other people, or maybe you were given some advice at some point about making, about surviving in this world. Tough old world. Well, obviously, you know, me and Tom are one of the few in this world that are very privileged, just from where we were born, the time we were born, all the things we have access to.

1:24:37And it is very easy to dream and explore when you don't spend all your time surviving. You know, like when you're floating down a river, then swimming for your life is two very different experiences. And for me, being in a way aware of that gives music the heaviness and depth I think it deserves to have and needs to have to kind of be truly valuable to at least someone in this world.

1:25:12So, for me, I guess it's a weird advice, but I really like to consider, sorry, I'm hungry. I only ate one and a half banana. Don't tell Mr. Sinti. But yes, it's to be like aware of the world and bring the world in and allow that to give your perspective and also allow yourself to escape into what you might consider to be a medicine

1:25:44for the one who need it or escapism for the one who need it. But I feel like you can touch onto the very true essence of music and what it needs to be if you like keep the world in mind. Or for me, it makes it so much easier. And we always like, every day before we write, we talk about just the world because politics are very emotional. We have a good morning rant about the world.

1:26:16And then it's kind of always under our skin when we write music while we also escape and enjoy just the gift of being able to make. But it's like, it's weird and beautiful and frightening contrast to be allowed to have in this world. But yeah, that is important to me at least. And it's a big part of our time together, the way our minds and hearts collide as we write and talk. That makes sense.

1:26:46Yeah, yeah, it does. Do you have anything to add to that? It's kind of, you know, like connected to that is making music with other people, you know, not, you know, people are so surprised, you know, I love to be surprised in the studio and Aurora is like, to be surprised is a good feeling. It's like, yeah, you know, to have someone challenge you and take you somewhere that you didn't know you could end up is like, that's why I love that in collaborating with Aurora. Definitely. We have that thing. Yeah, yeah. It's often, yeah, often surprised and often just, which just inspires your mind.

1:27:22And also the feeling of just going where the music takes you. And, you know, it's such a liberating thing. So that's our strength, I guess. Yeah. That we're always surprised. My weakness is that I often have a booger in my nose. But strength, surprises. Good card. Good top trump card. Yeah, definitely. Thank you so much for being on Take Notes. It's been brilliant to be able to witness this chemistry and the combination of the two

1:27:57of you. And you've traveled a long way from Bergen to be with us today. Aurora, Tom, you've traveled from Surrey, I think. Sussex. From Sussex, sorry. Got the first two letters right. Close enough. Really appreciate it. Thank you so much. And also thank you to the team at Baltic Studios as well for setting up the synth with all of their wonderful outboard gear as well. Thank you. My end of it was not performing so well. But we got a little taste of it. Yeah, we did. So that was nice. We'll let you go. But we should play one more song from Come Closer, the album, a kind of outro piece.

1:28:29What would you have us play? What would you choose? Well, it depends. Do you want something that belongs to the code words, Pixi Techno?

1:28:41Or would you like something that goes along with the words?

1:28:46It's a big responsibility, John, you're getting asked for her. Yeah. Mind the electric modules of the brain. So these are the options I have, Pixi Techno or electric modules of the brain. Yeah. Well, what kind of frame of mind are you filling in? Which direction do you feel like going in? Okay. If I do like this, does it make it clear?

1:29:14No? Well, so you've moved your hand to one side. And yeah, that looks like Pixi Techno to me. Thank you.

1:29:25So does Tom know which the Pixi Techno track is? I certainly do. Of course, he speaks the same language. So this is to all the Pixi Technos out there. No Techno Pixies out there. Remember, live life. Be strong.

1:29:42Pixi Techno for life. Which track is this, Tom?

In A Minute

1:29:46It's called In A Minute. Okay. This is the closing song on the album, isn't it? Just go. Just go. Thank you so much. It's been fantastic. Really appreciate it. We're going to let you go and we're going to play In A Minute from Come Closer. Thank you once more for being on Take Notes. A great pleasure. Thank you, John. Thank you.

1:30:09Thank you for listening. And in particular, thanks to all of you who have signed up to support us on Patreon. I'm just one part of the team that brings you Take Notes, and it relies on your support. Access to Patreon includes the full-length videos of new episodes where possible, ad-free episodes, and detailed gear lists, among many other things. If you'd like to join, head to the link on our socials or website. For pictures, highlight clips, and behind-the-scenes content, head to our Instagram or YouTube channel. And on Discord, you can join the growing Take Notes community.

1:30:39Once again, thank you for listening. Until next time, goodbye. Don't you forget about the song, don't you forget about the song, don't you forget about the song. Don't you forget about the song, don't you forget about the song.

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