Mount Kimbie is slated to perform at The Basement Oct. 23.
Credit: Courtesy of Chris Rhodes
Despite widespread discussion in characterizing its sound, Dominic Maker, one-half of the London-born duo Mount Kimbie, defined the band’s music in terms a bit easier on the vernacular.
“It’s such a varied thing where we’ve got so many different instruments looped together to make what we do. The way I describe it to people is simply just electronic music,” Maker said. “We always feel as though we end up in a certain place that is sort of a gray area between a number of different genres. We sit quite happily in the space.”
At its beginning, the band never had a goal for the sound it wanted to achieve, Maker said. Mount Kimbie, who is scheduled to perform at The Basement 7 p.m. Wednesday, is largely the product of its members, Maker and Kai Campos, making sounds that excite them, Maker said.
“We were just making stuff. I was singing a lot of stuff, Kai was making loops,” Maker said. “It really just started working from there. There wasn’t any plan or any kind of talk about what we wanted to achieve or the sound we wanted to create.”
Mount Kimbie’s sound, which is produced electronically in recording but performed with instruments live, has changed since its first full-length album, “Crooks & Lovers,” released in 2010. That album features a dubstep-tinged, largely electronic texture. Although Maker admits dubstep was an influence in the band’s early days, this is a sound the band is not keen on integrating with its current face because “the actual definition of what dubstep is has changed very drastically,” Maker said. Meanwhile, the duo’s follow-up, “Cold Spring Fault Less Youth,” released in May this year, creates the electronic sound again, but embedded with more natural instrumentation.
In this respect, it was interesting to change some of the songs from “Crooks & Lovers” to make them suitable for live shows, Maker said. Maker and Campos are multi-instrumentalists, but with the help of a third touring musician, Mount Kimbie can execute this sound properly during concerts.
“We just try to play everything live, basically. We try to play samples in, we’ve got a drummer now, we’ve got a bassist, vocalists, we’ve got all that kind of stuff (for the tour),” Maker said.
Concert-goers don’t often expect the performance they receive, Maker said, explaining that some fans expect to see a DJ set instead of a full-fledged performance including a live band. Because of the new sound of Mount Kimbie’s latest album, the live performance has become more organic.
Noel Hackman, 21, of Columbus, said he enjoys the new record because of this aspect.
“Their new album has more conventional instruments, which is really cool,” Hackman said. “It’s really spacey stuff. It’s like post-rock and electronic music.”
The Columbus venue Mount Kimbie is set to perform in, The Basement, is operated by PromoWest Productions. Marketing director Marissa Luther said the venue hosts bands of a variety of genres, but particularly newer artists.
“We bring a full selection of bands to The Basement. Any type of genre — usually they’re up-and-coming artists,” Luther said.
The show’s ticket sales are nearing half its capacity, she continued.
While it may still be categorized as “up-and-coming,” Mount Kimbie’s pursuit of creating unique sounds might push them into the limelight soon. Maker said he and Campos always strive to make music that sounds different.
“We just want to keep progressing, keep learning and just keep making stuff that we feel excited about and we feel sounds different,” Maker said. “I think we’re just addicted to making stuff that sounds different.”
The Basement is located at 391 Neil Ave. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 the day of the show and can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Jonwayne and D33J are scheduled to open.
