Randolph & Mortimer
Producer
‘Trading Places’ is the name of a 1980’s American comedic film and in it, there are two brothers called Randolph and Mortimer who own a commodities brokerage firm. They each hold opposing views on the issue of nature vs nurture, so they make a wager and agree to conduct an experiment - switching the lives of two people on opposite sides of the social hierarchy and observing the results. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out what happens.
For UK-based DJ and producer Sam Evans aka Randolph & Mortimer, his main interest in life is to produce music of an EBM and post-punk tip and read about economics, so it makes sense that his moniker holds a reference to socio-economics of the 80s. Influenced in equal measures by the industrial and EBM movements of the same era, the rave sounds of the early 90s and the documentaries of Adam Curtis, Randolph & Mortimer productions are an amalgam of grungy atmospheres that fizz into exuberance over 4/4 beats.
Most R&M tracks are accompanied by a music video to illustrate more behind the themes of Sam’s productions. Clips of coiffured models colliding with snatches of time from an 80s era Wall Street stockbrokers reflect some of the chaos in R&M tracks, contributing a whole other visceral element to Randolph & Mortimer material.
With a self-release due out this Friday including a remix by Kris Baha (one of the biggest names on the modern new beat and body music scenes) Sam takes stock of the last year, shares a memory from a basement somewhere in Sheffield, and more…
Where was this photo taken and why did you choose it? What was the music vibe at the time?
This was taken at a Halloween party in 2015 at a venue in Sheffield called The Night Kitchen, I think this was the third R&M gig we’d done. Our first was in an art gallery in Sheffield and our second was supporting LA band 3Teeth at the Electrowerkz in London. The Night Kitchen was an awesome multi-room rave space, an old cutlery factory that was dark and grimy…the perfect party place to get lost in!
The music was quality underground breaks, techno and beyond. We were playing early in the evening, down in the basement, and a lot of folks were wandering around checking out each room and there was a lot of bemusement when they discovered a live electronic band with an ape on drums! Good times.
How have you been over the last few months and where in the world are you currently based? What's life like there?
You know the last few months have been a rollercoaster of emotions but weirdly not so much because of the pandemic.
In March I had to have my dog put to sleep, she was a 16 year old Basset Hound and I’d had her since she was a few weeks old…so that was an absolutely brutal experience but then on the flip side R&M has been going amazingly well this year. Put out a couple of successful EPs then in July the debut R&M was released on double vinyl, through Polish label Mecanica, and that was incredibly exciting. So yeah, a total mix of feelings. I’m also fortunate that I’m a self-employed tradesman by day so I’ve been able to keep going out to work throughout all this madness.
I’m living in Sheffield, England. The pubs, restaurants, shops have been open, and people are carrying on as best they can but the reality is the city, like almost everywhere else, is really hurting. Not just from the deaths and illness caused by the virus but also the current shutdown of the sports and creative and night time industries. Sheffield is a city with two huge football clubs and an immense creative scene of music, arts, theatre, film, etc. and until these are fired back up it won’t feel like the Steel City is functioning normally.
What's the theme behind your upcoming release and does it relate in any way to the weird times we are living in?
‘Enjoy More’ is influenced by the economics of the 1980’s and the massive shift during that decade towards materialism and consumerism and the pursuit of wealth creation. The title actually came from a quote from Time Magazine’s Otto Friedrich who summarised the 80’s with the five words “Get rich, borrow, spend, enjoy.”
Although the tune was written before the pandemic the themes of debt and greed will be with humanity ‘til the end of times and they are relating hard right now in these current times, the pandemic has only exacerbated the disparities between the rich and the poor…I read recently that in the USA around 40million have filed for unemployment during the pandemic whilst at the same time billionaires and have seen their net worth increase by around half a trillion dollars. Insane. The legacy of 1980’s was very much greed is good but hopefully the legacy of the 2020 pandemic will be a re-evaluation of this broken economic system…a footballer in the UK called Marcus Rashford has thrust the issue of poverty during the pandemic, and kids requiring free school meals in school holidays, into the national conversation, even forcing the government to fund such a scheme. So there are glimmers of hope.
Your sound is influenced by a number of things, including documentaries by Adam Curtis. For those who don't know who he is, what's his work about what's a stand-out documentary from him, in your opinion?
Adam Curtis is a UK documentary maker who covers a wide range of topics but a recurring theme seems to be power and how it is used to control. He’ll focus on things like the machinations of governments and the nefarious ways in which they go about manipulating populations, providing historical contexts. They certainly aren’t feel-good documentaries but they are always fascinating and he has a real knack of using quality electronic music and on-screen slogans to convey messages and emotions. Extremely talented guy, I would highly recommend disappearing down the Curtis rabbit hole!
So many great documentaries to choose from but the 3-parter “All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace” from 2011 is a great place to start. It begins with the story about the Russian author Ayn Rand and how her philosophy of Objectivism - essentially putting one’s self first - went on to influence the American financial markets and the tech sector in Silicon Valley. Helps to explain a lot of the issues we’re dealing with in the modern age.
The videos that accompany Randolph & Mortimer tracks follow the same highly-stylised, glitchy aesthetic and can be trippy and strange at times. How do you go about making each video?
All of the R&M videos on Youtube have been produced by a pair of visual artists from Manchester called Daniel Harper and Sean Kennedy, who made videos under the name Meat Cassette. They also do the visuals for R&M live shows.
We first met some years back when I was DJing in Manchester and I was just starting the R&M project. I talked to them about R&M being an audio/visual project, they loved the idea and the rest is history! They are definitely on the same wave length as R&M in terms of subject matter and the Adam Curtis influences, plus they are also from an electronic music background, having cut there teeth doing VJing in clubs. So whilst the videos often have a political undercurrent they also capture a rave type euphoria that looks fucking amazing when we’re thrashing it in the live show! When it comes to production I would give the lads the track and the theme and maybe a couple of pointers, they know the know kind of aesthetic that suits R&M and then they go away and work their magic!
At this moment in time, how do you feel about the future?
The concept of future certainly takes on a whole new meaning when you’re living through a global pandemic. Mother Nature is bringing the chaos at the moment and unfortunately there’s going to be a lot of pain, health-wise and economically, for humanity for the foreseeable future.
From an R&M point of view I’m feeling good about the future. I’ve been working hard on the music this year and got R&M into a position where there are some big releases lined up for 2021…including the second R&M album and an awesome remixes album, featuring artists like Ancient Methods, Cardopusher, ROÜGE, Gamma Intel, Melania, and many more.
So I’m excited to unleash these releases next year.
What has been a source of escapism for you throughout the year so far?
Music, music, music…and economics. If I’m not working or sleeping then I’m normally doing something to do with music, it’s been my escapism, not just this year, but the whole of my life really but I’m also fascinated by economics so if I really want to take some time out and relax then nothing beats a couple of hours reading about quantitative easing!
‘Enjoy More’ is released this Friday on R&M’s Bandcamp. Follow R&M below: