All summer, CLASH heard whispers about Mackwood, and the band he had assembled. A bona fide multi-hyphenate, he’s an impeccably talented drummer and producer, whose list of credits reads like a who’s-who of British music.
Having worked with the likes of The Silhouettes Project, Col3trane, Nilufer Yanya, Jordan Rakei, Eliza, Blue Lab Beats (and more), Mackwood is clearly someone of real gravitas. Throw into the mix friendships with Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd and countless others, and you have one of UK music’s true MVPs.
Out now, his debut album ‘Master Changes’ is a dose of future-minded musicality, merging the lanes between jazz elasticity, club tropes, and hip-hop elements – it’s even named after a sci-fi novel about a nuclear apocalypse.
Fresh from a bold, packed out album launch at Peckham Audio this week, Mackwood sat down with CLASH to break down his bolded project to date.
—
—
You’re worked on a wide range of collaborative projects, what makes this the right time in your life to spotlight your own creativity?
It just feels like all the elements of my own process have started aligning and getting to that kind of critical mass. I’ve been making my own tracks for a while, and all the projects I’ve played & produced with have always fed me inspiration for how to develop my own music.
I started making my own beats while playing with other people, and every new environment gave me ideas for how to join my sound design and live playing together. It was a super organic process of ending up in the right studios and gig spaces while I was getting some tracks of mine together, and it’s snowballed together in a really beautiful way.
You’ve got a deep musical heritage, including a spell with Tomorrow’s Warriors – that organisation has done so much for young musicians, what were your experiences with them like?
It’s basically a degree level jazz education squeezed into a free youth club. Being in that kind of environment free of charge was such a blessing because it really felt like everyone was there unconditionally, and they teach like they really mean it (which they do lol).
The alumni list is a who’s who of UK international jazz acts, so there’s always a steady stream of inspiration. Virtually every project I’m in now has some kinda link back to the group of 20 or so people I met back then around 2015, and the circle has just grown and grown since then. Feels like a big extended family.
The album feels uniquely tethered to your vision, but incorporates so many different people – how did you find the balance between the two? And how did you decide who would best augment these ideas?
I’ve always produced my own tracks, which I still enjoy. I just started experimenting with the live band dynamic, and this album gave me the space to really push myself collaboratively. I wanted a mix of people I could really play with instrumentally, but who were also music tech nerds I can explore sound design with.
The first half of my process looks identical – I’ll build a song up in Ableton to a decent sketch. I’ll either finish it in the box (like Yella! for example), or bring it to the band and arrange it with them. It feels like an extension of my own process, where I can instantly test ideas that would have taken ages to do with just MIDI.
The album title ‘Master Changes’ comes from a sci-fi novel – do you often find inspiration in literature, or film? How do you translate those ideas and emotions into a musical setting?
For sure – John Williams on the Star Wars OST still gasses me to this day. A lot of my favourite movies and games have stuck with me, the way all the elements come together to drive a narrative and paint a picture.
Books like Riddley Walker (where the name Master Changes comes from) are funny because the theme of apocalypse means the scenery is kinda jumbled, so your imagination has less to refer to. I wanted to reverse that synesthetic process on tracks like ‘Dog’ and capture that eeriness, but give it a swag and sense of humour – Gorillaz music vid vibes.
—
—
You worked from 5dB studios with a six-piece band – was it important to you to make these recordings feel ‘live’? What do you gain from working with musicians, as opposed to say, programming aspects yourself?
It’s funny cos there are so many pieces of tech to “humanise” programmed sounds, and there’s loads of great artists making really organic sounding beats. It was an initial compromise to overcome, but I wanted this to be music that I can actually play with people.
It was basically a case of rehearsing a jazz band, but with the added programming you’d get with, say, a session musical director. That way people can incorporate their pedals etc. directly into their playing, which pushes us to all play bespoke to each moment.
‘Habits’ is an amazing song, and we’re big fans of anaiis – where did that track come from? Do you remember what inspired it?
I started that track on the way out of lockdown, and it felt like people were still healing from the disconnect. My personal experience with social anxiety felt like it could use a voice, so I penned the first half with Quinn Oulton.
By the time I linked up with Anaiis, the track had this rub between emotional weight and uplifting dancefloor kinda energy. She caught that dynamic perfectly, duetting sincerely with Quinn’s character, but taking off with that hook into a more optimistic space. Ended up being a really cathartic process and it was a joy doing it with them.
‘Thunder’ benefits from Eerf Evil and Kianja, two incredibly striking artists – what made them the right people to bring in? What do they bring to the studio?
Kianja and Eerf both have a really timeless quality to their music. They’re both thoughtful and soulful people with bags of energy. I studied with Kianja and I play with Eerf in The Silhouettes Project, and both those experiences have taken me through jazz, soul, UK hip-hop and soundsystem history.
The track felt like it had roots in my early years listening to people like Magnetic Man and Chase & Status, and there aren’t many people who can hit that kind of anthemic vibe like those two. It feels like both protest music and a celebration of progress, which I really love.
—
—
It’s an incredibly broad album, yet also highly structured – how did you bring those ideas together to give it unity?
On a really basic level it was just using the same few people to make the whole album. That restriction meant I could push the boundaries of the core sound palette, so I could be really adventurous but know the coherence would be there. It’s the exact same Wurli keyboard on almost everything, whether it’s on a jazz tip or a dancefloor moment like ‘OutMyMind’.
How do you feel having completed this? What did making this album teach you that your other projects had not?
Yeah feels great, one cycle coming to a close. My first album taught me about a LOT of things, mostly around my own tastes and getting it into words. It gave me the chance to be uncompromising , but to also work directly with others and find ways to combine workflows.
Also a big step into visual media for me, making music videos and building a visual language. Leaning into the world that I’m building is exciting – whole thing feels like a PROJECT, and I’m learning to really embody it and build a relationship with it.
Where do you go next…?
Getting the music live out on stage, getting back into the studio, getting my laptop out in inappropriate places. I’m discovering loads of new artists at the moment and I can already feel some sounds taking shape. Getting to drive the music that I’ve already made while seeing where else I can take it for the next project – very very excited!
—
—
‘Master Changes’ is out now.
Words: Robin Murray
Photography: Michelle Janssen
—
Join us on WeAre8, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine HERE as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak-peeks and a view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Mackwood Is UK Music’s Best-Kept Secret – clashmusic.com
