Richard, Martin, welcome to Minimal Mag. Can you start by telling us a little about your life in lockdown? How have you managed over the last year and what have you done to stay sane?

R: I feel a bit guilty about it, as being a bit of an introvert the lockdown wasn’t too bad for me. 

I got to spend more time with my family and did a lot of work in the studio, which is at home. It turned out to be a very productive year creatively. 

And I got to release a lot of Music For Healing ambient music that other people said helped them cope, which was a big plus. 

M: I’ve worked from home the past few years so, in many ways, very little actually changed for me.  

I’ve been very lucky in that regard.  

As for staying sane, I think the best thing anyone can do is just keep working on projects that mean something to you.  

Focussing on things you love will always make you feel better about the other stuff.

You are releasing an album as Circle Sky this summer, how did you first get together and what is the inspiration for this new project?

R: We got together when Martin came to play at an electronic night I was running at the Ace Hotel in Shoreditch. 

He brought his portable modular set up, and proceeded to play an amazing improvised set. 

We liked the idea of us getting together and putting that energy and technique into more song based forms, so Circle Sky was born.

M: I think at the time, we were quite inspired by our environment too (Star Wars Secret Cinema and the Moog Soundlab).  

And obviously those classic, improvised, sequencer-driven records like E2-E4.

Richard, you have a long and I would imagine storied career. What can you tell us about some of your early experience in dance music and your history working with greats like Dave Ball and Erol Alkan?

R: It’s been a long and wonky road. 

I’ve been involved with making records since I was a teenager, which is some time ago. 

Each project is different, and you learn something new every time. 

There’s many stories, but don’t get me started, we’ll be here all night! 

But yes it was great to work with Erol and to have a continuing working relationship with Dave. 

We are currently working on a new Grid record, which is going very well.

Martin, you’ve been a solo artist and producer for the last decade, can you tell us some of your personal highlights?

M: I always tend to focus on the last thing I did which, in this case, was production on Lou Hayter’s new album.  

I’m really pleased with how that turned out.  

But thinking back, I did an album with an artist called Tyson that never really got the exposure I thought it deserved.  

That’s the record other producers often mention to me but I don’t think a lot of regular music listeners got to hear it.  

I don’t think it’s even on Spotify for some reason.  Lots of synths, great singer, catchy songs.  

It was all played live too, no midi.  Definitely worth a listen if you can find it on Youtube or Discogs or whateverB