For the synth pop lovers.. London band Smoking Clone made of Cammie Minnich, Angie Baba-Ahmed and Jake Fields has shared their brand new track ‘Ankh’. Retro, broody, and at times psychedelic, Smoking Clone are sure to whisk you away from the grey, urban backdrop. We caught up with the guys to see what they’ve been up to…
Hi there, how are you and what are you up to today?
Hello, we are Smoking Clone..We have spent today in Angie’s bedroom chilling with our three kittens and adding the finishing touches to our upcoming LP.
To those not familiar with you, how would you describe your sound?
We would describe ourselves as an electro pop band however, we take a lot of influences from Jazz, Funk and R&B. People have said that we have a revivalist 80s sound, however we try our best to stay away from being regressive. Our new LP is inspired by a spectrum of different electronic movements as well as some disco and some more experimental tracks.
What are the 5 albums and artists that have influenced you the most?
Little Dragon’s “Machine Dreams”
Iamamiwhoami’s “Blue”
Gorillaz “Plastic Beach”
Com Truise “In Decay”
Boards of Canada “Music has the right to children”
What other artists do you really like at the moment and why?
We all really love Tame Impala mainly because of the way they create melodies. We are really into dreamy and psychedelic sounds with meandering melodies.
What are some of the key pieces of gear you use to write your tracks?
Our go to synths are the Korg Monopoly and the Korg Polysix when composing most tracks. We also sometimes jam on the Micro Korg and Suzuki Omnichord to come up with progressions. All the beats are produced on Abelton live.
What’s the best gig you have ever done and why?
We played are really well received gig at Birthday’s in Dalston a few months ago. We had a really amazing turn out that night. I think the gig was so successful because we were playing to “our audience” meaning people that understand and have passion for our genre.
What’s the worst gig you have ever done and why?
The worst show we ever played was at a venue in Kings Cross (London) we were booked on an indie rock night and the promoter paid no attention to the fact that we are an electronic band. People were really confused when we showed up carrying synths and some people didn’t even know what a synth was. We felt a general sense of snobbery toward electronic musicians that night. There was a general vibe that we were not authentic because we don’t play guitars. Won’t be dealing with those promoters again.
If you weren’t a musician what would you be?
Angie would be a full time occultist
Jake would be a full time philosopher
Cammie would be a horticulturalist in a greenhouse
Do you have any information regarding upcoming releases, projects, DJ mixes or collaborations in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?
We are releasing a full length LP of songs we have written in the last year and a half. The LP will be out in December just in time for the holidays. We will also be playing various shows around London. Keep an eye on our facebook page for more information on shows and release dates.
Thanks!
