One of the best upcoming bands in the music
scene is Submotion Orchestra, a live project from
Leeds. Submotion Orchestra is a
7-member band: Tommy (drummer), Taz (keys), Ruby (vocalist), Dom
Ruckspin (producer/engineer), Fatty
(bass), Bobby (trumpet) and Danny (percussion). The members have
all cut their teeth on live dub, funk, reggae, jazz and even grime bands
previously, so they are no strangers to complex rhythm or bass music. They played twice on the Harbour stage at
Outlook Festival: in 2012 and in 2013. This year it was time for a different
stage: the opening concert stage. Submotion
Orchestra played in the 2000 year old Amphitheatre for the opening of
Outlook Festival.
Ruby “This year has been crazy, we’ve been gigging and
doing festivals all over England and Europe.”
The
band started in 2009 when Tommy, the drummer, and Dom Ruckspin the producer, did
a project commissioned for Yorkminster Cathedral that combined classical
composition and performance with the dubstep of Ranking Records. That sort of
laid the foundation for what would then be Submotion Orchestra. Tommy called me
to see if I wanted to be involved. We did not know each other but we knew each
other from the Leeds music scene. We started in a tiny living room and had our
first improvised performances at a venue for free food. We only had three songs
but the rest of the time we jammed and that’s how we began.
Submotion
also played in bars, right?
Yes we
played in little pubs. We had a friend with a bar called Hukaz. Pretty funny
name for a bar but it was amazing to play there. Submotion started there. Some
of our early gigs were in live music bars such as Bar 1:22 in my home town of
Huddersfield.
This
year Submotion Orchestra played at the opening concert. Is this your first time
playing Outlook Festival?
No,
it’s our sixth time now. We’re true veterans of Outlook Festival!
Who
do you want to see at Outlook Festival?
Busta
Rhymes but unfortunately we can’t. It’s a shame he cancelled. I’m just going to
walk around and try to find something that I’ve never heard before. Just wander
around and then you come to a stage and then you think “this is really sick!”
That’s the best thing at a festival; you discover new music.
Did
you play some new songs from the third album at the opening? And how did the
audience react?
Yes
we played our new release Time Will Wait and the audience’s reaction was great!
We had a lot of people singing along and they danced, so it was lovely. We
didn’t have a chance to play many of our new songs because we are still
polishing them up for the European tour.
How
many festivals are Submotion Orchestra playing in The Europa tour?
Every
weekend we’ve been playing. We started in July with Lovebox Festival in London
and ended with Outlook Festival in Croatia. Now we are about to embark on our
headline tour of the UK and Europe. No rest for the wicked!
Was
this year your first time playing at Pukkelpop? How was it to play in Belgium?
Yes
this was the first time we played at Pukkelpop. We were meant to go there with
Bonobo a few years ago in 2011. We were on our way there and there was a big
thunderstorm and an emergency at the festival, so we got a call: “pukkelpop’s
been cancelled”. But this year we finally played before FKA Swigs on an amazing
stage and the audience was great. We always love to play in Belgium.
For
how many people did you play at Pukkelpop?
I
think there were around four thousand people in our tent. It was quite a big
tent, but Dom made sure they could hear us all at the back!
What
can you tell us about the third album Alium?
It’s
a mixture of classic Submotion sound and some newer more experimental
directions. There’s a couple of epic instrumentals in it too.
The
third album is a mix of the first and second album, with an 80s twist?
Yes
it’s a big mix of everything. Our first album (Finest Hour) has more of a dark,
acoustic dubstep influence, the second album (Fragments) is more electronic and
we’re taking the third album (Alium) back to a mix between acoustic and
electronic style.
How
do you start a song?
Different
people just start jamming together and ideas form from that, or sometimes someone
writes an idea and brings it to a session and we expand on it as a group.
Where
do you get the inspiration to make the songs?
It
comes from everywhere because there are seven members. When we’re travelling
everyone is listening to their own music. Everyone’s got a varied music taste.
How
long does it take to make one song?
Different
people bring different ideas to the table. Someone can write a song with piano
and vocals and brings that to the table and we work at it as a band. It can
take an hour to make one song but it can also take a month. Then when the song
is finished and we all listen to it we say, “We need to change something”, or
we just leave it how it is.
How hard
is it to make every performance varied? Unique?
There
is a lot of freedom in the set. We try to enjoy ourselves especially when we
play every week. We are not pop-art so we don’t keep everything straight. We
swap the set list and we swap the songs, keeping it fresh for ourselves, too.
We like to switch it up.
Who
is your biggest idol?
Personally,
I love Jill Scott. I love her voice and I love what she talks about.
What
your favourite country to play in?
Playing
in the UK is always fun – we have a good ‘home’ crowd. But beside Belgium, we
also love travelling to Eastern Europe – places like Ukraine and the Czech Republic;
we get a really nice response there. Outlook in Croatia, too, of course!
What
kind of job would you have if you were not making music?
I
don’t know, something that is really flexible, so I could still make music in
my spare time!
Where
and when can your fans buy the new album Alium?
On 3rd
of November on iTunes, of course, and on our website.
Thank
you very much for your time and good luck with the tour!
Submotion Orchestra
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud
Order your ticket here
Order the new album "Alium here
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