Words by Eamonn Seoige

Following on from their eighth studio album release, dance pioneers Underworld will be playing at RDS in Dublin this Saturday November 27.  For those of you who didn’t catch it in the print magazine last month – here’s the AU interview with Karl Hyde

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Now into their 50s, the duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith show no signs of resting on their laurels. Their eighth studio album Barking features contributions from experts in the fields of dubstep, drum and bass and trance, while Karl Hyde can look back on three pioneering decades in dance.

“Just like painters, film makers, rockers or whatever, a lot of dance artists from this scene have fallen on tough times. I’ve lost good friends, people who just never grew out of it. I look back on it all and I’m glad I wised up before it was too late.”

Arranging this interview involved a lot of patience, and when AU eventually gets Karl Hyde on the end of a phone, we find a very busy man indeed. Nope, not up to his neck with promo work for the new Underworld album Barking, it’s something altogether more domestic. “I’ve got the builders in,” he sighs. “Oh, the joys! I’ve recently moved house in Essex and I’m just packing some stuff away in boxes.”

Despite their position as one of the seminal acts of progressive house and techno, Underworld was strangely removed from the scene’s earliest innovations. “In the beginning, we really made music on a ring road, blindfolded!” he laughs. “The whole Chicago/New York/Detroit scene was happening, but we were gloriously oblivious to it. It was only when we toured the States later that I discovered who Juan Atkins or Carl Craig was! I can recall saying to people, ‘Ah, the Eighties was total shite’ and they were incredulous. This great music was happening under our noses but we were totally unaware…”

During the Spring of ’91, four years and two albums after forming Underworld as a funky pop band, possibly their defining career moment took place. After a period of time-out, Darren Emerson joined Hyde and Smith to pursue a new venture, while still operating under the Underworld moniker. “We had got rid of a load of equipment and realised we couldn’t afford to gig properly or even be in a proper, old-fashioned band. I remember supporting the Eurythmics, then getting dropped from our label. We were totally bankrupt and finally decided, ‘Bollocks to this’!

“I think it was originally Rick’s idea to change focus and veer more towards producing pure dance music. We had no PR support, no label, no marketing and yet we decided to take what little money we’d left and build a studio in Romford. It had only taken us 12 years to finally realise our true direction!”

Around the same time, Hyde picked up some work as a session guitarist in the US. Rick stayed put in London, busy exchanging ideas with Darren. Darren’s fascination with house and techno, combined with their desire for experimentation, was the basis for the classic sound of Underworld.

“I still had a longing to do the whole band thing and rock out on my guitar, so I got it out of my system, heading out on tour with Debbie Harry,” he laughs. “Then it was down to work with the boys. It didn’t take us long to nail that early sound and we started off selling our first 12” releases out of the boot of my car, our first few quid profit in years! That was a big turning point for us. No longer were we chasing people for record deals, we were no longer trying to incorporate a standard vocal track in every song, sod it! We were our own management and doing it our way. It grew from there like a cottage industry…

“It was a magic time. We were all based in London, had a company called Tomato on the go, which produced high-end TV commercials and graphics. The place was buzzing with great people like Goldie, Orbital, Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. Soho and the West End felt like the centre of the universe! It was an amazing scene, no bitching, everyone helping everyone else out to get up and running. Even Björk was in town and we all hung out together in clubs, gigging and in the studio.”

Ultimately, the release of Dubnobasswithmyheadman in 1994 was the breakthrough moment. It took Underworld to a new level. “House/techno/trance, you name it, has continued to develop over the past number of years, with various mixed styles developing over time. However, I still remember those early Nineties as the special years. Nobody in that scene cared about age, about being cool or stylish. It was an unpretentious scene where everyone was simply looking forward. It was always a case of what’s next? All the key people in this business are forward thinkers. It’s all about keeping the music fresh, working with new artists, thriving on new ideas.”

On new album Barking, working with such modern production masters as Dubfire, High Contrast and Paul Van Dyk has offered Hyde and Smith a fresh challenge. They feel it’s important to remind one other that dance music is a celebration, entertainment. When people turn out for a show or buy a record they want a good time, to have a smile on their face. However, Hyde also admits that the image portrayed in the mainstream press is often far from a complimentary one.

“I can totally understand why the scene gets picked on. It’s ideal media fodder, titillation for the masses, sensationalist stories of the carnage caused by drug and drink abuse. It’s a sad fact that just like painters, film makers, rockers or whatever, a lot of dance artists from this scene have fallen on tough times. I’ve lost good friends, people who just never grew out of it. I look back on it all and I’m glad I wised up before it was too late. I used to think it was a source of inspiration but these days I’m more prolific. I have more energy in my 50s than I had as a 30-year-old!”

Far from craving the easy life, Hyde is determined to stay productive as long as possible.
“It’s all go these days. I’m doing some work with Brian Eno for Rick’s new label and I have a painting exhibition opening in Tokyo. I wake up in the morning energised naturally! The new record has been a great buzz. When I rehearsed I suddenly realised that this great sound wasn’t been created by a group of strangers, they’re my mates!”

The basic tracks were pulled together, on the road, over a three-year period. The consensus was that the set was beginning to sound old and needed freshening up, brought forward to reflect the times. “So, when we had the tunes finished, we played them on tour, tweaking them based on the live sound and the crowd reaction. Often, it was a little change here, a kick drum or hi-hat there. We took our lead from the audience, just as we’ve always done. I actually remember that ‘King of Snake’ got sorted in Dublin. We played in the Redbox and it went down so well we decided that’s fuckin’ it!”

It’s always been their way. Going back to earlier times, Rick would play acetates in clubs and stand at the back to capture the sound and the response from the crowd. “With Barking we crafted all the tracks this way and then we set about finding people to collaborate with on the production. We then start this whole back-and-forth thing, jamming via the studio and online before deciding on a completed track.

“As I said before, we’ve been really lucky to have met so many people on our journey. The scene is populated by a lot of gems and it was great to have some of them on board for the new album. If we hadn’t taken that fresh path, all those years ago, I’d probably be working in a covers band, scraping a living on the pub circuit!”

Their album Barking is out now on Cooking Vinyl

Underworld play the RDS, Dublin on November 27

Website

This article first appeared in AU69, Sept 2010.