Warehouse Decay Recordings

We’re very eager to announce that Magnofon will be releasing his debut album with us, after having made two EPs for Warehouse Decay in the last year. This forthcoming long-player will be called Fallowfall and features various Deep House compositions that reference urban decay. The dusty pieces combine several different techniques, including beats made from field recordings, sampled vinyl, acoustic instruments and warped old jazz samples.

We have been trying very hard to keep the news secret but since we have already announced it on Facebook, we couldn’t help but put together a short trailer video, revealing an excerpt of one of the tracks:

We caught up with Magnofon for a few moments, to gain a little further insight into the album:

WDR: Tell us a little more about the video
Magnofon: “I have absolutely no previous experience of making videos so hopefully this isn’t too obvious! But the video trailer was taken on an early morning car journey through quiet country back roads during a heavy storm. It starts and finishes with the cover artwork by Simon James and features a track from the album”

WDR: What inspired you to make Fallowfall?
Magnofon: “It was literally born out of redundancy, when the shop I’d worked at had closed down and I spent a summer out of work last year. I was listening to and creating House music almost every day to try to stay positive as I looked for work. I was fascinated by urban decay and wherever I traveled I’d be on the look out for rusty old buildings, crumbling warehouses and closed stores.”

WDR: How long has it taken to make the album?
Magnofon: “I’ve been working on Fallowfall since early last year. I had an original take of the album that I began submitting as a demo but now, only a few of these tracks remain. It has changed form several times over the months and I’ve basically selected the best of the bunch for the final album and over a year on, I’m feeling very happy with what has been accomplished.”

WDR: Which artists inspired your work?
Magnofon: “Anyone who knows me is aware of my in-depth taste in music. Not just House music, but good music in general. Fallowfall has a House music structure, influenced by the likes of Theo Parrish, Moomin, Atjazz, Global Communication and more recently, DWIG. However, my interest in Jazz, Ambient, Dub, Funk and experimental music has given it a twist to the sounds on my EP. There is definitely an old-school, vintage feel throughout that I wanted to get across. I guess some of the experimental artists that helped shape my ideas could include The Boats, Boozoo Bajou and even my own Ambient experiments as Spheruleus.”

WDR: We’ve not revealed it yet, but could you explain a little more about the visual aspect of this concept album?
Magnofon: “The visuals are a vital and integral part of Fallowfall – I guess this part has been the longest part of the whole process. I had lots of ideas in my head but stumbling across seriously decaying buildings or evocative industrial landscapes isn’t an everyday occurrence. 
The finished album will include an image for each track if you order from Bandcamp – these will load onto your iPod and will give weight to the overriding theme. 
A huge step forward in portraying my concept was enlisting the photographic talent of Simon James, who has supplied several images for previous EPs on WDR. Simon has a superb selection of shots, possessing interests akin to the subjects in Fallowfall. Simon has taken the majority of the bonus imagery for the album including the cover artwork and I’ve added a few shots from my locality. I’m particularly pleased that Simon only lives down the road – I wonder whether getting a photographer involved from further afield would quite give the album the same effect.”

Fallowfall will be out on Warehouse Decay from all the usual distributors later this year. We’re not certain on dates yet but very soon we should have a preview up on our Soundcloud account…