Hailing from across the pond, producer Jon Hopkins invites audiences to a sketch of his personal realities in his third studio album, Immunity. The album was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize this year. Hopkins brands his self-written music with an entrancing digital ambiance. His use of hypnosis extends his production beyond any natively progressive genre like electronica.
Hopkins’s techno abilities have allowed him to collaborate with Coldplay and Bat for Lashes’ Natasha Khan and make remixes for Four Tet to Nosaj Thing.
The Varsity: What is the most important influence to your music?
Jon Hopkins: To be honest, I’ve got very little idea of what the current stuff people are listening to. My writing stage lasted for nine months, listening to the same music. I never really listened to anything new. I’d go back to old records, ambient stuff. My own production is really just a collection of things I’ve listened to over the years, which was European techno, ambience, breakbeat. Anything I bonded with as a child. I have confidence, I like what I do, and it does something to me.
TV: What sorts of instruments do you predominantly rely on?
JH: I’ve relied heavily on piano. I’ve had this one for nine years, it’s come with me into every studio I’ve been in. It’s my main instrument for its nostalgic value. I was predominantly self-taught, but when I was eight, my parents put me into lessons. I resisted, of course, but soon realized how valuable they really were. It’s an amazing instrument. To realize the value of the technique is so useful. It’s very applicable in composition and production.
TV: What is the music scene like in the UK? Do you feel like your music reflects that?
JH: I feel like my music is terribly different… It’s not better or worse in any way, but it’s just not part of any particular scene. I don’t really care about whether or not it sounds new, I’ve been lucky enough to get people behind it and that’s been what’s helped me take it to a good audience. I do implement certain rhythmic techniques, hi-hat patterns and 4/4 beats you’ll hear today, but I make a conscious effort to use acoustic sounds and beats that are more interesting than relying on sampling.
TV: What inspired you to begin producing?
JH: It’s always been what I liked most. At about 10 years old, my parents got me a portable studio. It was a secondhand, brown old thing. It was four tracks onto a cassette, and I didn’t really know what it was, but I started layering up tracks and realizing what certain things were. Time, how you could make sound go left and right, add treble, add bass… Then it became instantly fascinating. Music was always built into me for some reason, though. The first band I heard on the radio was Pet Shop Boys. Their electronic sounds — rather than band music — inspired me, but music was an obsession, ever since I was two years old. My mum used to use it as a means to calm me down.
TV: Did you continue with music during your post-secondary education?
JH: I went to music college, and there I learned about professional synths. Sounds were more than just something people made. I grew up in a good time. Technology was finally getting to the point where you could have a home computer. It really started to happen when I was 18-19, pcs were affordable, programs were accessible.
TV: When you compose,do you use hardware or software predominantly?
JH: I really try to stop myself from doing everything on the computer, but mainly tracks that incorporate many synths/bass, I refuse to let myself do that. Let them sound different. On my previous album, the majority of it was composed on the piano, but I knew Immunity had to be different. Logic is what I write on. It’s perfect for arrangement and automation; if you have an idea and an effect, it’ll immediately latch right on. Automation keeps everything alive and prevents it from going sterile. They’re all the same, it’s whatever you started with. Logic and Cubase are easiest for me, but I’m sure Ableton is great too.
TV: I’ve read that you have a fascination with self-hypnosis. How did that translate onto Immunity?
JH: Mainly “Sun Harmonics,” the 12-minute song on the album. It functions along the premise of repeating a thought for a long period of time to move into a deeper state of being. Upbeat tracks will do that too, and bring you to a higher state of consciousness accessible through meditation. It’s all about tapping into that part of your brain that you wouldn’t normally.
Jon Hopkins will be playing at the Hoxton on November 21 with Clark and supporting act, Nathan Fake.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
