TAS Interview (CMJ Preview): Chad Valley

British singer, songwriter and remixer-in-demand Hugo Manuel has been very active doing double duty with two projects: his band Jonquil, which released a lengthy Stateside EP last fall, One Hundred Suns, and just finished recording a new album, and Chad Valley, his more experimental, electronic-leaning, solo alter ego.

The Oxford-based Manuel, who wraps a North American tour with Active Child on September 30 in Los Angeles, has been focusing on Chad Valley this summer, garnering enthusiastic praise for his most recent EP, Equatorial Ultravox. This November, he heads out on a high-profile UK tour with Friendly Fires and SBTRKT, but happily, he'll also make a quick stop at New York's CMJ Music Marathon for shows at Le Poisson Rouge (October 20), Spike Hill (October 20) and Cameo Gallery (October 22). He'll also join Friendly Fires and Theophilus London for a gig at Terminal 5 on October 26.

The Alternate Side caught up with Manuel over email to chat about his multi-tasking band life, the Oxford music scene,  his most soul-shattering gig and why the term "chillwave" makes him queasy:

TAS: Hugo, you're actively balancing two projects - Chad Valley and your band Jonquil - and you're a member of Oxford's Blessing Force Collective. What was the impetus behind setting up the collective; as a future label, like Saddle Creek, or a really just a way of supporting a group of musicians who happen to be from the area?

Hugo Manuel: The idea was originally to be a kind of informal support group for all of our wider group of music making friends. I think the great thing about it is that it can be what any of us members wants to be. So there is a lot of stuff that comes under the banner of blessing force aside from the music. And yes, inevitably we are now using the name as a record label. The first Blessing Force release will be Trophy Wife's new EP - they all used to be members of Jonquil, so there is a nice cyclicism there.

TAS: Oxford seems a rather verdant, vibrant and diverse music community - from Radiohead, Stornaway and your friends Foals to newer bands like Ute. What makes it such a strong base for bands - and a strong base for you?

Hugo: It has taken quite a long time to get to where it is now in Oxford. There is now a really wide variety of stuff, but back when I first started out, it was pretty much 100% indie guitar music. One of the key things about Oxford is its proximity to London, and just the fact that it isn't London. I kind of think if you move to London, you're f**ked. You get sucked in... there is too much to do, too much fun to be had. In Oxford there is precious little to do, and I think that is very conducive to making music.

Now That I'm Real (How Does It Feel) ft. Rose Dagul by chadvalley

TAS: You've got both a recent Jonquil EP, One Hundred Suns, and a new Chad Valley EP out - and you just finished recording a new Jonquil album whilst touring as Chad Valley - how did you manage to balance both? Or even in terms of touring - you've been focusing on Chad Valley this summer and fall. Do you fear sometimes sacrificing something on either side?  

Hugo: It is hard sometimes, but I don't think anything is ever sacrificed, because there is such a different way of writing for the two projects. I like to keep myself busy. I am much happier now I am incredibly busy with the two things than I was when I was just doing Jonquil. So there is definitely something positive in that!

Jonquil - I Know I Don't Know by Jonquil

TAS: You just finished recording a new album with Jonquil. Can you tell us a bit about that? When do you see it coming out, album title ... a couple of tracks that have already emerged as ones you're excited for other folks to hear? Shift in direction?

Hugo: We wrote it together from January through to August, and the songs mostly started from my bedroom, and we finished it in our friend's studio out in the countryside in the middle of England. It was very collaborative in a way that our previous stuff wasn't so much. We had never really written all together like that before, and it was a really exciting thing to do. I think we have toned down our more overtly upbeat tendencies, and we have hopefully come up with something which represents a wider range of breadth for us. Maybe as a result of my work with Chad Valley there is more of a focus on the production and the atmospherics. I really want Chad Valley fans to hear the album and notice the similarities between the two projects.

TAS: As Chad Valley, you're touring with SBTRKT and Friendly Fires in November and in North America, you've been on the road with Active Child this month.  Excited?

Hugo: I am very excited, partly because its such a great opportunity, but also because the bands are such great fits for me, and I am genuinely a massive fan of those bands. Its still really exciting for me to meet new people in bands and hopefully making friends ... if they'll have me. The tough thing about being support though is always trying to win over fans of other people's music whilst they are effectively just waiting for their favourite band to play! I don't think I should have too tough a job though with these tours.

TAS:  How much does the term "chillwave" make you cringe?

Hugo: Like when my parents say the word 'sex'.

TAS: For Chad Valley, Equatorial Ultravox is your second EP - but at seven tracks, hovers near to being an album, especially since it's such a strong collection. What made you shy away from releasing it as an album? And what are plans for an album?

Hugo: Thank you very much. I could have easily turned it into an album with a few extra tracks, but I am very glad i didn't because basically releasing that EP was me clearing out all the tunes I had written over the last 6 months or so. So now with the album, which i am writing at the moment, it will be completely purpose-built, and I think that is very important for an album. Also i don't think i'm at the stage yet where I should be making an album. I've only been doing Chad Valley seriously for a year, and its a constantly evolving thing.

TAS: There seems to be such an eclectic array of sounds and vocal play filtering throughout this album, from the warm, propulsive murmur of "Fast Challenges" to the irresistible, straight-up groove of "Now That I'm Real." You seem to obsessively collect impressions - or influences - from 20-35 years ago which slip in and out of your songs. What was the genesis of this angle of your songwriting, especially as it related to where you were with Jonquil?

Hugo: I think that is very true... there is a stong sense of the past in my music, and that is very deliberate. I've never liked music that sounds completely up-to-date, or of the time. With the exception of a lot of the dance music I listen to. But to be honest, I never go into writing a song with a specific idea, I just let stuff happen almost subconsciously, and then hone it down into something good. I am a total sound geek, I get incredibly excited when playing with a new synth for the first time. Synths to me are like albums and the manufacturers are the bands. Different companies have different characteristics and different individual synths have different characteristics, and its exciting seeing the evolution of synths and how that has gone parallel to the evolution of music. So synths are where a huge amount of inspiration come from for me, and I can never be satisfied with staying in the same place with my gear... its always evolving, and so is my sound.

[video:http://vimeo.com/29007144]

TAS:  If you were to recommend five albums that you felt were not only hugely influential for you in terms of both Chad Valley and Jonquil - but records that you thought were vital in any great collection - what would they be?

Hugo: David Bowie, Low. Paul Simon, Rhythm of the Saints. Stars of the Lid, Avec Laudenum. El Perro Del Mar, self-titled [album]. The Tough Alliance, A New Chance.

TAS:  I'd mentioned the excellent Chad Valley album to The Horrors' Faras Badwan and he told me that Chad Valley was a British brand of cheap toys. Is that what inspired you to choose the moniker? And speaking of The Horrors, who also have a love of synths as you do, which of your fellow UK bands do you feel need far more recognition Stateside?

Hugo: Its weird, because If you had asked my about British bands a year ago, I would have said that there arn't any good ones... but now there are really a lot. Obviously all of my Blessing Force comrades, and associates like Pocket House. I have been really excited about Theme Park, Alt-J, Visions of Trees, Outfit and Seams. The exciting thing is that all of these bands have only released a couple of single at the most, and they are all excellent, and will probably go on to big things.

Oh, and the name was just something that I saw and liked the sound of. I liked the fact that people think its my real name, like its an alter ego.

TAS:  You seem to have not many days off, but on a perfect day off in Oxford, what would you do? Where would you go?

Hugo: Coffee in G&D's, walk up and down the Cowley Road visiting the charity shops, walk through Christ Church Meadow, along the River Thames and some kind of ale in a tiny pub, like The Bear, would be essential. All the best things in Oxford involve the river somehow... punting, swimming, walking.

TAS:  What was the worst gig you ever experienced as either Chad Valley or Jonquil?

Hugo: As Jonquil we got paid silly amounts of money to play in a shopping centre in Milton Keynes for Samsung once. It was truly soul destroying.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5eNP5Sdljo]

TAS:  You did a great remix/cover of Foals' "Spanish Sahara." Aside from Foals, if you could ask anyone to remix a Chad Valley track - who would you ask and what track would you give them?

Hugo: Well funny you should say that, because Edwin [Congreave] of Foals has just done a remix of "Fast Challenges," and its a real banger. If he knuckles down, he could pretty great sideline there! But I would love to hear a really good banging house remix, or something like The Field or Michael Mayer.

Chad Valley Collection by chadvalley

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VJ4dv_lXIs&feature=related]