Bdrmm - A new dance-gaze dystopia

The day before the release of the “electronic” comeback of Bdrmm, as well as their third album, “Microtonic”, we had a chat with Joe Vickers to find out more about the themes tackled on the record, between dystopia and introspection, and above all about this new stylistic direction they've taken, ahead of seeing them again in Milan and Bologna and finally getting to hear the new songs live at the end of March.

Hi Joe! Tomorrow “Microtonic” comes out and soon you'll be starting the new tour in support of the album, how are you feeling?

I'm really excited. Obviously there's always a long wait between finishing the recording of an album and its actual release, people listening to the music and all that. It's great to have finally put it out, and I think the thing we enjoy most is playing the songs live. It's really exciting to go on tour with the new record and be able to share the new songs with the audience.

Sound-wise, you've moved much closer to dance territory. What influences inspired you while writing the album? Were there any artists you were listening to in particular?

I think we've all been listening to a lot more electronic music in general, whether that's Four Tet or Radiohead. I mean, there are influences we've always had for many years: Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, that kind of stuff has always been there. Ryan and Jordan, who also do most of the composing, have both developed their skills in terms of making electronic music. Conor and I work in a very different way. In a sense we work on their demos and build the songs from there. In terms of outside influences, it's just a lot of things happening in the world: it reflects a lot on terrible things happening in society, politically, and also on everyday anxiety. So it's a bit like trying to fit a lot of themes into all of it, and I hope it comes through to listeners. On top of that, I just finished reading a book by Philip K. Dick, the one that inspired “Blade Runner“, “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?”, just a few weeks ago, and that kind of dystopian idea of the future runs through the whole album as a theme.

The track that best represents this small evolution could be considered “John On The Ceiling”, written early in your career and finished much later, right?

Absolutely, yes.

The song also caught my attention for the themes it deals with, namely confusion and doubt. Can you tell me about it?

The lyrics side of things is obviously more Ryan's territory; but I think dealing with a lot of those ongoing emotions and doubts, which we all have to work through day by day trying to figure out the best path forward, a lot of that is in some way captured in the lyrics of that song.

The album also features two collaborative tracks, “goit” with Syd Minsky-Sargeant of Working Men's Club and “In The Electric Field” with Olivesque of Nightbus. What was it like working with them?

They're both artists we hold in huge regard. As for Syd from Working Men's Club, their first album was a huge influence on me in particular. I loved that record and he's continued putting out great work ever since. So having him with us was a real honour, he's a fantastic guy. A lot of it was done over email, like a lot of things these days. For the actual recording of his vocal, we sent him the track and he immediately understood what idea we were going for. The first thing he said was: “This is exactly what we're looking for”. I think he captures the mood of the album in his performance, and the lyrics really fit that opening track very well. We knew Olivesque from Nightbus from last year's tour. She's an outstanding person and it was fantastic spending time with her, she seemed to fit exactly what we were looking for on that record. And again, her performance, the spoken vocal and then coming into that epic chorus, was so spontaneous, as if she nailed it on the first take. Her voice is absolutely incredible, and even lyrically she sort of captures the themes we're trying to explore. So it was a great meeting of minds.

Listening to “Clarkycat” I found some trip-hop echoes in Massive Attack territory, and in the closing section something big beat in the style of Chemical Brothers. How did this track come about?

This one was a Ryan demo that, in a way, didn't sound anything like the final version, really. It's another one of those cases where a track was taken from a studio demo and then pushed, pulled and taken in all sorts of different directions. I think the last two minutes of that song, that long outro that kicks off with that gorgeous synth, is probably one of the best pieces of music we've ever created. And then the way the guitars and bass come in; we've only just learned to play it live because obviously we'd written it mainly in the studio. So learning to play it live was a really fun experience for all of us. The outro of that track is the kind of music we're really proud of, and that's the direction we want to go in. The projects you mentioned in terms of trip-hop and big beat are all things we've been listening to for many years. So it's nice to be able to bring those influences into the studio and push things in that direction.

As mentioned, one of the album's recurring themes is dystopia applied to the reality we're living in. In “Snares”, for instance, there are references to a distorted sense of time linked to the pandemic and the changes it brought to people's lives. How has your personal life and your life as a musician changed after the pandemic?

In many ways. I think everyone was affected by it, weren't they? Some more than others. Since then, the world feels like a strangely different place. I suppose the political landscape, with what's happening right now in America, in Palestine, I think that's weighed heavily on a lot of people. And for us too, we had the whole Brexit thing, which I think happened a few years earlier, but it's something that still hangs over this country, like the main issues that have been going on for a long time. And then I think, on a personal level, that social interaction that we can all sometimes struggle with, feel overwhelmed by, and in a way have to deal with on a daily basis. The interesting thing about being in a band, I think, is that we all have separate lives, we're not at a stage where we're making a lot of money and can afford not to have a job. We all have to find a balance between these things in some way. I think there's a lot of pressure right now, as a musician, to try to make some money, enough to survive, live and still be able to pay the rent at the same time. But at the same time we're so lucky because we get to go on tour, meet new people and do exciting things, visit new places and so on. I don't think any of us would change that for a second. We feel very lucky, even though it's actually quite hard to make it work. We're just sorting out the tour at the moment and we're in a bit of a financial hole with all this. So it's really about just trying to carry on as best we can.

One of my favourite tracks on your new album is “Sat In The Heat”, I really appreciate its rising momentum in relation to the lyrics. Is there a search for a way out, at least through dreaming, in this song?

Yes, and I think it's maybe one of Ryan's best lyrics on the album. I know that when he wrote it he was visiting his girlfriend in Spain. And it's kind of a strange atmosphere, which I think runs through the whole album: sometimes this beautiful, uplifting music contrasts with the lyrics, like you say, seeking escape within it, with these dystopian themes recurring everywhere. I think there's a nice contrast between that music and the dark themes that go along with it.

What's your favourite track on "Microtonic" and why?

I think I have two that stand out for me. I really like "Snares", the fourth song, which is a kind of spoken word piece with a really uplifting voice. I think it's a real distillation of what we're trying to achieve right now. It represents all of us contributing our best tricks, where we're all able to experiment and push ourselves as far as possible. And the last track, "The Noose", which for lyrics and vocals is among my favourites Ryan has ever done. It really rounds off the album well and leads into this kind of ambient outro, which Jordan worked really hard on, and Alex Greaves too, who was our producer, really supported the development of all that. Those are the two tracks that really stand out for me.

Are there any bands or artists you'd like to work with in the future?

Oh, that's a good question. Yeah, I'm sure there are. None come to mind straight away. I mean, it depends on where we go in the future. There are loads of electronic artists and people we'd love to get involved, to remix our tracks and things like that. We've also been really lucky to tour with some really interesting acts like Dive and Nightbus, and we've played with Working Men's Club and people like that. As a result it was fantastic to then collaborate on this album. And it's definitely something we'll try to do on future albums, because it was great to have input and suggestions from other people. So yeah, it's definitely something we're keen to explore, but I can't think of specific names for now.

At the end of March you'll be back in Italy with two dates in Bologna and Milan. With this new sound, what should we expect from your live shows?

It's a big change. Obviously we're still playing loads of old tracks, and the ones I assume are fan favourites as such from the first and second albums. But the songs on the new album are far more electronic. There are moments where we're all playing synths, following a slightly Kraftwerk direction. Conor is doing a lot more drum pad stuff, mixing live drums and things like that. So there's loads of new stuff going on. We're really excited to play that mix of old tracks that have the raw power of live drums and shoegaze guitars, but also to be able to have more introspective songs, and having a kind of dynamic shift between the two is pretty exciting.

I think that's everything. Thank you so much for your time, Joe, good luck to you and the band for the release of "Microtonic", see you at the end of March!

Thank you so much, bye!

(22 March 2025)

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