Maribou State are the beat manufacturing soul bro’s, bound together by a mutual appreciation for one another’s smooth brilliance.
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Signed to well-mannered, eclectic electronic record label Southern Fried Record, Liam Ivory and Chris Davids (aka Maribou State) played a stellar set at June’s i-D MIX night via the recommendation of friend and label manager James Drummond. Arriving bang on time, their well-measured, intelligent sounds spilled effortlessly from the XO speakers, onto the dance-floor and provoked a raucous crowd reaction. Creating their deep, dark atmospheric material using laptops, a splash of guitar, a sprinkle of field recordings and a hefty dose of random inspiration, Maribou State travelled south from Hertfordshire to conquer London. And conquer they have, slowly watching the pieces of their career fall into place, taking to the stages of reputable venues and the airwaves of reputable radio stations, releasing remixes amongst circles of ambitious bookers, artists and imprint owners. i-D online got into a Maribou State of mind and locked down an exclusive mix.
Where are you right now and what are you wearing? Sat on the train heading into London to meet with Southern Fried. For the last month we have persisted to wear shorts and t-shirt despite the fact our Summer so far has been appalling. Today it’s paid off and the sun is out!
What can you see out of the window? Shire countryside, not for long though.
What’s the most played track in your set? It changes quite a bit but Pedestrian’s remix of Djrum always proves to be a bit of a dance-floor killer. Its always fun to pull out some party tunes that everyone knows too, like Jackson 5 or The Steets.
How did the two of you first meet? Back in school, we lived (and still do) just down the road from each other.
Where do you think your music is best experienced? I think that depends on who’s listening to it, and which track it is. I guess in a club should be the answer, but I would say off the West Coast of Africa, on a yacht, around noon with a glass of cognac in one hand and a Vogue menthol in the other, balliin’.
What equipment do you work with? We’ve just switched to Ableton after using Logic for a number of years and to be honest it’s been the best platform to create most of our new material. We like to use a lot of field recording samples as well so always carry a Tascam Dr-40.
What is the most influential dance track of all time? We were always big fans of Daft Punk growing up, so anything from Homework would have been a big influence.
What commercial tracks are you into right now? ‘Call Me Maybe‘?
Who would you choose to play each other in a film about your lives? Chris Rock & Jackie Chan
If your sound were a person what would they look like? Tall and balding. No swagger just more of a limp, wearing a courageously garish hawain shirt.
What are you most looking forward to right now? Getting off this train and grabbing a coffee, I don’t do early mornings very well. Following that Secret Garden Party. We playing on Eddy’s Temple Of Boom stage on the Sunday and I literally can’t wait.
Tell us a joke before you go? How do you turn a duck into a famous soul singer? Put him in the microwave until his Bill Withers.
Text: Milly McMahon
Images courtesy mariboustate.tumblr.com
