I saw my dad go out every day for 35, 40 years to work, and that rubs off in the fact that you get a similar work ethic. Well I have no idea right now. Darts for example, can still be a source of bewilderment or amusement to many observers whose only exposure to it has been via Bullseye or comedy sketch shows. Kirby has also very generously given us an exclusive track to give away free with this interview. James Leyland Kirby: It's been a busy year. I want to say there’s some kind of flash of light reflected on metal. It turned out that Andy’s dad, Acid Alan, was something of a DJ fixture on the Lancastrian rave scene and turned the boys onto R&S records, Belgian new beat and other unusual and ground-breaking electronic sounds of the day. He nods at a bottle of Jameson on the kitchen counter: “That’s just for show. He is quick to dismiss the idea that there is anything unusual about producing this much music: “Two tracks a day is an average. Whether darts would be a good creative solution for all electronic producers or leftfield musicians is a moot point but one thing is clear; at the moment Kirby needs this daily off switch more than ever. He says the sophistication of the tracks in 2016 is down to a much deeper understanding of his process, a wider array of creative techniques, much more powerful hardware and better access to source material. Everything else in the shop was expensive. What was the actual genesis behind the Caretaker project? The software exists for you to do this now.”, He is resigned to the fact that in today’s culture of instant reaction, he will probably be judged on the first instalment rather than all six together but he is clear that he has finally come up with the kind of unique closing idea that the project deserves: “I know it’s not the same as what I’ve done before but I also know what people will say when they hear the first one. Each day I get up and work on something and hope overtime something stands out and work will flow in that direction. Because I love working, I have this inbuilt need. And so that I could look at the work more intensely. It's incredible. Initially the 78 would be played through a fucked old mixing desk, via a BOSS effects unit before being recorded onto DAT or minidisc: “That’s why there are a lot of full tracks on the first release going through a process. That was the main thing, to make something completely different from the stuff that's gone before. So the fact that Sadly... came out of it is quite interesting, because you wouldn't think that. Your email address will not be published. The time before that he attempted to go and watch LFO and Autechre at the Forum Hotel in 2014 with his pal, the old school DJ, George Northface, after the pair had drunk a bottle of “Clan Macgregor Whiskey” - a present from Acid Alan - at home. And this old American film called Carnival Of Souls, which uses exactly the same, this really haunting organ music. The project was inspired by the very final seconds of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a scene soundtracked by ‘Midnight, The Stars And You’ by Ray Noble And His Orchestra. V/Vm often played with altered realities, as does the work of The Caretaker. I can't read music, I have no desire to read music or to follow such rules. So that's why it's not even available any more, everything's just disappeared for a while until I can work out what it was all about. Some people meditate to clear their mind but I play darts.”. There's definitely something about Chris De Burgh, I think it's his eyebrows. As used by his favourite player - Peter ‘One Dart’ Manley. It really sets a mood. It was odd because at the same time [as that record] I put out that record as The Stranger which I still think is a better album, but nobody was really interested in that album. V/Vm was probably one of the most extreme projects of its time. What influenced you at the beginning of The Caretaker? It's quite odd that we'd both choose that track. But, I’m yet to meet a convention challenging working class musician from the North West of England - where to do anything culturally outside of the norm is genuinely to stick one’s head above the parapets - who has never couched the serious art that they make in the terms of a (surreal, uneasy, caustic or offensive) joke at some point or other. The V/Vm stuff was very influential, but right now the interest has never been bigger in what I'm doing. JLK: More disintegration than the others. As it goes Propaganda did well, winning the first tournament; then they changed the rules and we drew the next one. I actually gave him a copy of the 'Lady In Red' mix I did on vinyl, I handed it to him and said 'I think you might know that one', and he just smiled at me. A saloon bar sense of humour means one is not pretentious. It seems maybe my artificially stilled mind has been slightly beneficial to me. Leave a comment. Nowadays nothing is online from this project at all except some YouTube videos as I had full control over all of it. It's nice to provoke that kind of passion in people. This year a lot of things have turned up from you. By any reasonable standards he has always been a very productive artist. One of the aims was to make something which can appear very beautiful on the surface but when you listen deeply can also be very frightening and leave you feeling strange. In 1990, his final year at secondary school, a conversation about music with fellow pupil Andy Macgregor, led to a deepening interest in rave and darker electronic sounds. I love working on new things. No desire to network with people and be the faces of something, no need for fame or fortune, only a need to play live if the show will be fun or is for friends. Two old guys used to run that place and I was able to get so much incredible music from there before sadly it closed down some years back. You have to be in the moment with darts. Someone who has an endless supply of anecdotes and a glint in their eye. The machine may be vintage but it is serviced regularly and works perfectly. I never heard anything back, but he must have listened to it. We can then say it was a combination of the volcano erupting, road trips with Spanish girls, a crazy landlady, Berlin girls and the luck in finding some amazing works and spinning them in an emotional way. So it’s almost like you have one memory but you’re hearing it with a different mood. The cover [art] was incredible, exactly the same as the originals. If you love what we do, you can help tQ to continue bringing you the best in cultural criticism and new music by joining one of our subscription tiers. You probably try and remember more than you usually would at this stage. If things start to go wrong then what you perceive as being reality actually isn't, it's something completely different. As a listener, when you go through the series, you will know that you’ve heard a particular section before but it will sound different. He is of the opinion that if people think what he does is easy, they are free to try it themselves. Very few people get to listen to it but when they do they always say, ‘Where would you begin with compiling all this?’ Say if I wanted to release an album of piano music, I’ve got between 600 and 700 piano tracks finished. It's like you've made the drink once, and then you've drunk half of it, then you'll top it up with water again. I’m playing a lot with this idea on the new one. So is 'Leyland Kirby' more of a personal project? Have you ever had legal trouble with your V/Vm material? Some 17 years after he first devised his Caretaker persona, he has decided to kill it off with a creative act that will take three years and six albums to unfold fully. John Doran goes to Krakow to throw darts with Leyland James Kirby and hear about Everywhere At The End Of Time, the grand farewell he has planned for his Caretaker project… A farewell which will take six albums and three years to conclude fully, All photographs courtesy of Matt Wilkinson Everywhere At The End Of Time Stage 1 by The Caretaker is out now and the full album is streaming below. He’ll spin you ‘til you can’t stand up any more. Most of his recent - and most intensely personal - work has appropriately been released under his own name. In fact quite the opposite is true. It’s now possible to find a lot of this music online and it’s easier to research. It was to add more emotion, add more of myself, be a bit more open. He says tentatively: “I think there’s something there… When you’re playing darts you do and you don’t have to clear your mind. Your take was the same spirit as the original, do you think? In the end Holly Johnson [Frankie frontman] bought a copy! Hier sollte eine Beschreibung angezeigt werden, diese Seite lässt dies jedoch nicht zu. It's a very tired way that the industry repackages things. One is serious. I am very excited about the possibilities right now and feel very inspired and hope to capture these feelings. I'm intrigued by your Intrigue & Stuff records. Composer of otherworldly ambient drone. But that was a comment. Entitled 'Remember Us', it's a sumptuous, softly beautiful piano-led piece that works nicely as a companion to Eager To Tear Apart The Stars. For that I’ll be doing 30 or 40 minute tracks which are essentially self-generating. It almost killed me. “He’s a dentist apparently”, says Anna, before adding darkly: “He has lots of clients and a very big practice but he cannot be sacked.