The debut record by the London artist Alpha Maid is both steeped in history and right in the moment. The artist, who has collaborated with Mica Levi on the project spresso, has made a guitar music album that sits in a noisy, dubby space all its own. It’s deeply rooted in the long story of London reggae and post-punk music but also unmistakably the work of one artist, making choices, guiding the listener on a woozy path. We talked to Alpha Maid about the record, London, and noise music. Read the piece, and listen to Is this a queue, below.
This LP was made in motion. Any memories of its creation stick out to you?
Alpha Maid: Many, certain routes I’d go on for walks and train journeys, my general going ons at the time—narratives of where I’ve written from have made it into the tracks.
Could you talk a bit about the name of the album?
Jumping through hoops, bureaucracy, boxing things in to create order, the album’s name could be interpreted as an inspection on this sort of stuff.
Dub is clearly an influence on some new songs. Do you have any formative memories of listening to dub or reggae growing up?
Yeah, things like big family functions, neighbor’s houses, cars driving past, markets—I think genres become formative by absorbing them subconsciously and in passing.
I saw that you played some Black Dice on your NTS show many years ago. How has noise music informed what you do?
It's a freedom to move within chaos or to make order out of chaos. The sounds aren’t explaining themselves to the listener, with that they feel really alive. For me noise music is a reminder of finding new ways of listening and appreciating. Baking that into songs is important to me.
How did you link up with Mica Levi? Do you plan on doing another spresso record? How do you approach live performance?
We became friends over some years, writing together started being the ideal way to hang out. No plans for another spresso record as it stands—we play a spresso show November 20th at Ormside Projects. My live approach depends on the context, it’s fun that this can never be exactly the same.
Going back to your last EP: What is “Spinning Bird Kick” about?
A Spinning Bird Kick.