Factory Floor unveil debut album

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  • We spoke to the London trio's Nik Colk Void about their first full-length, which will come out in September.
  • Factory Floor unveil debut album image
  • Factory Floor have revealed details of their self-titled debut album, due out September 9th on DFA Records. The three-piece band of Gabe Gurnsey, Dominic Butler and Nik Colk Void has existed in it current form since 2009. Their early singles for labels like Optimo Music and Blast First Petite, combined with incendiary live shows, earned them a cult following. In 2011 they signed to DFA, and released the Two Different Ways single, which was followed by remix EP featuring re-rubs from Perc and Richard H. Kirk. Earlier this year they put out another DFA 12-inch, Fall Back, and returned to Optimo Music with Beachcombing/Cside, a collaboration with avant-garde disco icon Peter Gordon. Both "Two Different Ways" and "Fall Back" appear on the album, alongside eight previously unheard cuts. According to Colk Void, Factory Floor took nearly two years to put together, mostly because "we decided to keep developing live in tandem with recording." It was produced and recorded by the band in their North London warehouse space and mixed by LA-based producer Timothy 'Q' Wiles, who has previously worked with VCMG. We caught up with Colk Void via email to discuss the album:
    How did you find the experience of putting together an album after making several singles and EPs? We began recording and releasing vinyl at a very early stage with this current line up. I had just joined so the Untitled 10-inch recorded and released in 2010 on Blast First Petite was us getting to know each other, followed by Optimo's Real Love. The singles and EPs were 50 percent about testing the water with different recording situations—purpose built studios, producers, recording live, recording direct—and prepping ourselves for our debut album. We came to the conclusion we wanted to record it ourselves. Mainly because we wanted to learn, we wanted to have time to explore our own instruments this is how we decided to set up base in Mono House, a north London warehouse. How long did it take to put together? Were all of the tracks made specifically for the album? It took a while, well a long time, almost two years. The main reason for this is we decided to keep developing live in tandem with recording. Also committing time to our ICA residency. Collaborating with established artists fed more inspiration. Yes the tracks were specifically made for the album, we consciously wanted to make a record that offered an alternative side to our live shows. We chose to discipline the tracks and emulate our own staple sound. When did you guys hook up with Timothy 'Q' Wiles, and why did you choose him to mix the record? We hooked up with him at the beginning of the year. At this point we were too close to the record to hear it properly. Gabriel's snare would rip my head off, my vocal treatments became so removed they no longer sounded human! The consequence of a professional getting their hands on our files made us clean them up one last time beforehand, take a final look at our individual parts and better them if need be. We knew of him from the VCMG record out on Mute last year. He gave the tracks air and dimension, as if he'd taken them on holiday—this is exactly what the album needed. What does the rest of 2013 hold in store? Many festival shows in Europe and UK, plus a tour in the fall, the completion of our residency at the ICA, continuing with our solo projects and beginning album number two.
    Tracklist 01. Turn It Up 02. Here Again 03. One 04. Fall Back 05. Two 06. How You Say 07. Two Different Ways 08. Three 09. Work Out 10. Breathe I DFA will release Factory Floor on September 9th, 2013.
RA