When electronic music was paving its foundations during the ‘90s, a small Welsh band Hybrid were in the works of transforming the genre through their progressive appropriation of dance music. Since 1996, up until now, Hybrid have not only established a solid and incredibly loyal fan base, but have been labeled as pioneers of electronic music, influencing popular artists such as Deadmau5 today and contributing to the scores of countless films. Fast forward sixteen years, Hybrid are still pushing the envelope, continuing to transform their songwriting techniques and incorporating huge amounts of musicality into an otherwise technical genre. Founding member Chris Healings speaks about the early beginnings of Hybrid, independent music distribution and the bevy of upcoming work they are due to release.
It was during the ‘90s in a small, but dedicated, Welsh house music tent that Chris began DJing. Here he mastered his craft with an ever-expanding record collection. Still straddling the mixtape era, Chris received a bootleg of a unique Pink Floyd Another Brick In The Wall remix from a young Mike Truman. “The track was amazing,” he explained. From there the duo joined forces, Mike with the studio, Chris with the musical catalogue, and they made records every day for the Saturday night set.
With Hybrid in solid motion, Chris and Mike began to dabble in orchestral music, layering waves of strings over the metallic pings of synthesizers, one of the first to experiment with this dichotomous mix. “After going to all of these raves…we would [go home]…and listen to film scores,” Chris explains. “The score from Blade Runner is one of the best chillout CDs and it spurred us into other scores. We thought, ‘Why can’t you do this with electronic music?’ Dance music can be quite cold, if you put some musicality and add some organic elements it can stand the test of time better.”
Chris’ interest in electronic music had fostered not through a rebellious framework, but one of originality. “I thought, ‘Oh my God this is different. I love this,” Chris explains. “Every generation has a particular type of music they are brought up on, and when they hear something different, they love it. I grew up on bands like The Carpenters, so I began to move in the opposite direction of parents. In my day rave was the polar opposite from what you’ve been brought up on.”
Wide Angle, their debut album released in 1999, is a combination of progressive house and nu skool breaks with vocals and symphonic textures. This work forever established Hybrid as pioneers of dance, known for their cinematic approach to their production, specifically with the use of orchestral sounds. Their second album Morning Sci-Fi saw Hybrid adding semi-permanent vocalists and guitarists, delving their sound into darker territory while still retaining similar undertones to Wide Angle. Morning Sci-Fi had been influenced by a wider selection of diverse genres, Chris explaining that after being firmly ingrained within the sonic realms of dance music, they had begun to explore more classical and indie works such as those of the Doves, Radiohead and Arvo Pärt. Their third studio album, I Choose Noise, saw a return to the grand orchestral melodies that Hybrid are known for and was followed up nicely with a performance at Coachella in 2006.
Known for pushing the aesthetic envelope of dance music, Chris believes adding musicality to Hybrid’s sound has strengthened their longevity. “It gives it depth, gives it more feeling,” he says. “It soldiers on. [I was] going through our back catalogue, and listened to our songs I hadn’t heard for years. I really enjoyed it and I think our music still stands the test of time, but I guess we’ll see how fresh these tracks still sound for everybody.” When talking about Hybrid’s music, Chris says, “It’s forward thinking music. There are technical envelopes and aesthetic envelopes that we push because we are constantly aiming to break the molds.”
It’s all well and good to weld the two opposite genres together within the bounds of a studio, but live performances form a whole new challenge. Naturally, this did not deter Hybrid who admit to initially aspiring to become a boy band. After touring with musicians such as Moby, Hybrid began to incorporate live bands into their performances. “We were just watching other bands [and couldn’t] see why you can’t do dance music and live music,” Chris says. “[It is] more exciting to watch and gives it a better sound live.”
With the addition of a third member, Charlotte James, Hybrid has seen a transformation in their songwriting process, along with increased musicality. “[Charlotte] is über talented,” Chris boasts. “We’d been looking since our first album for our own vocalist. She plays everything; banjo, trumpet, cello, piano – multi talented.” It was Charlotte’s approach to Hybrid’s music that really sparked the interest from the former duo. “She approached our music from the angle of what she could do with it, especially with what she found challenging,” Chris explains.
Coming toward the end of the contract with their record company, Hybrid are more than excited about standing on their own two feet when it comes to distribution. With the advent of the digital age and the iron grip most artists suffer via labels choking their master rights, Hybrid are fortunate to have a solid and loyal fan base, who creep up from under their rugs at the first whiff of new and fresh material. “We are doing a mini-album at the moment, Classics, which is the last thing with our record company,” he says. “Now we are on our own feet. We have been keeping a lot of music, [waiting] for us to be standing on our own legs. Mini albums are cheap and downloadable, so before Christmas [we plan on releasing] a lot. We will own all our rights and don’t have to share money, which we can do with our fan base now because they are so loyal. Hybrid fans are great. They patiently wait.” Classics (released July 30) features the best of their albums. It also includes some new remixes and previously unreleased tracks for the die-hard Hybrid fan.
The niche nature of Hybrid is simultaneously a record label’s greatest asset and biggest threat. With such a devout fan base, they are able to distribute their music without the need for marketing and promotional departments. Chris explains the nature of their supporters, saying, “We have a very loyal fan base. [We] just did a cover of Enjoy The Silence by Depeche Mode [and put it on our Facebook]. We then had 7500 comments from our fans! People tell us they are dabbling in music because of us. We do it because we love it and because other people love it.”
Hybrid is able to create as much music as they do through the solidarity of the band. “Anything can start with anything,” he begins. “Mike might have a set of loops tucked away, which then get passed to Charlotte who does mad vocals. It’ll then come to me and I’ll sound design and make a background and we will just knock it around between three studios. Then we will all get into one room and finish it. We’ve been working together so long we all know what we can do.”
Not only have the group established such a distinct and loyal fan base, but they have equally found another niche in the form of film scoring. Hybrid’s work has been used for films such as Man on Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Cowboys & Aliens. “Harry Gregson-William employed us to do all this crazy mad electronic stuff and then put strings on top,” Chris says. “There is a lot of emotion which comes from instrumentation. You can have the electronic stuff which is big and nasty, but then put lovely strings on top, evoking feeling.” Their cinematic approach to production has resonated in their style, and is indeed imprinted firmly on their aesthetic. Chris confesses that this is due partly to their love of film scores – the scores from Close Encounters and Blade Runner are two of their favourites.
When it comes to performing, Chris says they like to be more interactive rather than stay behind a DJ booth, which is also why they incorporate bands into their gigs. “I’ve fallen off stages,” he laughs, “Three times. There is quite a lot of equipment and sometimes a tiny stage, and I tend to jump around more than the other guys. I’ve gone off the back and gone off the side. The fans propped me back up and I carried on!”
If he could perform or collaborate with anyone, Chris chooses David Sylvian, front man of the band Japan and Kate Bush. “I used one of David Sylvian’s tracks on the last Hybrid CD because I think he’s great. Kate Bush too, she is phenomenal.”
In respect to their sixteen-year legacy, Chris says, “Hopefully we paved the way for electronic artists. In a way you don’t just have to do banging techno. Bringing more musicality into the electronic genre is something we’d like to be known and remembered for.
BY TAMARA VOGL
