Thankfully the automatic disconnect transpired to be a one-off coincidence and soon enough the three of us had progressed into a discussion about Blunt Instrument – their foundations and their ambitions. What becomes immediately apparent however is that despite the speaker phone function now in working order, Mico is the decidedly chattier half of Blunt Instrument. When asked to describe their formative years, it is Mico who immediately explains, “Luke and I knew each other vaguely in high school and kept in touch a bit over the years. We developed a similar taste in music. We used to DJ together obviously and one day we just thought we would try our hand at making music.”
What was a simple transition from friendship to work colleagues has clearly not affected the core bond between the two. While it may be often said that you should not mix business with pleasure, the duo, who are constantly growing from strength to strength, seem to manage to maintain the two somewhat effortlessly. When probed about their working relationship, the pair agree that though many may see it to be potentially problematic, they find their friendship buys them creative freedom. “It is never really that professional,” laughs Latimer, the quieter half of Blunt Instrument, before continuing, “at the same time we have really clearly differently defined roles when creating music. There are not a huge lot of creative differences. Rocco does the drum and I do the bass, then we meet in the middle. It ends up being a process where you don’t have to worry about.”
Before long Mico, who has been happily biting his tongue during Latimer’s response, interjects, “because he is a mate you can tell him when something is really shit.” What may seem to be a curt cut-off is far from it. It is obvious throughout the conversation that this back and forth banter, which is only evident at a times in an interview situation, forms the basis of the partnership. With an obvious connection, the pair no doubt push and pull each other along, which in turn allows for an creative honesty that many lack. “You can say, ‘that is a really bad bassline Luke, go back and do that again’. There is no professional courtesy in this relationship whatsoever,” Mico continues. With Latimer closing Mico’s sentiment, “there is no room for ego here.”
Clearly the pairing is paying off as the duo’s international reputation is steadily growing. While the pair both admit that they are looking forward to finally releasing a record bursting with Blunt Instrument originals, they are equally excited to have built up such a following for their remixes, which includes brilliant bootlegs of The White Stripes and Bob Marley, so what is it that draws them to a track when considering a rework? “It just depends what kind of mood you are in. You may just hear something from an old track or somebody else’s track and instantly know you have to remix that straight away. Other times you can spend hours doing sound design and build up original ideas. It just comes down to having fun and playing around with sound,” Mico explains.
While there is clearly an element of fluidity to whom they choose for their remixes, there must be, as with everything, some pulling force that draws them into certain selections over others. When pressed a little harder for a more complete answer, Mico draws the following conclusion, “Often when we remix, we try and reinterpret and put our own spin on things. I guess what we are looking out for is things that will lend themselves to that process. Obviously you are trying to do something in a song, sometimes it does not work so you have to get your ear tuned into different pieces.”
With time in the studio set to dominate the remainder of their year as they work on their first artist album, the boys are beyond excitable when they talk about their upcoming headliner slot for Barrel Of Monkeys. While they don’t want to give too much of the game away in regards to what records they will be spinning, Latimer has the last word of our chat when he reveals, “The gig itself is put on by a guy down there who runs Culture Jam. He got in touch with us and asked if we wanted to do a little bit. We are really looking forward to getting down there and trying out a lot of the new material we have been working on. We are really looking forward to just having a good time.”
