Techno Savvy

The duo has released four albums in a span of eight years with Unpatterns being the latest launched in May last year. They cater to their fans with a constant flow of new singles. Their latest single titled Sacrifice in collaboration with Bicep,another electronic duo hailing from Belfast,vaguely makes one think of the popular video games of the 90s,more so if you watch the video. “We had a great experience working with Bicep. We’ve been friends with them for a while and it was just natural and easy getting them in the studio to collaborate with us. We just jammed out the track on synths and drum machines. We’re planning to do some further collaboration in the future,” says Ford. The collaboration was a result of their common love for analogue production. Though Shaw and Ford have a soft corner for music production using analogue methods,they enthusiastically use digital methods to suit the requirements of the music they create. “Digital and analog both have their places. For instance,we use Protools on a computer to record most of our stuff,but we’re essentially just using it like a tape machine or recording device. We like analog synthesis,and especially modular synths,because you get an amazing degree of control options and flexibility. You also get a unique character of the sound when you use the analogue process to produce music,” says Shaw. While in digital recording,the signals are represented as data,in analogue recording techniques,the signals are stored as a wave which might be stored as a physical texture on a phonograph record.

SMD will be playing at the Eristoff Wolves Den as they headline for the Bacardi NH7 Weekender festival in Pune this weekend. “We’re DJing,so it will be strictly techno along with a mixture of contemporary music and older classics,” reveals Shaw. While Ford has visited Goa on a pleasure trip,it is Shaw’s first visit to India. “We’ve never played to Indian crowds before though,so we’re pretty excited to see what the response will be like,” he adds.