SSG Interviews… Ali Love

SSG talks Ketamine, computers and Mischa Barton with Ali Love

Ali Love is an interesting man. Four years ago he first became known for an indie-ditty about the perils of finding yourself in a K-Hole. It was called K-Hole. He then rose to prominence providing guest vocals for The Chemical Brothers on their hit Do It Again before recording an album of his own material called Love Music (see what he did there) which unfortunately was never released due to him failing to go “from East London’s best kept secret to bonafide pop star”. After learning the hard way that record labels are evil and run by Satan, he’s back with a new soul & electro-inspired sound and an album called Love Harder (see what he did again) that not only is rather good, but has actually got released this time. SSG decided to meet him:

SSG: You’ve lost the slightly rough-around-the-edges sound of your previous sort-of-album Love Music. Why’s that?

Ali Love: This album that I’ve made has a certain concept of sound that’s inspired by a certain type of music. I wouldn’t say that the album defines who or what I am, its just something that I’ve done. And there it is….

SSG: The Love Music material sounded nice. Was it simply that the world was not ready for songs about K Holes?

Ali Love: K Hole went down quite well a few years ago but I suppose if everyone who does Ketamine in England had bought K Hole then I guess it would’ve been a number one.

SSG: Do you mind being called a Hoxtonite?

Ali Love: Yes I do. I’m not a Hoxtonite – I’m just a space being.

SSG: The lyrics of Diminishing Returns seem to talk about what makes love most exciting is the chase itself and what’s left to the imagination; “You said you loved me, that’s a thing I never could earn. So I lost you to a chain of diminishing returns.” Is it a song speaking from personal experience?

Ali Love: Yes for me it’s about love and about when you’re chasing the party and sometimes if you stay up too long. That song was written after I stayed up for a whole week which is quite a strange experience and it was written in the come down period after that.

SSG: Of course, this song ended up advertising Skins. What do you think of Skins?

Ali Love: To be honest I’m not too bothered really.

SSG: In your opinion, what’s wrong with the music industry and if you had The Power, what would you do to sort it out?

Ali Love: I suppose the first thing that springs to mind is obviously Simon Cowell and all that tackle. But I’ve turned my radar off to the mainstream really. The music that I see and the people that I know don’t really bother about it. Its something I try and negate as much as possible to be honest.

SSG: Prince seems to be a big influence on your current sound. What do you think of the man himself? He recently said that the internet is “over” and that “all computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and they are not good for you” .

Ali Love: Obviously Prince is great. He’s level one influence on a lot of people that make electronic music. He got there first on a lot of ideas. In regards to what he said about the internet and digital stuff I suppose in a sense I’m in agreement with him. I’m not very good at computers and stuff and I still prefer vinyl. Music still sounds best on vinyl – the sound quality on mp3s is never gonna be as good.

SSG: Is (rumoured girlfriend) Mischa Barton a nice young lady?

Ali Love: Mischa’s got great taste in music – that’s why I like her.

SSG: So, the album’s now out. What next in the world of Ali Love? Would you ever be inclined to do an album of Dolly Parton covers?

Ali Love: Well actually I love country music and my stepdad’s a country musician so yes I’d like to do a country record. I’ve actually written about 20 country songs. They’re a bit more like the band The Byrds’ psychedelic era – more folky country songs. I’m very inspired by Arthur Russell who was an artist that lived in San Francisco a few years ago in the 70s and 80s. The thing about him is he swept the board – made amazing disco records, dream pop records and acoustic country songs. I understand where he’s coming from, that’s how I feel about music – I don’t see the boundaries. I’m going to be producing a few people and I’m going to make a lot more instrumental, club based music under pseudonyms, so watch out!

The album Love Harder is out now. The singles Diminishing Returns, Love Harder and Smoke & Mirrors are out now.

Check out his MySpace profile, become a fan on Facebook or follow @mralilove on Twitter.