Dance-music fans should be familiar with Way Out West. For more than 10 years, the UK producing combo of Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff have been fueling dance floors with their unique blend of progressive house-beats, trip-hop and breaks. Singles like "Ajare" and "The Gift" are classics. Now, with the release of their third album, the haunting Don't Look Now, Way Out West are embarking on their first major North American tour as a full band, complete with their new lead vocalist, Omi. This weekend at Ice metaclub, Nick, Jody and Omi will take the stage in what promises to be one hell of a show.
I had a chance to chat with the consummate English gentleman, Nick Warren, from Portland last week as he was about to take the stage for their first North American tour date.
What initially brought you and your Way Out West cohort Jody Wisternoff together?
I'd been DJ'ing for a long, long time and doing a lot of work with Massive Attack. I'd wanted to start producing at that stage, and I knew how to handle all of the ideas, but I didn't really have the technical know-how. I looked around Bristol for a time. I knew Jody and heard the music he was making. At that time, he was making early drum 'n' bass, hip-hop. What I found I wanted to do is merge things together. So my house side, and Jody's hip-hop and drum 'n' bass; add breaks, big bass lines to the house tempo. And that's how we started. It's worked really, really well.
I've noticed Don't Look Know is a total mish-mash of styles.
Yeah, exactly. Which is what I've always been into. I didn't want to make an album just for the club. I wanted to make something that was more of a listening experience, really.
Is that what brought your new singer, Omi, into the picture? Were you and Jody looking for singers?
We'd always used vocalists on our last album, but it was more of a guest vocalist thing. And I'd got a bit bored with it. And for live shows ... well, we had three vocalists on our last album. And it's impossible to get all three of them to do the live show. So we wanted to find one vocalist that we really liked to do all the songs for us.
Does having Omi on a permanent basis add more to the cocktail?
Yeah, it's great having a third member. For most of the live shows, we've got a drummer and bass player involved, as well. A lot of the venues I like are live venues, rock band venues. But Ice in Vegas isn't really set up for a full live band, so it'll be keyboards and laptops and Omi. But it's a good show, and she's such a good front person. I go as far as to say she's better live than on record, even.
She has a fantastic voice, very haunting.
It's great! And it's fantastic to find someone who can sing really well who's not a pain in the arse! [laughs]
Truer words were never spoken. How would you describe the overall vibe of the album?
It's a layering sound. Like what you said earlier, it's a mixture of sounds. It's got all our trademarks: the big bass lines, the breaks .... But then there's a softness and a melody to it as well. So it's got stuff that will rock a club, but it also has stuff you can listen to at home or in your car and get into it.
What impressed me most was that the album also includes a bonus mix CD. I've never seen that before.
We wanted to give something extra. When we could do a remix or bonus track, we said, "Why don't we just do a whole mix?" And that was as much fun as doing the album, really. We wanted the same vibe. I think it's a mix CD that's not too ... something. It's not too clubby; it's just good to listen to, as well.