Meme
(Originally written for Probemusic, December 2001)

Meme, like Spraydog, has gone his own way. Disenchanted by the amount of bullshit that has to be shovelled to get at the truth in the music biz, he set up his own loca label and has just released Eudaimonia, his debut long-player. It sounds idyllic but if his beautifully-written press releases are anything to go by it caused a monumental personal decline that culminated in him losing his job. So how much of the press release it true? "All of it. I did look like some kind of crazed psychopath for a while. I would turn up late, unkempt, unruly hair and unshaven, eyes red - I would stay up till 5am writing tracks - and quite often have real problems following conversations. This meant that managers and staff alike tended to leave a safety circle around me just in case I flipped out. This helped my ability to take off as much time as possible no end. I do think that invoking fear in your managers is a healthy way to get through the working day."

He's a bit different, our Meme. Normal on the surface, subversive beneath. His music is the same. Both Eudaimonia and Invisible, a split release with Tome currently out on Mirrordisc, are journeys to nearby-but-elsewhere on the back of breakbeats. Meme often tends towards the dark side, the insular sound of internal turmoil manifesting as snarling, filtered melodies but will occasionally whip out a gen-u-wine, crystal clear, beautiful and moving 24-carat song. "I have always written both tracks and songs, I merely used to divide them up between two different bands, namely Meme and Near Earth. After Near Earth fell apart due to arguments I merely re-appropriated my song-writing into Meme."

Most of the electronicists I speak to were previously in guitar bands. "I was in lots of no-name bands during my teens and twenties but my radical democratic outlook toward the organisation of the band meant that too often it would either not happen or else arguments would cause it all to fall apart." But he still collaborates. "Tome is a long-time collaborator who writes very ambient tracks. I like to work with him as he has a very chilled style which complements and contrasts with my more aggressive beats and sounds." I had this weird idea that Tome and Meme might be the same person. I suppose that separate sleeve credits don't rule out schizophrenia? "I don't think we can ever rule out schizophrenia."

Meme, he's his own men. mememedia@hotmail.com www.mp3.com/meme www.mirrordisc.com mirrordisc@hotmail.com Mirrordisc, 61 The Flat, Rutland Rd, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 5FE.