His bright materials

UK producer Carl Finlow has got a lot to answer for. For starters, Finlow shaped the sound of pioneering Leeds house label 20/20 Vision. Working as Random Factor and – together with label boss Ralph Lawson – as Wulf’N’Bear and Urban Farmers, Finlow has written and produced nearly 40 EPs in the last decade.

Carl’s deep, techy and electronic releases for 20/20 pre-dated the late 90s tech-house explosion and, more recently the proliferation of minimal and electro-house.
Similarly, Finlow’s futurist electro as Voicestealer, Silicon Scally and Ilektro on labels like SCSI, Device and Satamile is always delivered with an intricacy, richness and range that’s often lacking in disposable dance music.
It comes as no surprise that current innovators like Ivan Smagghe, Ricardo Villalobos and Tiefschwarz cite Finlow as a major influence. However, the producer, currently based in Paris, remains modest about his achievements.
“I’m quite reclusive. I make music full time, by default really. I just put it out and see what happens,” he explains.
Carl is also detached from developments in electronic music, and is blissfully unaware of the latest trends. Interestingly, he admits to being influenced by mysterious Detroit act Drexciya – who also made a point of avoiding contact with their peers’ work.
“I’m not trying to be big-headed, but I only listen to the odd piece of electronic music. It’s usually demos people send me or the label releases,” Carl explains. “I love music, but I was never into collecting vinyl or DJing.
“Apparently, I’m one of the pioneers of ‘no wave’,” he laughs. “I only know this because someone rang up to license one of my old tracks to a ‘no wave’ compilation and told me I was one of the main movers!”
Although he is detached from his peers, Finlow’s work continues to challenge. Carl’s intricately crafted electro productions pre-empted the current fascination with machine-funk and are more relevant than ever.
As he sees it, it’s down to the painstaking process to which he subjects each composition, resulting in the rich, symphonic sound that characterise works like his 2002 Silicon Scally album, Mr Machine, and his new Random Factor album, Convergence.
“I spend a lot of time crafting each track,” Finlow says. “There are so many producers around that you have to stand out and I spend time developing my sound and avoiding sampling anyone else. I suppose that’s one of the plus points of staying away from the scene,” he reasons, “but it also means it takes me longer to make music these days. I use a huge amount of software and most of the tracks have up to 70 different components.”
This long process goes some way to explaining why there was such a long wait for the follow up to Random Factor’s 1998 debut album, Too Fast Into The Future. However, there were other factors at play.
Finlow says that he fell in love for the first time in the intervening period – and 20/20’s rigorous A&R policy meant that he had to record a second version of Convergence.
“I’ve had the best two years of my life,” he says happily. “At the end of the 90s, I felt that I had gone into a cold, dark place, both musically and personally. Maybe it was something to do with the millennium. Nowadays, I find it hard to make dark material, because falling in love has lit up my life.”
Carl rightly claims that Convergence is ‘full of positivity’. “The album brings together all the music I’m into – techno, house, electro and funk – but it’s also quite uplifting and soulful,” he professes.
“The first album was a musically interesting time, but this LP is more mature, more considered. I wanted the album to have the same finish as something like Sgt Peppers that every sound was there for a reason. I put a lot of time into it.”

Convergence is out on March 5 on 20/20 Vision Records