More than zero

Half a dozen remixes and one album isn’t exactly a hugely prolific output, but it has already garnered Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker a Mercury Prize nomination and humungous sales for their debut Simple Things. In case you were wondering, Zero 7 are christened after a nightclub in Honduras and not some obscure code. Their progress to date has been remarkable, but then again not everyone gets a crack at a Radiohead tune for their first remix. Especially as they’ve been known to turn down the likes of Paul Oakenfold.

Their college buddy and producer of the last three Radiohead albums, Nigel Godrich, who Henry refers to affectionately as “Nige”, offered the boys ‘Climbing Up the Walls’ from OK Computer. “I had no idea what we had done until I turned on the radio and Giles Peterson was playing it,” Henry continues. Peterson’s caning of the tune led to another commission for soul legend Terry Callier on ‘Love Theme from Spartacus’. Sneaker Pimps, Lenny Kravitz, Doris Days, Lambchop and Neil Finn jobs followed as Sam and Henry also plugged away with their own material and sold out a thousand copies of their debut EP in the blink of an eye.

Simple Things saw the duo expand their canvas to include soulful torch songs and stirring vocal contributions from new luminaries Sia Furler, Sophie Barker and Mozez. The lads resisted getting in their mate Nige (although Henry is quick to accredit his advice and experiments as crucial) or any other big shot producer and opted to do a DIY job using their skills gleaned from working at Mickie Most’s RAK studios, where the lads let the tapes roll for the Pet Shop Boys, The Young Disciples, Robert Plant and half a million Northern pub bands.

“I still always think we both come from a record collector’s perspective rather than a musician’s,” opines Sam. “A great satisfaction comes from constructing and orchestrating records when you love the format so much.” Don’t be too quick to dismiss them as yet another pair of studio boffins, as a lavish and fully realised live show is currently cicumnavigating the globe. “What makes touring so wonderful for this is that everybody who played and sang on the record came on the road,” Sam enthuses. “Often when you go and see someone like Massive Attack you don’t get the same vocalist that sang on the record and you feel a little let down.”

While lazily lumped in with the horrifying avalanche of third rate “chill out” compilations, Sam sees the Zero 7 blend of downtempo as being a lot more informed by laid-back soul and gentle funk. Their taste buds were weaned by masterfully eclectic DJs like Norman Jay, and both grew up in the North London pop landscape made famous by Madness. “The places were they shot the ‘House of Fun’ and ‘Our House’ videos are just round the corner from where we grew up,” Sam explains.

A whole world outside North London now appears to be wide open for their taking, with some commentators tipping Simple Things to be a slow burning sleeper success along the lines of Moby’s Play. Given that it is still very, very early days for Sam and Henry’s recording career, this prediction may not quite be as far fetched as it seems. Maybe after all, the geeks will really inherit the earth.