New Build, comprised of Al Doyle, Felix Martin and Tom Hopkins, is a pop project formed in London in 2011. New Build displays a commitment to harmonic experimentation and rhythmic drive, and a willingness to produce bold but intimate pop music in varied guises. Read More...
New Build formed in London in 2011. The band comprises three core members: Al Doyle, Felix Martin and Tom Hopkins.
Al Doyle is the lyricist and “voice” of the band. He plays with Hot Chip and the now-retired LCD Soundsystem. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, percussion, strings, and steel pans. Felix Martin, a fellow member of Hot Chip, is a musician, producer & DJ. Tom Hopkins is a studio engineer and electronic composer who has worked with a number of musicians at Lanark Studio.
Lanark Studio is where much of New Build’s music has been created and crafted. The studio is a large, open room which was rebuilt from the ground up after an accident flooded the building in 2009. The initial aim after this resurrection was to have “everything on all the time” – every keyboard plugged in, every amplifier and drum miked up, everything ready.
The theory was that the initial spark of inspiration would readily ignite in an environment humming with such potentiality, and that such flashes would be easily captured. In retrospect it may have been an unachievable, utopian concept, and it certainly didn’t quite pan out that way, but nevertheless the studio became a fertile, inspiring space that is now inseparable from the music of New Build. It demands that you tinker, explore, rethink – and above all, hold nothing sacred.
The space has also been used by Hot Chip, James Murphy, Charles Hayward, PLANNINGTOROCK and Caribou, as well as a multitude of other friends and collaborators. It is currently being used a rehearsal space as New Build prepare for their first headline tour in the UK, Europe and US this March. As a live unit, New Build are dedicated to realising their music in as full and exciting a way as possible. They are joined by Ben Ubly on bass guitar; Rupert Clervaux on drums; Charlie Michael on percussion, and Hannah Thomson and Mika Bajinski on vocals.
New Build are releasing music on their own fledgling label, Lanark Recordings, with their first two releases both limited edition 12”s featuring artwork by Felix’s father Andy Martin. Their forthcoming album “Yesterday Was Lived And Lost” will be released on the label in March and features artwork by another Martin, Felix’s brother Bevis, an artist living in France who collaborates with his partner Charlie Youle. The “family and friends” nature of these releases is no accident and Lanark Recordings hope to release music by some of their close friends, currently lurking in deep obscurity, later in 2012.
