Mind Enterprises – Clapton electronic musician gets in the mood for Field Day

First time at Field Day: Mind Enterprises

Idealist, the debut LP from Mind Enterprises, is a union of unlike parts. An entanglement of texture, tone and depth, it brings glassy electro-pop into the warm embrace of rich, percussion-led rhythms. It’s Metronomy meets Onyeabor – if that’s a notion which can be grasped by the mind’s ear.

The brainchild of Turin native Andrea Tirone, Mind Enterprises came to fruition when Tirone relocated to Clapton five years ago. In spite of early label interest and releases on Double Denim Records and Because Music, the transformation into lone laptopman wasn’t the most satisfying experience for Tirone, a guitarist by default.

“When I came here my sound was completely electronic, so when I signed with Because Music I felt I wasn’t really ready to make an album, because I wasn’t really entirely happy with the sound. I came from bands, and I struggle to see myself as a solo artist. I need to have other people to play with.”

When it came to writing Idealist, Tirone chose to return to his roots as a guitar player, bringing his love of African Funk and Afrobeat to the cool electronica he was producing.

“I’ve always loved to blend things together. So I took back my guitar, amps, bass, everything and I started to blend this electronic project with real life stuff.”

Having acquired a trio of musicians to take on guitar, bass and drums, Andrea can now push focus onto what he considers the most rewarding part of the album process: the live show, which East Londoners can experience for themselves at the upcoming Field Day festival in Victoria Park.

“I spent three of four years just playing by myself or with a backing track and maybe a bit of drumming, but it wasn’t like the real thing. Now we’ve stripped down everything and we’re playing it all live. In the end my ultimate goal is playing my music with my friends, in a band. This is what I want in my life, so this is an achievement for me.”

“It took a bit of time to transpose it from the record to the live setup but it came out really nicely. It’s also really inspiring having these people playing with me. I feel like I can write music thinking about the live version and it’s a mutual process.”

All that being said, Tirone is still calling the shots when it comes to composition: “So I really like to write by myself, but of course there are downsides – sometimes you get stuck, and you listen to things too many times and you would love to have external opinions from people you trust.

“When you have a vision you want that vision to go through and if you’re alone you don’t have to compromise.”

He admits, somewhat sheepishly, that he’s “not really democratic when it comes to music”.

The concepts that gave shape to Idealist adhere to this same streak of no-compromise, with ‘idealism’, for Tirone, being an “opposition between the reality and what you want the world to be.”

“When the world is going in one direction it would be wise to maybe follow this direction, being an idealist means trying to push your vision because you believe in it even if it goes against the circumstances.”

One of things that makes Tirone’s music so captivating is that it is impervious to predictions – the sharp synths, the big drums, the gentle vocals, the snatches of ambient noise. None of it quite adds up and yet somehow it all falls into place. Ease and simplicity be damned, Mind Enterprises doesn’t care much for your well-trodden paths.

With Idealist out in the world, Tirone has been writing a lot, returning once more to his blending experiments, but which genres have taken his fancy this time – darkwave? chimurenga? apocalypse punk?

With typical deadpan, he replies: “Mainly classical music and Opera.”

Mind Enterprises is playing at this year’s Field Day festival, which takes place on 10 and 11 June in Victoria Park. soundcloud.com/mndntrprss