TALKING SHOP
The rising UK group discuss WhatsApp flute loops and recording “the punk way”
Marrying the snarling savagery of post-punk with an array of wider influences that spans dub, trip-hop and electronica, Folly Group is one of the UK’s most exciting new bands. With a fresh and experimental outlook, the group’s debut album, Down There!, sets frontman Sean Harper’s sharply observant lyrics against a patchwork of angular guitars, restless percussion and squealing synth lines to exhilarating effect.
Alongside Sean, Folly Group’s Louis Milburn, Tom Doherty and Kai Akinde-Hummel self-produced the record in the backroom of a vintage gear store, making use of the various bits and pieces of equipment that would pass through the shop. This experimentation led to an eclectic palette of timbres and textures that mirrors the band’s complex, genre-blending musicality.
We spoke with Louis Milburn to hear more about the making of Down There! and he was kind enough to leave us with three production tips.
How did you all start making music, and how did you first get started?
“It varies for all of us, but I started off in a very band-oriented way. I got a Boss BR-800 digital 8-track to record my first band that was inspired by stuff like The Buzzcocks. I always wanted to record our own music in this punk way instead of going into a studio.
“I got the BR-800 because I didn’t get computers at all. I always thought the coolest music was recorded outside of studios by self-recording artists, and I wanted our records to sound like demos. From there, I graduated to a Tascam 38 ½” 8-track tape machine and then eventually went on to Ableton and then Logic and then Pro Tools – it was a strange journey.
“For other members of the band, they very much started with electronic music and Logic. Sean, for example, had a house music project as a teenager before later coming to the world of band stuff.”
Where was the album recorded and produced?
“The album was largely recorded at my work after-hours, as well as my flat in Leyton. I work at a place called Funky Junk where we buy and sell new and used recording equipment. We have these rooms where we test the gear and we just about managed to stuff some drums and amps in there occasionally to be recorded with whatever just happened to be in and ready to be tested.
“This is great because sometimes you get to use some stuff you’d never have access to without spending loads of money, but sometimes you’d want to redo a synth part but the vintage Jupiter had already been sold and we’d have to change the sound of the part completely and use something else. This informed the sound of the project, using whatever equipment had been passing through at the time.
“I’d then take the tracking from there to my studio at home where I have a little mix room wher
