In the following interview, the talented and innovative Mark de Clive-Lowe talks about his current projects, the spirit of jazz improvisation, the future of his music, and the future of the music industry…

You started a discussion on Coopr8 about what the future of the music industry might look like. I’m curious what you would like to see in the future of the industry.

It’s a difficult question to answer definitively because the industry is in such a state of flux at the moment – no one quite knows what the best way to proceed is and even the biggest players in the game are running blind. I guess the basics are a system where the creatives get fair financial remuneration for the performance, broadcast and exploitation of their work. That’s kind of what happens now, but a lot of the fundamental cogs we used to rely on have gone or become unfeasible – from big budget studio productions down to selling 12s – so it’s about finding what works for us now. The most important thing to me is that the culture and history of music remains intact and gets handed to each successive generation – if the business becomes so focused on 30 second snippets for ads, 5 second ones for incidental music on a TV show and 20 second ringtones, then that’s going to really harm the cultural continuum.

While we’re peering into the future, what do you see on the horizon for Broken Beat music?

I never saw it as a genre – it was always much more a concept and a way to approach making music. The style of no style so to speak. So given that, I see those creative ideas influencing so many other genres and artists and I’d like to see that creative integrity remain intact – not so much to make “Broken Beat” but to keep pushing the creative envelope with reference to where we’ve come from but eyes ahead to where we’re going.

In July ‘07, you and Bembe Segue released the amazing Politik album, and I understand a new Politik EP is on the way. What else is cooking in the de Clive-Lowe kitchen right now?

Plenty! I’ve got a lot of different things on the go at the moment – some fresh EPs I’m producing for Replife, Rahel, Mystro, Cherie Mathieson and Motet as well as the Politik EP; collaborations with Ovasoul7, Omar and Jody Watley; I’m contributing quite a bit to Phil Asher’s new Phlash & Friends album project; there’s an EP with Leon Ware in the works and recently Jill Scott’s picked some tracks she wants to use. It’s an exciting time when I’m able to be working with really niche underground artists and then have that crossover to bigger more established ones, especially stateside. The Politik remix album is coming soon as well with remixes from all around the world that we had submitted via an online project, and I’m doing a compilation of remixes and productions which should be out this year.

Will we see a US release of Journey 2 the Light any time soon?

I’d like to hope so, but the reality is that album is tied up in label dramas which are making it really difficult for me to push the project further. We did the live shows in Japan for the album launch there and everyone got so excited about the project – it’s a lot more of a jazz project than my other albums and would be great fun to tour and develop more. There’s a possibility of an Australian release for it soon, and who knows, the fog might clear and it may get released elsewhere.

I know jazz has played a huge part in your music, particularly your earlier work – how has that spirit of jazz improvisation influenced the Freesoul Sessions and your live shows?

Jazz and improvisation has always been at the core of what I do. The big lesson for me growing up – and one that didn’t really manifest itself until I came to London in 1998, was that what I love about jazz music isn’t just limited to the vernacular or idiomatic language of jazz, it’s the spirit of it. The spirit or vibe that I’d get from a Miles record and then I’d relate that to the vibe on a Tribe record or a Prince record – I guess it’s that special factor that makes some music really resonate with you on a deeper level than how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ it is. Whenever I play live the improv element is always there. Whether it’s full improv Freesoul Sessions, or shows when we do repertoire but flip the tune live remixing them, there’s never the same show twice and I love pushing it to the point where the music just ‘happens’ with as little preconception as possible. It means I’m always suprising myself as well as keeping the music fresh.

And did it influence your use of the MPC as an improvisational instrument?

A big thing for me with both live and studio music is the balance of man and machine, the organics and the technology. I think everyone considers that, but it’s where you put the balance that helps define your music and your sound. The mpc gives me a sonic that a live musician can’t really achieve and it makes me create ideas in a loop or pattern based format a lot of the time. Those limitations give me a framework for improvising and it lets me bring characteristics to the music that I can’t with an all-organic setup – filtering breaks is a good example.

Could we see a Freesoul DVD some day?

I definitely hope so! That’s always been part of the plan – to take the party to different countries as well and do a Freesoul with all local musicians… Freesoul Brasil’s top of the list! The last birthday party at Jazz Cafe was filmed as well so there should be some video from that once it emerges from the edit suite. It makes a huge difference when you can see what’s going on and i really like the idea of being able to present the music as multimedia as possible – getting live cameras and VJs involved at the gig, get it all filmed properly and edited – that’s the plan.

You’ve mentioned in the past that you’re a fan of The Roots, Sa Ra, Q-Tip, Dwele… who else are you feeling right now?

Dam Funk from LA has some of the freshest post-Sa Ra sounds going on, I’m feeling the Detroit-LA hip hop connection that’s going on with people like Blu and Ta’Raach collaborating. Looking forward to hearing more from Andreya Triana – I think she’s got a really interesting voice and vibe. The last person to completely blow me away is a French Cameroon singer named Sandra N’kake. She’s done two Freesouls with me – one in Poland we were improvising a soundtrack to a 1914 Italian silent film. That was the first time we’d met and it was magical music. She’s someone who really defines an original voice to me. IG is constantly suprising and pushing the envelope. Madlib’s always exploring his creativity in all sorts of directions – that’s the vibe i like. I get to hear a lot of music from my immediate peers and community that is always fresh as it comes – people like Dego and Kaidi Tatham are definitely keeping it fresh on a daily basis.

Could we ever see some collaborations with artists like Q-Tip or Dwele?

The way I look at these things, nothing is impossible. A few years ago I played at WMC in Miami and Lauryn Hill’s agent was there. He bugged out seeing me on the MPC, synth bass and Rhodes and thought that it would be interesting to get me and her together. A few months later we did two days in studio back in Miami. That kind of thing, you just can’t foresee it coming. Dwele’s part of the worldwide fam and I’d definitely like to do something ill with him, same goes for Tip of course. I’d like to think that when I do a big Freesoul Sessions party in New York or LA that there’s certain people who are going to be hearing about it and coming to check it… if they want to reach for the mic, then I’m not about to stop them! I’ve been lucky to work with a lot of great musicians and artists who are really supportive of what I do and when the time comes to reach out to them to take something to the next level, they’re going to be there.

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