Jody Macgregor: How did you approach this album compared to your first album, Pressure?

Kevin Martin: This was very much the next level for me that I had to attain. A certain amount of pressure came with that, if you’ll excuse the pun, and at times I found it difficult. Having three singles blow up in the last year and a half in dubstep-land sort of hit me with a certain amount of pressure as well. For a month or two I found myself trying to write tracks that were as instant and then realising that was a cul-de-sac and I didn’t want to have a collection of singles and dancefloor tunes. I wanted something that was a world within a world. The longer I’ve been working on the record the more I realised what I wanted from it. Pity it took so long for me to do that [laughs].

JM: Were the singles easier, then?

KM: Singles I actually prefer working on because it’s [an] explosive, faster medium due to the demand, specifically from DJs since they’re about the only ones buying singles. You have to work within a discipline and generally I’m not a very disciplined person.

JM: How do you think the finished product compares to Pressure?

KM: It was a refinement of Pressure. I felt there were certain things missing on Pressure. Hook lines for instance. I felt that Pressure wasn’t that cohesive really, I though it was a little bit disparate. I felt it was overweighed by the amount of poetry tracks on there and I wanted to make something that was a bit more resonant.

JM: London Zoo doesn’t seem like it came out of a period where you were happy about London.

KM: It’s the first time I’ve ever thought of leaving London and not through choice, through the fucking hellish expensiveness of the city. In the last couple of years particularly there’s been a lot of personal upheavals for me and the fact of the matter is everybody I know living in London – maybe I move in the wrong circles – people I know are struggling like hell to pay the bills, in debt to their ears.

JM: Is the view outsiders have of the city very different to the way you see it?

KM: When I first moved here, I wasn’t totally naive, but I used to think it was this 24-hour bright lights city where anything goes and the public image of London is very different to the reality of London.

JM: So is London Zoo what the city sounds like to you?

HM: The beauty of London for me is it’s constantly evolving as a city and that’s what kept me here for so many years. For me it totally represents the sound of London. The music I’ve been inspired by in my time here is very much the core of this album.

LONDON ZOO is available through Inertia Records and Ninja Tune.

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