A MOUNTAIN OF ONE are currently one of the UK’s best kept secrets, a quietly achieving duo whose new album Institute Of Joy is a triumphant blend of smooth psychedelic rock and electronica. MATT THROWER catches up with one-half of the mysterious two-piece, ZEBEN JAMESON.

When A Mountain Of One emerged with two (now highly collectable) EPs, the music within was so celebrated, it was later compiled on the album Collected Works. The duo’s music proved delightfully hard to pin down, with tantalising elements of latter day Roxy Music, Pink Floyd, Massive Attack … and many other diverse sources. Speaking from his home in West London (just near Portobello Road), multi-instrumentalist Zeben Jameson explains how this time over, they have attempted to make a “more grounded psychedelic record”.

“It was our experimental time,” he says of the Collected Works era. “With those two EPs, there was a lot of excitement getting the music together. We got on a roll and as a result, Collected Works is quite an eclectic album.

“For the new album, we always had the idea of making it as close as we could to a live experience, so we went for a more band-oriented recording. Although it ended up being an eclectic group of musicians playing on the record, in my mind it was very much based around a live concept.”

With this in mind, I venture to ask if this has translated to actual live performances.

“The band did a tour before Christmas and it was absolutely awesome,” Zeb affirms. “There’s nothing like getting on the road, playing to people and enjoying that crazy journey. We’re definitely looking forward to doing more of that and we would genuinely love to get to Australia when we can. We have an Australian guy on drums and he was practically born in a drum shop. Together, we all create a really epic sound. I can’t enthuse enough how brilliant it’s been.”

Zeb believes the eclectic sound of A Mountain Of One (that has seen them compared to everyone from Talk Talk to Santana) comes down to the “yin and yang relationship” between himself and collaborator Mo Morris.

“I come from a live background, playing in bands, while Mo’s comes from DJing and amassing a huge record collection,” he explains. “We have very different life backgrounds too – I was brought up in the woods by a hippy painter, while Mo was in the navy for six years and started DJing in Bosnia.”

But somehow, everything seems to gel when the duo create music together.

“When we come up with something and are both excited about where the music is going, it’s something we simultaneously realise,” Zeb enthuses. “It’s an incredible force of energy when you reach that state of euphoria. And I think that’s what drives us.”

INSTITUTE OF JOY is out now through Pod/Inertia. www.myspace.com/amountainofone

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