Just as affordable synths from Japan from the likes of Korg and Roland fuelled the rise of Synth Britannia, it was affordable samplers manufactured by Akai fed the rave revolution…
UTAH SAINTS were pioneers of what came to be known as stadium house, a term coined by Bill Drummond of THE KLF; comprising of Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt, the pair become known for their melting pot of influences. Elements of synth, art pop, funk, disco, soul, R’n’B, rock, metal, techno, breakbeat and hip hop were sampled, remixed, edited and processed to produce their own distinctive brand of electronic dance music which euphorically sat in between the underground and the mainstream.
Their 1993 debut self-titled album spawned the hits What Can You Do for Me’, ‘Something Good’, ‘Believe in Me’ and ‘I Want You’, leading to them to open for U2 on the stadium leg of their ‘Zoo TV’ tour. Their self-referencing catchphrase “UTAH SAINTS-U-U-U-UTAH SAINTS!” became ubiquitous, so much so that in an indicator of their profile at the time, alternative comedy pairing Baddiel & Newman sent up the duo in an ‘MTV Unplugged‘ sketch.
Work towards the follow-up to their Top10 debut long player took a number of years and ‘Two’ did not emerge until 2000. But in the interim, the remix commissions came flooding in and included THE HUMAN LEAGUE, SIMPLE MINDS, JAMES, BLONDIE, HAWKWIND and THE OSMONDS alongside soundtracks for computer video games.
While there has not been a new album since, UTAH SAINTS have kept busy with standalone digital singles, more remixes, worldwide DJ appearances, curating festival stages and promoting their own events, often showcasing new talent. Their best known track ‘Something Good’ continues to have a life of its own and became a hit again as a 2008 remix featuring new vocals by Davina Perera. More recently, their ‘Two’ opener Sun’ was used on the end credits of the 2022 Steve Buscemi film drama ‘The Listener’.
With a busy 2024 schedule and plans to release new music, UTAH SAINTS collectively answered questions put to them by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about their past, present and future…
How did UTAH SAINTS begin? Was it scene or tech related, or both?
Jez Utah was in electronic based bands MDMA, CASSANDRA COMPLEX and a surf band – SURFIN DAVE & THE ABSENT LEGENDS. He came to UTAH SAINTS heavily influenced by European electronic music such as FRONT 242 and THE YOUNG GODS, and Metal – MOTÖRHEAD, AC/DC and THIN LIZZY. He was also DJ-ing 70s disco and funk, having started as a mobile function DJ when he was 14.
Tim Utah was heavily influenced by 80s hip hop and late 80s/early 90s house. He was a DMC Turntablist semi-finalist when he was 17. The mutual crossover was PUBLIC ENEMY and THE KLF. When rave took off, it combined all of our musical interests, and was DIY – this ticked all the boxes for us, so off we went.
Martyn Ware has recalled he had a choice of buying a synth or learning to drive back… the availability and affordability of Akai samplers and Atari computers must have helped but did you have any similar choice dilemmas?
Yes, it was a car or a sampler.
One of the statements on the first album was “TAKE CONTROL OF THE MACHINE NOW!”, was it important for UTAH SAINTS to have a manifesto of sorts, even if was just for yourselves?
Yes, very important – we were just saying get on the tech now, or be left behind. A very similar message applies now, 30 years later.
You were quite bold and went for quite high profile vocalists to sample from the off, how was the process of clearing them? Was it more straightforward back then or did it open up a can of worms?
Like now, it varied as everyone has a different opinion on sampling. Kate Bush was obviously a very sensitive negotiation that we stayed out of as we were new and she is such an amazing icon.
Whether it was Annie Lennox, Gwen Guthrie, Kate Bush or Phil Oakey, while the voices were recognisable on UTAH SAINTS’ tracks, the manipulation of these created your own glossolalia, would you have been doing the sampler equivalent of “jamming” to create these?
Yes, we would sample anything and everything music-wise, and layer and loop to see what worked – took a lot of influence from the Shocklee brothers’ approach.
‘Believe In Me’ was quite mad as you had Sylvester sparring off Phil Oakey next to CROWN HEIGHTS AFFAIR, did this reflect the broad musical church of UTAH SAINTS?
Yes, as broad as we can get – it’s all sonically useful, and some of the most interesting sounds come from combinations that might not be too obvious.
After all the art pop, synth, soul and disco, ‘I Want You’ used samples of heavy rock band SLAYER, where did that idea spring from?
Jamming with the sampler. One thing that held us back a bit was trying to reinvent our sound track-by-track as opposed to album-by-album, which is what we probably should have done. Also that’s where THE YOUNG GODS’ influence arrived.
You covered SIMPLE MINDS ‘New Gold Dream’ but this appeared to coincide with U.S.U.R.A. ‘Open Your Mind’ which sampled it. Did you ever think about conceiving a sample based track before settling on doing a cover version?
No, we wanted to cover one of the biggest live tracks we could think of at the time – that was a stadium track, and helped us when we played live, especially when we opened for U2 in actual stadiums. The U.S.U.R.A. track is great, really nice sampling.
How did you feel when UTAH SAINTS were later invited to remix ‘I Travel’ by SIMPLE MINDS in 1998?
Honoured, excited and a bit intimidated – early SIMPLE MINDS was so groundbreaking, such a great band.
There was a remix of ‘Crazy Horses’ by THE OSMONDS in 1996 which was quite appropriate…
Yes, that’s why we did it, they also paid us with an Akai 3200, so that we could fully sample what we needed for that remix.
Your remix portfolio is wide and has included BLONDIE, THE WEDDING PRESENT and GIRLS ALOUD, do you have a favourite out of all the ones you’ve done?
Tricky, but probably ‘Little Bird’ by Annie Lennox.
Photo by Martyn Goodacre
Did you feel any affinity with other British dance acts of the period like THE KLF, LEFTFIELD, THE PRODIGY, ORBITAL, UNDERWORLD and THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS? Was it a bit brothers in arms or had there been some rivalry?
Love all of them, total privilege to be associated with those names. No rivalry from us, just awe, respect and an ambition to be as good as them.
It took 7-8 years to follow-up the debut album but then this wasn’t unusual among dance-based acts as LEFTFIELD, THE PRODIGY and STEREO MCs proved, but were you worried about becoming too formulaic? Was there an existential crisis?
Yes, we were pulling ourselves in all directions, and the business wanted us to be NINE INCH NAILS for the USA and THE KLF for the UK. We are The Utahs, and we did our own heads in a bit, trying to work out what that meant.
On top of that we heard ‘Born Slippy’ about a year before it came out, and THE PRODIGY released ‘Jilted Generation’. Both those things happened when we were making the second album, and made us re-assess what we were doing yet again.
The ‘Two’ album featured a diverse cast including Michael Stipe, Christie Hynde, Edwin Starr, Chuck D, Joyce Sims and Iggy Pop while there were also samples of METALLICA and AVERAGE WHITE BAND, what are your memories of putting this body of work together? Was there a sense of freedom, relief and adventure after the shelved second record?
Yes, we had nothing to prove at that point, so we spent two years, all day every day making that album, it’s a very complex album, but probably only us who see it that way. Amazed to get all the samples cleared, again a great honour.
‘Power To The Beats’ featuring Chuck D from PUBLIC ENEMY was quite different to what had gone before on the debut record? It reminds me a bit of ‘Afrika Shox’ by LEFTFIELD and Afrika Bambaataa, but was the influence much deeper rooted in the pioneering era of rap and hip-hop.
The idea was to make a track that had both those parties on. At the time there was a big debate in the USA about Napster allowing free downloads of music. There was a debate in The Senate and both Chuck D and METALLICA testified there. It was reported as them being on different sides of the argument – Chuck pro-Napster, METALLICA anti. That wasn’t the case at all, they both wanted similar things. We thought it would be interesting to make a track with both of them sampled. It worked, but no-one got the Napster reference…
You are still touring extensively, what can people expect from a UTAH SAINTS show today?
Essentially heads down DJ-ing with effects, playing as much exciting music as we can pack in – ours, other peoples, and special edits of known tracks…
Are there any proudest moments or achievements UTAH SAINTS?
That we were part of the emergence of rave music – as well as Utah music, we have promoted over 1500 events, booking hundreds of electronic DJs and acts. After that, we’re just happy that we still feel relevant to the electronic music scene – a lot of current dance music is emulating the earlier sounds.
What is next for UTAH SAINTS? Will there ever be a new album, does the long playing format have a place any more in the modern music environment?
We’re planning that, if we can get out of our own way and trust our own judgement when it comes to our own music, then yes, there will be new music – we currently have over 25 tracks on the go. The album concept is interesting – if we finish maybe 10 tracks in a similar timeframe, which is the aim, then we will release an album. The Long Player does have a place, just perhaps not the driving force it once was…
Will AI play a part in the future of UTAH SAINTS, in music making, DJ-ing or live presentations? Have you used it for anything yet?
It’s a tool, but until bio-computers arrive that can grow their own brains, AI in the context of creativity is re-active at the moment, not pro-active. What the world really needs is new ideas, not rehashed old ones, and that is probably a few years off with AI.
It’s an exciting time though!
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to UTAH SAINTS
The ‘Utah Saints’ and ‘Two’ albums are still available in the usual formats
UTAH SAINTS 2024 DJ dates include:
Middlesbrough Save The Rave (13 July), Maidstone Revival In The Park (14 July), Bromyard Noz Stock (19 July), Clitheroe Beatherder (20 July), Halifax Piece Hall (27 July), Nantwich Deva Fest (9 August), Escot Park Beautiful Days (17 August), Silloth Solfest (22 August), Morbeth Party In The Park (25 August), London 100 Club (14 September), Folkestone Quarterhouse (21 September), Minehead Shiiine On Weekender (16 November), Birmingham Hare & Hounds (13 December)
https://www.facebook.com/UtahSaints
https://www.instagram.com/utahsaints/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2KB6LGMBaOYYYdvvgyptFH
Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
8 July 2024
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