Energy Exchange: Joe Goddard Interviewed

For Joe Goddard, 2024 was a year that brought him closer to embracing the kinetic immediacy of collaborative spaces. On his third studio album, ‘Harmonics’, from the intimate confines of his Shoreditch studio, Joe and the likes of Ibibio Sound Machine’s Eno Williams, UK rapper Oranje, former Wild Beasts frontman Hayden Thorpe, and Hot Chip bandmates Alexis Taylor and Al Doyle, contoured sound waves together in a judgement-free zone devoid of nihilism and division. Extending the era with a remix collection, Joe Goddard’s work last year – on stage and in production mode – distilled his career’s ethos: that of illuminating the full gamut of electronic music, and the spiritual, empathic sensation it elicits in the company of friends and co-creators.

At the end of last year, Pretty Green and CLASH hosted a special 15th birthday party at Camden venue the Hawley Arms. Joe Goddard headlined alongside Lou Hayter and Iraina Mancini. Enthused by the experience, Joe curated a mix for CLASH, supplying a special set of garage, future funk and prototypical electronics.

In conversation with CLASH, Joe reflects on fostering real-time synergy with new and old collaborators on ‘Harmonics’, his year-end cosmic excursion with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, his affinity for next-gen, transatlantic dance and whether Hot Chip are in the process of masterminding their next invention.

—

—

It’s serendipitous that I’m speaking to you today. I’ve recently been reacquainting myself with some favourite Hot Chip records. ‘One Life Stand’  turns 15 next year – that one is a particular staple. 

I have a real fondness for that whole time. It’s gratifying to hear that it spoke to you. We are working on new music and we plan to tour in 2026. We’re still enjoying each other’s company after all the years. We were very fortunate enough to come through in a landscape that was more forgiving then.

2024 was a busy year for you. What did the closing moments of 2024 bring?

On boxing day, I’m flying out to DJ in Bali and Australia for a couple of weeks. It’s an intense schedule but it will be nice to get some sunshine. The big moment of 2024 was releasing an album. There’s so much work associated with releasing a full-length. There was a lot of stuff around that and then touring the record. The pleasing part of my life is that the work is changing. There are periods where it’s live performance or DJing and then there’s dedicated studio time. It’s been a really nice variety of things I’ve been lucky enough to be doing. It very rarely feels like work. 

At the height of summer you released ‘Harmonics’ which felt like a dopamine rush. What’s the reaction been like six months on? Performing it live and seeing the visceral feedback in the environment you intended for it to be heard and experienced…

I’m really pleased with the feedback. There was a nice culmination to the reaction when I performed in London at the Colour Factory in Hackney. I brought down a few collaborators to perform with me; I had Falle Nioke, my friend Findia who sings on two songs from the album, Rafe from Two Bears, my friend Laima from Soulwax who is on a track I released after the album. It became about friends. There’s a breadth of musical styles on the album, and so the experience became about community. 

On the flipside, I began making the record three years ago and so much work goes into making an album, you realise it’s so difficult to cut through the cultural noise and the maelstrom of constant musical releases. It’s been eye-opening to release in a landscape where you’re vying for people’s attention. 

It’s a work rooted in spontaneous creation and empathy. You gave your collaborators the room to be able to express themselves without leading them. Talk me through that core principle.

That came about from working with more artists as a producer in the last few years. I have a brilliant studio space in Shoreditch that I share with Al Doyle. I’ve learnt a lot about the psychology of working with artists and bands in studio spaces, when you see the collaboration in real time. It’s fascinating when you see it as a microcosm of human psychology. You see how energy shifts as a recording grows and how a shared communal understanding brings something to life. You also see how the ego and negative impulses come into play when someone wants to stamp their authority on a session. I see it happen often. 

My guiding principle is to quash that negative voice and work in an empathetic and unconscious way -making the music feel what it naturally should be. Those voices are always there saying this isn’t commercial enough, or you need to make the chorus pop a bit more. It’s about working in a less egotistical way. It’s nice that you raise the word empathy because there needs to be so much more empathy in online spaces across sexual and political divides. It’s easy to not be empathetic online because you’re presented with a distortion of reality, and it’s easy to shout at someone. Empathy is what we need more of. 

Were most of these sessions in a communal studio space or were some realised online? 

It was a real mix: some in the studio and some done remotely. Barrie and myself have never been in the studio together, as she is based in New York. I don’t think there’s a rule. Sometimes you can get results quicker and more successfully when it’s done remotely because they have a chance to really think about what they want to say and how they say it. I used to have a fear of creating something on the spot in front of people, that awkward impasse between artists. But I’ve started to love those moments when you create from nothing. 

I have to pick out the track ‘Summon’ with Hayden Thorpe which beams you into the ’80s.

I’ve known and done a few different things with Hayden over the years. He’s a really lovely soul with a beautiful voice. That one came about because Hayden’s voice has a similar tonality to Anohni. I took inspiration from an old Anohni track with Hercules and Love Affair on their first album – a super famous house track. I wrote with that in mind, evoking that proto-house ‘80s vibe in production but with an angelic vocal. This was done remotely as he’s based in Lisbon. 

A few weeks ago, you released the ‘Neptunes’ EP with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. The title track pulled from the spacey synth work of The Neptunes. We actually compiled a Best of Pharrell listicle. What Pharrell or The Neptunes songs were you inspired by on the title track? 

The initial thing I made was the drums on the track which I sent to Kaitlyn. There’s a vitality and rawness to the Neptunes drums. They worked quickly and with a lot of soul. So the drums feel rough and ready, and have swing and funk to them. They feel rowdy, raw and have so much energy. 

I remember being so impressed with N.O.R.E.’s ‘Superthug’ and the sheer volume of their early output. It’s staggering how they pumped it all out especially during the noughties, at an alarmingly high quality. I sent the track ‘Neptunes’ to Kaitlyn who is a cosmic kind of person. She heard the track and it made her think of the planet and she wrote it that way. The EP then took a more spacey theme. 

The Neptunes were also cosmic wanderers. 

N.E.R.D and Star Trek… Pharrell definitely is a space freak. 

There’s a natural synergy between you and Kaitlin, and an overlap in your worlds. How did that collaboration come to be and how would you describe the auditory journey of the EP? 

The label Smugglers Way is interested in bridging musical worlds. They reached out to me and I used that as an opportunity to come together with Kaitlyn. We’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve loved her work. There are YouTube videos of Kaitlyn improvising that showcase just how incredible she is. As a synthesist she’s amazing. Her music is often out there in these farther realms and mine is a bit more functional and rooted in clubs. The clash of those two worlds interested me. I wanted to try and bring club sonics to the wildness of Kaitlin’s improvisation. She’d send me tons of synth arpeggios, melodies and rhythms, so it was about bringing that into something DJable and within the realm of house music. 

—

—

Talk me through your CLASH mix. There’s moments where it’s sedate and low-key before you inject a tempo shift or gear change. What’s the general through-line of the mix? Which songs have you integrated and why? 

There were a few specific things for me. The first song is a remix by Ashley Beedle who recently had a stroke. I DJed at a fundraiser for him at the Ministry of Sound, and I wanted to pay homage and support him in the mix. There are a number of different records that I’ve collected recently like TSHA, Sammy Virji, Interplanetary Criminal, who are the leading light of next-gen garage music. I find it fascinating that UK garage is having a moment in the US. It’s been a long time coming. 

What wisdom would you impart to a nascent DJ wanting to make their mark in a saturated industry? Is the key to the craft being prolific? 

There are so many memes about it: everyone’s a DJ now. Gatekeeping still does occur. I saw a line-up for a Fabric showcase and it’s still the same DJs headlining. In terms of advice, it’s difficult because it is so saturated. With DJing now, it’s more accessible with the sync button. I don’t think it’s the be all and end all of being a good DJ, knowing how to mix records. It’s so much about self-promotion these days which is really difficult. Marketing yourself online is almost the priority now, which is worrying. 

Your label released the new Lou Hayter record and Ell Murphy EP. Talk us through the output this year and what we can expect from the label next year? 

Ell is a brilliant DJ and producer. I love that her work is vocal-led. I’m excited for more to come from her in 2025. Lou is a good friend and we’re regular collaborators. The next thing we have on the label is from Findia, which I was involved with. She’s a fantastic artist. We’re not releasing tons of music to be honest. I think it’s good to focus on a few and be selective. 

How would you sum up 2024 as a producer between disciplines, a DJ, a label head, a human? 

It’s really been about enjoying and cultivating collaborations. It’s having this fantastic base in the studio in Shoreditch and inviting people into this sanctuary. It’s my hope for 2025. That’s where I’ve found my joy. 

I know when I listen to a Joe Goddard song I’ll feel a sense of renewal after.  Do you set out to create dancefloor moments that take the listener out of their contained angst and into a place of relief?

I think my music is optimistic and hopeful, I don’t mind that description of my work. On a political level, late stage capitalism invites us to be individualistic, so it’s important we fight against that notion and centre community and collaboration.  

—

—