Magazine Sixty are excited to explore the world of A Man Called Adam who have just released a Special Edition containing mixes of their classic Barefoot In The Head. We talk to both members about their journeys in music.
Welcome to Magazine Sixty. Celebrating the release of Barefoot In The Head from the very early 1990’s feels like a lifetime ago now. How do you look back upon those days and the musical culture that surrounded the times?
Well, it is a lifetime ago! In that we’ve had a long career since then, one that’s taken us on many winding roads. We’ve made around a 120 records since then, we’ve played at clubs and parties all over the world, we’ve both been back to school and studied for PhDs, we’ve made art, collaborated on wonderful projects and we’re still here, finding new creative opportunities that excite us. And I suppose Barefoot was the start of that journey, the record that opened the world up to us so we’ll always think fondly of it. I think all us GenX-ers are grateful we lived through that incredible moment in music history. We’re the House generation and it has shaped our worldview – in the best ways imaginable.
How would you describe how club culture and music has evolved in positive or negative terms since?
Well, I guess we all often acknowledge the absence of mobile phones during the 90s and noughties. Not just in the sense that we were able to live in a more carefree, uninhibited way – without the brutal scrutiny young people live with now – but also everything moved more slowly. Making a record took time and commitment and I think that’s always a good thing. As a DJ I get a lot of promos that sound hastily made, a bit lazy. Digital tools mean you can make a track easily but it often lacks depth. And I guess club culture is reflective of wider society generally. The commodification of everything (blame Thatcher) means that there’s a pack em in, price it high, make it a big spectacle mentality in some sectors. But there’ll always be an underground. Places where quality matters, where it’s about the music, the vibes. You can see that in the Listening Bar, audiophile scene and there are cool, underground parties and festivals happening all the time. And so much great music being made so, on balance, all the good stuff is still there – you just have to look for it.
Tell us about your lives currently and the activities you have been involved with and are most passionate about?
We’re just moving into a new studio in a brilliant creative space called The Auxiliary in Middlesbrough. It’s a wicked gallery space and artist’s studios. Ours is a nice big, light space where we hope to spread ourselves out, fill it with mad junk, experiment with sound and light and film. We’ve done a lot of A/V and sound art work since I moved back up to Teesside. Steve moved back from Paris during Covid and found he loved it up here too, so we’re both based here now and we’ve found good people and a cool, creative network. We’ve just curated all the music for The Turner Prize 2026 events at MIMA (Middllesbrough Institute of Modern Art), we’re working on an A/V artwork with a load of local schoolkids about JMW Turner that will be exhibited alongside a couple of his paintings on loan from the NPG. We’ve also started working on some new jazzy-house tracks and we’ve got some nice things lined up for 2027. We’re busy, being creative, and that’s our happy place.
Listening back to the songs which filled your debut album – The Apple and their messages, do you think that the art of songwriting has diminished at all with time or has become more impactful in today’s world?
I was just watching some footage of the students celebrating the overthrow of Vučić in Serbia and they were all singing Gala’s Freed from Desire – which is an anti-materialist anthem. I don’t think I ever paid much attention to the lyric when it came out but people always find the words and melodies that resonate with them and their situation. Take something like the trending audio on Instagram, songs and melodies that communicate the way people feel in that moment. It’s such a beautiful, powerful thing and why being part of that is something we’re hugely grateful for.
You recently curated the official Turner Prize opening party in Middlesbrough. How would describe the impact that experience had on you and how would you describe the intersection between art and music? Are words as important as images to convey meaning?
Both Steve and I programmed the music and video for the Turner Prize events and it was a great experience. We’re at that point in our lives where we have a lot of accumulated knowledge and experience and to get our teeth onto a project on that scale was really fun and rewarding. Art, music, sound they’ve all started to meld into one for us now – there are no barriers, no rules. Just us, being us. It’s a great place to be in our creative lives.
Does the meaning of Acid House and the Balearic scene still inform what you do and your approach to life? Why do you think there hasn’t really been a comparative youth movement since, or has there been?
Those scenes and moments in time are part of who we are so yes, they definitely inform our work. I guess that peer-pressure I mentioned earlier comes to bear on the youth, maybe it inhibits them a bit, but we know plenty of cool kids doing cool events and making their own scenes. It’s a tougher world economically than when we were younger, a tougher world generally but music finds its way through it all.
In terms of instruments or synthesisers what are your current favourites for creating sounds?
Steve’s been buying piano accordions lately (lol). We’ve also been using an amazing parabolic mic for field recording and those sounds are finding their way into our music. We’ve been messing about with some Teenage Engineering sequencers. We’ve been playing with an amazing viola player called Morag Galloway, she turns everything we do into Rebetiko – kinda Mediterranean, folksy, melancholic. All sorts really.
Could you name some pivotal pieces of music either old or new (any genre) which have inspired you the most?
We recently went to see some of the Steve Reich at 90 birthday concerts at The Glasshouse in Newcastle. Different Trains, Music for 18 Musicians. Honestly, they blew our minds. Like machine music, they’re composed of endless loops, modulating and changing and built from improvisation, so really similar to our (or any other electronic music producer’s?) process. We also saw Kraftwerk this year which again, was really moving. I’d say both of those artists have been great inspirations to us.
Buy Barefoot in the Head (Special Edition) on Bandcamp
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