Interview by Lauren Foster

The Cinematic Orchestra are a British nu-jazz and electronic music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe, whose background in fine art inspired him to ‘translate visual art into audible art’.

Swinscoe has now been joined on production duties by longtime friend and collaborator Dom Smith, and the result of this partnership is some of the most poised, ravishing music of this band’s stellar career.

The collective have become one of the most respected British acts of the last 17 years. Possessed of an emotional gravitas that transcends genre, they have sold out the Royal Albert Hall (twice) as well as the Sydney Opera House, and played countless international festivals the world over. Their famous track, To Build A Home, has been streamed well in excess of 60 million times and Arrival of the Birds closed out the end credits of the Oscar winning Stephen Hawking biopic, Theory Of Everything.

We caught up with Jason ahead of their show - presented by Leftfoot - at O2 Institute, Birmingham this November.

You’re bringing your new tour to O2 Institute this month. What can your Birmingham audience expect from the show?
They can expect some surprise material. We’ve released a new single, so we’ll be performing that. We’ll also be performing tracks from the new record that’s coming out in the spring. There’ll be a really nice lighting show and about a dozen people coming on stage doing their vocal performances. I can’t wait to get it rocking and rolling.

You formed The Cinematic Orchestra back in 1999. What was the inspiration behind it?
I went to art school to study fine art, but was spending more time making music with the guys at college. It seemed to be, for me, my future and my way forward. The first release was a build-up of trying to translate visual art into audible art. The inspiration has been a narrative sense of how music can be taken out of the pop world of ‘three minutes 30’ or whatever it is, and be made into tracks which are 12 minutes, 15 minutes long, or a suite of music. I wanted to explore music in a deeper way, rather than trying to compress everything into three minutes.

You’ve had a lot of musicians collaborate with The Cinematic Orchestra. Is there anyone you’d particularly like to work with but haven’t as yet?
There are lots of people who, in theory, would be great to work with, but whether it actually works out is another matter. In the process of actually collaborating, you get to know someone’s personality, their wellbeing, their state of mind, and sometimes it doesn’t work out. I’ve had that happen quite a few times in the whole process of writing this forthcoming record. I’m not going to mention any names. Collaborating is a really romantic thought, like ‘I’d love to work with this person’, but sometimes it doesn’t quite connect. 

You’ve said in the past that you didn’t have a musical upbringing. With that in mind, where did your passion for music come from?
When I was six years old, my parents took me to a music store and bought me an acoustic guitar. They couldn’t buy me a full-size guitar because it was too big and I couldn’t get my arm around the body to strum it, so they got me this miniature guitar, and from that day on, I’d always be playing it. I’d listen to the radio and get my parents to take me to Woolworths and buy the latest seven-inch. I was always into music. I was into painting and drawing too, but music definitely grabbed me. I’ve never had formal training; I’m self-taught by ear. I work with musicians who’ve been through some of the best schools in the world and who’re so constrained by theory and rhythm. They’ll say, ‘You can’t do that,’ and I’m like, ‘Yes you can!’ I’m so glad that I’ve never had any formal training because it does suppress creativity a little bit.

What was your first experience of jazz music?
That was when I was starting to learn to play bass, when I was at college. When I was doing my fine-art degree, I had an electric bass and was playing in a punk band. It was just a three-piece, so it was drums, guitar and bass. I was listening to bands like No Means No, and I was more interested in the bass being a solo instrument rather than just a rhythm instrument, so I did some research. I started listening to Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison, classic ’60s jazz bass players - especially Mingus. He was a soloist who used the bass as a lead instrument. That’s what pulled me into the world of jazz. There were no boundaries in that world, whereas if you listen to indie rock or pop, the bass isn’t necessarily an instrument that’s at the forefront. 

What’s your view on the UK’s jazz scene at the moment?
Pretty appalling. I think electronic music has kind of surpassed it. The jazz scene is really slow. I find it quite dull, to be honest. I don’t think there’s that much exciting music coming from the UK jazz scene - hopefully no one’s going to slap me for saying that! Jazz is just one musical form. I think what suits me is taking inspiration from numerous different genres and styles; just throwing good ideas into a pot. Over the last few years, there’s been some amazing electronic music coming out of the UK, and there’s been a lot of connection between London and LA, which I think is great. It’s really shaken things up. I think someone like Kamasi Washington is great, but he’s in Los Angeles. LA has a lot of youthful vigor coming through its music. The UK jazz scene isn’t picking its feet up.

What’s the proudest moment of your career to date?
We played a show at Hammersmith Apollo last year and that was pretty amazing; a beautiful experience. Playing at Sydney Opera House was fantastic, and the first time at the Royal Albert Hall was really special. Working with Roots Manuva in the studio and recording All Things To All Men was pretty awesome, as was working with Patrick Watson on To Build A Home. It was hard work, but after five days of writing and recording, it was like, ‘Boom, we have it!’ 

Which piece of work has been the most challenging? 
This new record has been extremely challenging. We’ve been trying to get a little more depth in production and the writing, and to keep the freshness rather than just repeating a method or a formula. I put a lot of pressure on myself. It’s easy to write a piece of music, but is it any good? It’s about pushing the bar, pushing it up. 

What does the future hold for The Cinematic Orchestra?
The future is bright and very exciting. After the touring, we need to get back in the studio and get the second record completed and out. So lots of enjoyment and fun.

The Cinematic Orchestra play O2 Institute, Birmingham on Wednesday 9 November