It’s been a busy year or so for Chris Emerson, who at the back end of 2015 stepped up to become the sole member of What So Not, following the departure of good mate Flume from the project.
“It’s been very intense,” Emerson says. “I had a show in Red Rock in Colorado with Jamie xx and Chromeo, and then in the morning we had to leave on a direct flight to Frankfurt. Then I had to play in Frankfurt and Amsterdam on the same day, so that was fun for so many hours having not slept. It was one of the tightest runs I think I’ve ever had to do, but we did it, we smashed it. Then we finally got to sleep.”
The hectic schedule has been worth it for Emerson, who’s about to embark on a national tour with EDM royalty A-Trak. While in the States recently, Emerson caught up with the artist known as Dave 1 – one half of funk outfit Chromeo, and A-Trak’s brother. “His first comment when he saw me on the ground was, ‘I hear you’re taking care of my brother for a few weeks,’” the Aussie producer laughs.
Emerson couldn’t be happier to be teaming up with A-Trak for this run of huge dual headliner shows. If he is feeling any pressure about touring alongside a performer who has spent over a decade on the scene, he’s not showing it.
“I’m so happy about this [tour]. I think [A-Trak] actually put up a quote saying that he loves Australia so much, and that he’s had so many cherished memories playing here back in the day. He said the last time he toured was the first time he met me, so it’s actually funny that the first time he’s coming back is me bringing him on tour with me. We’ve had a great relationship for many years now – he was one of the first international artists supporting What So Not. It was very cool to have him come full circle and be a part of this year.”
Emerson was set to have a short break from touring earlier this year, before he was asked to step in as a last-minute stop-gap on rural Australian festival Groovin The Moo. Having played the festival a few years ago in the penultimate timeslot, Emerson wasn’t sure what to expect while the sun was still up. “I think last time I was second last on the dance stage before Disclosure, and this time I was earlier in the day because I was filling in for Vic Mensa. I didn’t think it was possible but it was definitely crazier.”
As it happened, it was one of the craziest sets he has ever played, and formed a perfect launchpad to show Aussie audiences that he’s fully capable of continuing to run What So Not since the departure of Flume. “I think I liked playing in the day better, because everyone just had so much energy,” Emerson says. “I haven’t seen crowds react like that in so long. It was so cool to come back to Australia and see people getting right into it.”
Emerson emphasises that although Flume was an integral part of getting What So Not up and running, he’d long since stopped performing with the project – and realistically his departure hasn’t changed all that much. “I’ve been spearheading the project for three or more years now, doing all the touring myself,” Emerson says. “There wasn’t a whole lot of music coming out – I was producing music a lot but not able to release it under What So Not – so I can do that now, which is really exciting.”
2016 was always going to be a testing year for What So Not, particularly because Emerson wanted to prove to himself that he had the confidence to make important decisions alone and still get a positive response from fans. It’s patently clear just how pleased he is with how well his new music has been received.
“I think a real point for me was when I put that RÜFÜS remix out [‘Innerbloom’] and seeing the reaction from everyone. It was quite daunting, putting something out by myself for the project, but I couldn’t be happier from the reaction from everyone. It just gave me the confidence in what I’ve been thinking for a while, where I’m at creatively and where I want to take this project.”
The hardest part, Emerson admits, has been trying to balance all this touring while making time to get in the studio. “It is excruciatingly difficult,” he says. “I’ve been trying to finish this body of work for quite some time – I’m a little delayed unfortunately because of the touring – but essentially I write every single day on my laptop. Write ideas, toplines, chords, create new patches for synths.”
The advantage of writing on the road is that it gives Emerson a chance to gauge the response to any new music through sneaky road-tests of tracks, where the audience has no idea what it’s hearing.
“On the road I can test songs out and get an honest reaction,” he says. “I think it’s the most honest reaction when you play an unreleased song to an audience and you don’t tell them that it’s an unreleased track, just seeing how they naturally respond to it.”
[What So Not photo © Damien Weatherley]
What So Not,A-Trak and Rome Fortune play Enmore Theatre onThursday June 30.
