2 of a kind

Jim Carroll talks to a couple of Dublinerrs about their years-in-the-making, infectiously techy electronic album.

IN electronic music, two is the magic number. For the likes of Air, Daft Punk, Orbital, Lemon Jelly, Chemical Brothers and Royksopp, great things have come about from working in pairs. It's become the default setting for electronic boffins who want to set the world alight, but who don't want to do so on their own.

In the last few years, Dubliners Conor Murphy and Jack Byrne have probably spent more time with each other than with their nearest and dearest. They haven't yet morphed into one Hystereo tech-being, although they are well capable of finishing each other's sentences.

Signed to pioneering Scottish label Soma in January 2002 on the back of their first demo, Hystereo's debut album has been a long time coming. But Corporate Crimewave is certainly worth the wait. An album of buckwild, infectious techy grooves, it combines a whole heap of ingredients into one hugely satisfying main dish which will leave you licking your lips for more.

The pair are quite happy with the way it turned out. "We wanted to do something different," says Byrne. "We had the attitude that there was no point spending all this time doing all this work to make something which sounds like everyone else. We wanted to add to what was out there rather than duplicate what others had done. Sure, it sounds like certain other things, but it's done in a very different way."

Murphy thinks this idiosyncratic streak is down to the instruments as much as anything else. "We'd listen to techno and disco and, while we were not attempting to do a cold-blooded fusion of the two, it did happen because we were using the same kind of keyboards they used on 1970s disco records. We try putting together things we like and give it some energy and, if we like the result, we keep it."

When the Hystereo pair first met, their aim was to make beats that no one else was doing. Because Byrne's brother Hollis had been a member of Irish hip-hop act Marxman, messing around with samples and making beats had become second nature to him. Murphy, too, had amassed some experience in the art of computer doodling.

From the outset, Hystereo realised they needed more than just samples to survive. "Most of the early stuff is based around samples," says Murphy. "But over the years all the samples have been eradicated because we've learned how to actually play keyboards and other stuff. We've gone from using all samples to now actually playing all the music ourselves."

They forged friendships with such Dublin club promoters as Bodytonic and Influx, and it was through gigs in places like the Tivoli that their sound came together. A little disco here, a little electro there and a lot of techno everywhere, and Hystereo's sound was becoming a little more than just the sum of their influences.

They only sent out one copy of their demo ("CDs were expensive back then," says Murphy with a grin) and it went to Soma. The Glasgow label was first to spot the potential of Daft Punk and they obviously liked what they heard from Dublin. "It turns out they listen to every single CD they get and they got back to us," says Byrne.

A deal was signed in 2002, albeit not one grand enough to let the duo live the high life. "Soma helped us out with getting equipment but they couldn't give us a wage," explains Murphy. "We couldn't get proper jobs and do the music as well so the only thing to do was to take time off and become recluses. You could do it as a part-time thing, but it always sounds half-arsed then. We wanted to do it to the best of our abilities, we wanted to make it as good as we could."

They locked themselves away in a house and went to work. "We didn't leave the house for a year," says Murphy. "Well, it certainly felt like that. We were a little detached from things that were happening in Dublin." They'd emerge every couple of months to play a live show and road-test the new songs. Then, back they'd go and start all over again.

"We accumulated loads of gear along the way," says Byrne. "There was stuff we used in our early shows that we just don't use any more. And we spent so much time learning how to use all these software programmes, all of which changed at least a dozen times while we were making the album."

Occasionally they'd get a call from the label wondering what was going on. "They left us pretty much to our own devices," admits Murphy. "Now and then, they'd put some pressure on us to get singles. But, yes, there's been such a huge gap between when we signed and when we finally put out the album. I don't really know how to explain it."

Hystereo realise that their sound has changed radically in this time. "All the tracks on that demo don't sound remotely like what we're doing now," reckons Byrne. "It's very, very, very different There's one track, Resistance, which is similar, but the rest is synthy techno or downbeat hip-hop. Completely different."

While it took over three years for the first album to appear, chances are the reaction to it will mean a follow-up will come sooner rather than later. Selling Corporate Crimewave means taking the Hysterio on the road, and Murphy rattles off dates to come in such techno hotspots as Glasgow, Berlin, Limerick and Castlebar.

Having worked so closely together, they're quick to recognise each other's strengths. "I could do disco stuff all day and be happy with that," says Byrne, "but Conor pushes it into the tech side." Murphy points to how "Jack comes up with crazy stuff without even listening to much music".

As to his own best attribute? "I just sit back and admire it all."

Corporate Crimewave is out now on Soma Records