Still and sparkling
If the name KiF Productions sounds – and looks – familiar, then that’s entirely intentional. The debut album Will Cookson and Tom Haverly, Still Out, is a loving homage to The KLF’s early 90s ambient classic Chill Out, recorded without the benefit of mains power or phone signal in a secluded Devon cabin.
The resulting 40-minute suite draws from an idiosyncratic set of touchpoints – Brian Eno, Bill Evans, Philip Glass, Virginia Astley, Andrew Weatherall – but its logic feels internal. The album also doubles as the audio basis for a short road trip film screened at Stroud Film Festival in early 2025, and quite possibly coming to a screen near you, as Will from the duo tells Juno Daily here…
Hi thanks for your time…. First of all, can you tell us where you are right now, and what kind of day you’re having… Been anywhere already or going anywhere interesting later?
Will: It’s a Sunday and it’s going to be proper hot later. I’ve been pottering around making a late breakfast and have already listened to a few records, the standout being an old favourite – Hans-Joachim Roedelius – Le Jardin (1979). Having some time to potter is an essential luxury in my book. All good on the south western front, the only downer is the last onslaught of hayfever and that I need to go to the shop for some gaffer tape.Tom: Is currently off grid…
The two of you are longtime friends, we gather. When did you first meet, what did you bond over and when did the music making start? Have you made much music together or is this the first project?
We met back in 1990 in the Forest of Dean, when we were both at College and bonded over music – Jimi Hendrix, Public Enemy, Sonic Youth, A Guy Called Gerald and Ian Dury & The Blockheads to name a few. We also shared an active interest in the counterculture and had similar tastes in books and films – Easy Rider was a big one for us. This is the first music project that we have seen through to finishing. We did some straight-to-tape experiments in the early 90s but no copies survived.
Congratulations on making Still Out, it’s a beautiful listen. We understand the original idea was triggering by finding a copy of The KLF’s Chill Out in Tom’s dad’s vinyl pile. How did it develop from there? Were you aware of The KLF at all?
We were aware of the KLF and were into their activities, but we were really into ‘Chill Out’ back in the 90s and it got ingrained in our shared consciousness. When it turned up in Bob’s records, it came back into our thoughts and ears. Hearing it in modern times was inspiring as it still sounded as good as it did back then, which (for me) is not the case with a lot of music from that era. We’d talked about how you could revisit Chill Out using the same Sound FX but different source material, and the idea steadily grew from there. We dropped the US elements of Chill Out (slide guitar) as we wanted to base it on places that we’d taken trips to/at in the British Isles. It wasn’t rushed and we took our time, accumulating samples and ideas – in our minds it became as much a tribute to the history of ambient music as a homage to ‘Chill Out’.
So, it was recorded without mains power (or phone signal!) in a secluded Devon cabin. How do you think that shaped its sound and your approaches to making it?
That’s a good question, we were truly cut off from the wider world, immersed and in a certain head space – all of this informed the sound and the decisions on what felt right for inclusion. The lack of electricity meant we were working against the clock, which was really important for getting things down and moving on. A lot of this made the final cut. The mastering was done in ‘Get It Together’ studio in the basement of a convent in Stroud. With that, we took our time and got really into ensuring it all sounded right. We wanted to make sure no-one could see the metaphorical Sellotape.
You’ve mentioned Brian Eno, Bill Evans, Philip Glass, Virginia Astley and Andrew Weatherall as ‘touchstones’ – are there any other influences we should mention?
There are loads but one that I think may not be obvious is the producer Adrian Sherwood, the way he manipulated sound, took a DIY approach, used spoken word and dub effects, has been a really big influence on us both and this project. He found his signature sound that is distinctly his while taking influences from elsewhere.
The tracks are based on stages of a journey… How did you come up with the route?
We knew that the end destination would be – Welcome Mouth in North Devon where we recorded the album. The start location of Swaledale in North Yorkshire felt right as it’s cut off in a similar way to North Devon. These are all places that we’ve taken trips to and others where it was dictated by the sounds. We decided on Laugharne estuary as we had a section with Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas which is where he wrote Under Milk Wood. There’s a section in the Forest of Dean at Blakeney Straits that was a spot you used to hang around in and is where we first properly connected.
There’s also an accompanying film – or perhaps it’s the other way round(?) Tell us more…
The film (see stills above and below) came after the music through a collaboration with good friend and film director, Rufus Exton. I met with Rufus and was telling him about the music project and the road trip, he suggested going on the journey and filming it. To be honest, I didn’t know what it would involve, but I instinctively knew that it would work as Rufus is super talented and has a strong connection to nature.
The film is a 44-minute immersive journey that follows the route set out by the album and it has no dialogue or narration. We’ve shown it at festivals and one-off screenings, where it gets really strong feedback from people who’ve viewed it. What’s cool is that the record and the film can live independently, yet are also completely intertwined.
Go to our website to find out about future screenings – kifstillout.com and make contact if you want to arrange a screening.
What’s next for you in the short/medium/long term? What are you hearing that’s inspiring you? Any more live/DJ/release action we should know about?
We’re not sure exactly what happens next for KiF Productions in terms of the next full production. None of this was really planned out we just wanted to see where it would take us. We’ve got a few thoughts and discussions regarding remixes for other artists. We’re pushing a bit against the current trend of feeding the insatiable content machine. We’ll take our time and see what happens.I’m in the process of setting up a vinyl reissue label, but it’s early days.
Buy Still Out on vinyl here
Still Out will be screened at the Disco Pogo Balearic Burger All-Dayer at London’s South Bank on Saturday September 13.
KiF are running a STILL OUT ROOM at Hidden Notes Festival in Stroud, with screenings and DJ Sets with some special guests, on September 20-21.
