August is upon us, which means a lot of people will be heading to the beach for sunshine and good times. But if you're not going anywhere, don't despair: the ever thoughtful Ceephax Acid Crew (Andy Jenkinson) has composed a holiday anthem with a distinctly Turkish flavor that'll have you splashing on the 30spf in no time."Mediterranean Acid" is the latest track from Squarepusher‘s sibling and it has a LOLsome DIY video made by Andy himself, which captures the essence of the Mediterranean and is one of our favorite clips in a long time. It uses the latest green screen technology and VHS video to bring the nostalgic whiff of yesteryear’s beach holidays in the Med back to haunt you.We caught up with Andy to talk parrots and acid house.The Creators Project: What can you tell us about the video for “Mediterranean Acid”? It looks like you might have some kind of viral internet hit on your hands…
Andy Jenkinson: It’s a nostalgic video acid trip into the wonder and subtle horror of holidays in the Med.Where did you find the stock footage of holidays?
Charity shops. I think as the track has a nostalgic air and uses some vintage sounds, the old video VHS footage of holidays and past fun times fits perfectly. My favorite bit is [at 1:28] when the man kisses the lady and pulls a strange face then a deranged smile, because I don’t understand what’s going on at all.When you wrote the track did you have holidays in mind?
I had in mind the romance of sitting on a terrace overlooking a quaint fishing port, late in the evening, drinking rosé and thinking about lost loves. The music itself relates as much to Turkish pop as it does to acid house which I like. I always think if an instrument has notes, then why stick to what everyone expects of it—why just do acid house, techno, or trance on a 303?What did you use to make the video?
Some old Amiga programs and Sony Vegas, and I filmed it with a cheap old Argos camera.Where did you find the green screen and the parrot?
The green screen was just a bit of cloth I bought from a haberdasher and pinned to the kitchen ceiling. The parrot just sort of hangs around our house getting moved from room to room occasionally. I see it’s still in here, perched on a soundcard. Must encourage it to move on soon.Did you have to rehearse your moves?
Not exactly, haha.Ceephax Acid Crew’s “Capsule in Space”, with homemade 8-bit music videoHave the guys at Mangal [Turkish restaurant in east London] seen the video?
No, I’d like them to see it, but they’re always so busy making kebabs. I imagine they would really like it and potentially adopt it as their anthem. Me and my friend have talked about making an official promotional video for Mangal some day.When was the last time you had a beach holiday in the Med?
Last time was when I was a kid in Greece in the late 80s, probably when a lot of the VHS footage was being made.Do you think Britain would be better off if we adopted the siesta?
It would be a bit weird in winter.Why does putting the word "acid" at the end of almost any word or name or phrase make it sound better?
'Cos acid is a great word and essentially there is an acid version of everything—a weirder or better version of it.Why did you decide to cover John Barry's “Capsule in Space” (from You Only Live Twice) in a disco style?
I’ve always loved that tune so I wanted to know the chords, then after I worked them out I realized it was simple enough and looped so well that it was pretty suited to repetitive electronic music.Tell us about Waltzer, your new label.
It’s named after a fairground ride that I used to love as a kid, mainly because it usually had the most decent tunes playing on it compared to the rest of the fairground rides and was sort of like a mini-rave. I also like that the label name involves the word waltz, because that’s a pretty classy dance. It’s a base for releasing my own stuff initially. I’m hoping to release a lot of stuff on vinyl because it’s still my favorite medium, an EP next, then maybe an album. Later on I’d maybe like to get some more artists."Capsule in Space" b/w "Mediterranean Acid" is out now on Waltzer on 7-inch, available from ceephax.co.uk@piersmartin
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Andy Jenkinson: It’s a nostalgic video acid trip into the wonder and subtle horror of holidays in the Med.Where did you find the stock footage of holidays?
Charity shops. I think as the track has a nostalgic air and uses some vintage sounds, the old video VHS footage of holidays and past fun times fits perfectly. My favorite bit is [at 1:28] when the man kisses the lady and pulls a strange face then a deranged smile, because I don’t understand what’s going on at all.When you wrote the track did you have holidays in mind?
I had in mind the romance of sitting on a terrace overlooking a quaint fishing port, late in the evening, drinking rosé and thinking about lost loves. The music itself relates as much to Turkish pop as it does to acid house which I like. I always think if an instrument has notes, then why stick to what everyone expects of it—why just do acid house, techno, or trance on a 303?What did you use to make the video?
Some old Amiga programs and Sony Vegas, and I filmed it with a cheap old Argos camera.Where did you find the green screen and the parrot?
The green screen was just a bit of cloth I bought from a haberdasher and pinned to the kitchen ceiling. The parrot just sort of hangs around our house getting moved from room to room occasionally. I see it’s still in here, perched on a soundcard. Must encourage it to move on soon.
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Not exactly, haha.Ceephax Acid Crew’s “Capsule in Space”, with homemade 8-bit music videoHave the guys at Mangal [Turkish restaurant in east London] seen the video?
No, I’d like them to see it, but they’re always so busy making kebabs. I imagine they would really like it and potentially adopt it as their anthem. Me and my friend have talked about making an official promotional video for Mangal some day.When was the last time you had a beach holiday in the Med?
Last time was when I was a kid in Greece in the late 80s, probably when a lot of the VHS footage was being made.Do you think Britain would be better off if we adopted the siesta?
It would be a bit weird in winter.Why does putting the word "acid" at the end of almost any word or name or phrase make it sound better?
'Cos acid is a great word and essentially there is an acid version of everything—a weirder or better version of it.Why did you decide to cover John Barry's “Capsule in Space” (from You Only Live Twice) in a disco style?
I’ve always loved that tune so I wanted to know the chords, then after I worked them out I realized it was simple enough and looped so well that it was pretty suited to repetitive electronic music.Tell us about Waltzer, your new label.
It’s named after a fairground ride that I used to love as a kid, mainly because it usually had the most decent tunes playing on it compared to the rest of the fairground rides and was sort of like a mini-rave. I also like that the label name involves the word waltz, because that’s a pretty classy dance. It’s a base for releasing my own stuff initially. I’m hoping to release a lot of stuff on vinyl because it’s still my favorite medium, an EP next, then maybe an album. Later on I’d maybe like to get some more artists."Capsule in Space" b/w "Mediterranean Acid" is out now on Waltzer on 7-inch, available from ceephax.co.uk@piersmartin