Recovery by Lifting Gear Engineer

We're excited to have a new Lifting Gear Engineer release for you, Rob Morgan's eighth album under this moniker. 'Recovery' arrives on 1 November 2024 in digital formats.

An eighth album makes you realise it's been a minute since Rob debuted as Lifting Gear Engineer, on a 2003 compilation released by Boobytrap Records. We first released music by Rob the following year: an epic track called 'Cables Pt 2' that was picked up by DJ Adam Walton on his weekly Welsh music show.

Following that, in 2005, we released Rob's first full album as LGE, 'Brain Holiday'. An early reviewer dubbed Rob's music "bleeps n beats" and that still works for us, although with key early influences like Aphex Twin, Leftfield, and Orbital, "leftfield electronica" also does the job.

Many unique singles, EPs, and albums have followed over the last two decades and it's great to be able to share the latest chapter. Rob's most recent album release on Machine was 'Space Between' back in 2018 (re-issued in 2022) and his last self-released album, 'Promised Future', was in March 2022.

We caught up with Rob to have a chat about 'Recovery'.

Machine: I may be miscounting but this seems to be the seventh LGE album, does that sound right? And the first for a couple of years. What's been happening for LGE since you released 'Promised Future' in 2022?

Rob: This will be the eighth album. I've been preoccupied with trying out different gear, different set-ups. It's taken a while to realise what set-up works best. The new album is the outcome of those experiments.

Machine: What is this new album about? The title 'Recovery' is evocative given the last few years.

Rob: It's on a general theme of recovery, recuperation, the process of healing that everyone goes through in one form or another. Some of the track titles also follow this theme, almost in relation to a clinical setting. It's an idea that came to me when I finished the album, not related to anything I've experienced recently.

Machine: What motivates or inspires you in terms of making music as LGE (and Portals)?

Rob: I feel like making music is almost a compulsion. I've always got an idea of the music I want to make in my head, so I'm motivated to make that a reality. I enjoy the process of music-making, realising it in the form of a finished track, and also live performance as a form of expression.

Machine: And what's the new set-up?

Rob: It's an Elektron Syntakt also sequencing an external synth going through a multi effects pedal. I'm working on expanding the set-up to include more samples.

Machine: Elektron gear is pretty cool. Lovely sound quality. Expensive!

Rob: Yes I really like the Elektron workflow. I feel that their gear allows me to be expressive in ways that I couldn't otherwise. It is expensive but I've scaled down on my other gear quite a lot recently.

Machine: You have talked before about Leftfield, Aphex Twin, and Orbital being early inspirations. Who are some current electronic acts you rate?

Rob: I really like Ben Lukas Boysen at the moment, his expansive sound which evokes a lot of emotion. I love Skee Mask, his production and creativity is amazing. Loraine James is very cool and always puts out interesting stuff. I'm also loving the latest Fourtet album.

Machine: Okay, I had to look up the first two! I am still proudly buying CDs, but it is great that I can look on Apple Music or Bandcamp and find these artists and check them out so easily.

Rob: Streaming services are a great tool, they give people access to bands and artists' output that they might not otherwise be able to. But I do think streaming services need to pay artists properly. There has to be a way that these companies are forced to pay artists a set minimum rate. More artists should be able to make a living from music.

Machine: We really need a new approach. What do you make of the electronic music scene these days? I think we’re similar in that the '90s shaped our initial experiences. They seem like along time ago, although somehow it’s still “out of time”.

Rob: It's difficult to say, as there's so many genres. Personally, I'm interested and inspired by the more experimental side, watching people's DAW-less set-ups on Instagram and YouTube, how they make something unique to them. I feel like that's where the most progressive and exciting electronic music comes from, in a similar way to the '90s with the rise of Warp Records and affiliated artists.

Machine: It’s interesting to see, isn’t it. In a similar way, the idea of the Electronic Music Open Mic (EMOM) nights is really interesting I think - it’s sort of a new folk music scene. Have you ever been to any of the Wales Electronic Producers Network (WEPN) nights in Cardiff?

Rob: No, but a mate who I grew up with is involved with WEPN and has tracks on a couple of their compilations. He goes under the name Clear Air Turbulence. I was involved in the inaugural EMOM night that Movement 81 put on in Swansea recently, though. It was really exciting. I'm playing the next one on August 1st. It's a great way for electronic musicians to connect, share ideas and listen to some cool music.