For nearly two decades, Klive and Nigel Humberstone have been composing unique electronic works which represent a blending of the symphonic with the modern, the ambient with the danceable, and the acoustic with the synthetic. What's extraordinary about the music of In The Nursery is the ability its creators have to pull so much warmth and humanity out of devices made of metal and plastic. Literally anyone these days can play Korg or bring up various "instruments" on a sampler, but it takes a special gift to be able to transform fabricated sounds into emotional compositions. And the Humberstones - twin brothers who have been playing music together since they were the tender age of 16 - imbue their electronic compositions with beauty and romanticism.
Formed in 1981 by the brothers and original drummer Ant Bennet, the band began playing live on June 21st of that year and continued to play out for the next 18 months before recording their debut, a mini-album, called When Cherished Dreams Come True, for the Paragon label released in 1983. Since then, the group have recorded eleven albums (a twelfth, titled Lingua, is in the works) and released six other records which include compilations, a live album, and two discs under the Les Jumeaux banner. On top of this output, In The Nursery possess a back catalogue of over 190 other works. While some people may think their name comes from a mid-80s Psychic TV song, the Humberstones actually predated that by a couple of years, picking the name before their first appearance out of necessity. "The name....reflected the various themes of the lyrics that we were writing about, such as childhood experiences, memories, child psychology and Autism." recalls Nigel.
Their music has always actively skirted the lines between classical, dance, and electronic music. Much of it could be termed neo-classical, but the group have also flirted with electro influences on some tunes. "our music is our ultimate means of expression, and as a painter uses different paints and techniques, so we use different music technology and styles," remarks Nigel. "There has always been a strong orchestral and classical approach to our music-despite not being, in any way trained or educated in musical technique - and I think we've attempted to incorporate these styles with more modern arrangements and attitudes. I wouldn't say that we flirt with sounds - we have never consciously tried to make commercial or fashionable music - it's just the case of creating what we feel is right, an innnate sense and perception of the kind of music that moves us personally."
What moves then varies from album to album (and may no doubt affect listeners differently as well). Listen to Twins, and you'll hear vocal cuts mixing classical and industrial expression with gothic undertones. Stormhorse focuses more on grandiose electro-orchestral sounds, while the recent Deco and their Les Jumeaux side project explore lush dance sounds with a classical slant. ITN's music tends to be instrumental, but singing can be found on numerous memorable tracks throughout their extensive catalogue. While they have a signature sound, the style of each record varies. Their songs represent both emotional highs and lows and everything inbetween, wether seething with anxiety or basking in glory.
It's unusual to see twins making music together, but even more so within the realm of electronic music, which has often been noted for its one-person operations like Aphex Twin, Steve Roach, Yamo, Klaus Schulze, and numerous other composers. The symbiotic nature of the brothers' relationship enhances the musical experience for them. "We have always written music together and it would be strange to imagine otherwise," explains Nigel. "It's what we know best. People always ask 'what's it like being a twin?', but because we haven't known anything other than being twins it's a very difficult question to answer objectively. Obviously we work well together - and our music is a testament to that. The music reflects upon our similar tastes and influences, but we both lead separate lives and bring different elements and inspiration to the music which helps to create a good balance. We've always seen the working relationship as great means of quality control - because we both agree on a piece of music, or are inspired by a sound - then we know it's right and is going to work." Adds Klive: "We work as a team, bounce ideas off each other. But the key element I suppose is that we both have an intuitive understanding of what we want to create, and if we both agree then the idea is used."
Given the cinematic scope and feel of ITN's music, it's not surprising that film makers have taken an interest in their work. While in terms of Hollywood there seem to have been a series of near-misses, the independent circuit and television have certainly taken a shine to their musical style. "We got a tremendous break with the full score to the independent Hollywood feature 'An Ambush of Ghosts' in 1993," says Nigel. "Unfortunately, through endless difficulties, it has yet to be seen - even on video - which is a real shame because firstly, it's a good movie and secondly, no one has had a chance to see all our hard work. But luckily we have good film representation in Los Angeles through which we've had some interesting work, if not that elusive major film commission."
Overseas commissions have been coming in, though. Late last year they released their soundtrack to the silent German classic "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari", which took many of the moodier, darker themes from the previous Deco album and brought them into an ambient mode along with some newer motifs. The Metro, a small cinema in Derby, England initially commissioned the score and gave them the chance to perform it, which lead to the duo releasing the soundtrack, touring regional UK cinemas, and performing at the Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City before over 2,000 filmgoers.
Performing the score was an unusual experience for them, differing from their regular live shows in the aspect that the two of them were performing without a backup group and without the need to actually display any stage presence. Their job was to simply perform the music while the audience watched the action on screen. "(It was) strange at first, because we were only used to the live shows, where you experience instant reactions from the audience, with applause at the end of every song," explains Klive. "But with the silent film screenings, the audience is seated and doesn't react until the end of the show. It's an experience to be able to play such ambient sounds and textures in a cinema 'setting' , something we have always wanted to do. The 'caligari' show in Mexico City was particularly special. The Metropolitan Theatre was an old Art Deco building, with a massive screen and stage area. We felt dwarfed by the enormity of the place!"
"Asphalt", a German film from 1929, became the second film the duo would score. This soundtrack is less gothic and foreboding than Caligari, although still moody and dramatic and possessing a similar tendency towards ambient moodscapes. It does differ in an occasional usage of percolating techno undercurrents. The duo recently performed Asphalt on tour in the UK in the same manner as Caligari. Their success as film composers updating older movies with modern synthetic soundtracks is encouraging given the current stale climate of symphonic retreads.
It has become common to find ITN's music in highly unusual places, which is a further testament to their universatility. You may find their compositions in the Claudia Schiffer workout video, the Streetfighter II video game, the techno compilation Cafe Del Mar 2 (sporting their interpretation of the Sabres of Paradise's "Haunted Dancehall"), the independent film "A Woman Undone", and as trailer music for "Interview With The Vampire." On top of all this, tracks of Deco are being played in the USA Network TV series "La femme Nikita." and the Les Jumeaux song "Feathercut" was licensed for use on the trailer to the independent US film "The Sweet Hereafter".
Speaking of Les Jumeaux, that is another intriguing project from the brothers Humberstone, an exploration of hypnotic ambient dance tunes. Appropriately, this new group name means twins in French and dates back to the pre-production work for the "Smokebelch" single they did for Andy weatherall. "We re-adopted the name for the side-project when it became qbvious that we were creating an awful lot of 'different' music in our home studio that just didn't fit into the ITN scheme or character," says Nigel. "Rather than ignore it, or try to assimilate it into ITN music, we decided to record an album." Two releases have thus far come out of this new venture, Feathercut and last year's Cobalt. "For us the side-project allows us a great deal of freedom to experiment with sounds and just to have a good time in the studio. There are obviously stylistic similarities between the two projects and in some ways we've been able to get our music - be it ITN or Les Jumeaux across to a different audience base.
On record the music of In The Nursery may be predominantly electronic, but in concert they augment their sound with plenty of powerful classical instrumentation, which can appeal to a more traditional classical audience. Live, the duo - who are accompanied by singer Dolores Marguerite C. and drummer Q - have their sound bolstered by an arsenal of instruments. There are orchestral drums, timpanis and various percussion instruments. "It's all part of the dynamic show that we want to present along with the visuals and lightshow" says Nigel. "The live show is not easy to put together but we all enjoy performing live and make changes depending on the venue and situation. In order to make the live concerts work - and we have developed this from many years of European touring - we play the more uptempo and forceful songs from our catalogue. Of course the whole event is very physical and dramatic."
Nigel plays keyboards and sequences live, while Klive generally plays most of the percussion, which includes three timpanis, two bass drums, cymbals, a military snare drum, and bell tree. Dolores - who also occasionally plays keyboards and percussion - is the centre figure on stage with her singing, while Q plays his trusty military snare. "The show combines live performance with sequenced parts, fusing the acoustics with the electronic," states Klive. "Visually, the stage is decked with large white flags which have images projected onto them, the whole presentation being controled by our own lighting engineer."
Having completed a UK cinema tour for Asphalt, Klive and Nigel are currently recording Lingua, their first non-soundtrack ITN release since Deco. "The theme of the album is to explore our understanding and use of language, taking in different elements like semantics and phonetics," says Nigel. "We are incorporating narrative contributions from all over the world: Japanese, native Mexican, Yugoslavian, Hispanic, Friulano (an ancient Italian tongue), and French. They are also planning to reissue back catalogue works through their own ITN Corporation label. For awhile, Third Mind/Roadrunner released the duo's music stateside, but the works reverted back to ITN, who are currently disributed here by Caroline Records. ITN Corporation will be releasing Anatomy Of A Poet (with extra tracks from the Hallucinations? single), Sense (featuring extra re-mixes), and eventually Duality.
With all of the busy activity taking up their time, they have little time to think of embarking on other ventures? "All projects keep us interested and busy enough as it is," affirms Klive. "We still like to undertake re-mixes for other artists or to compose the occasional piece of music for TV commercials. But in the main our ideas are channeled towards ITN and les Jumeaux." And we are all the more rewarded for it.
Bryan Reesman
January 1998