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Sharps & flats
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Watt and Thorn, who are married, have played together for 17 years. Here, they fool around with any genre that suits their fancy. Unlike most producers, they're willing to shift between jazz, jungle, house, downtempo and indie rock, never settling on any one distinct sound. That approach doesn't always resonate with the genre-obsessed underground. At the same time, the openness is part of what made Everything But the Girl instrumental in introducing electronic music to listeners beyond the small dance-floor circuit -- an achievement that peaked in the States with New York deep house pioneer Todd Terry's gorgeously melancholic remix of their single, "Missing," which charted at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1996.

Also Today Sharps & flats Everything But the Girl marry the lonely romance that Frank Sinatra and Dusty Springfield distilled into pop with the dance floor sounds of house and drum 'n' bass. By Charles Taylor

The following is a recent e-mail interview conducted with Ben Watt, who wrote from his London studio.

What inspired you to start DJing in the underground again?

To be frank, I had never DJ'd before 1996. It was [producer and DJ] Howie B who encouraged me to start spinning during the making of "Walking Wounded." I began in the underground because my first contacts were through Howie. I was bored with traditional approaches to playing and arranging music. I wanted fresh input. DJ cut-up techniques, merging sounds, mood building -- they all appealed to me. It seemed more attractive than picking up a six-string guitar again.

Is it important for an electronic music producer to go out in the clubs in order to understand the energy of the underground?

Of course not. Many musicians work in the realms of electronic music and have never stepped foot in a club. To capture the vibe of the dance floor is a different matter however. Dance-floor music needs a special approach to EQ, balance, weight. Drums need bass, presence and bite. Sonically this is very different to the hi-fi production techniques that suit home stereos. After the making of "Walking Wounded," I became more and more addicted to this kind of sound. I wanted to take that sound to a pop audience without losing sight of strong narrative songwriting and soulful singing.

Did Todd Terry's remix plant the seeds for your turn toward deeper house?

Todd's mix was part of a broader offensive. We were despondent with the position we found ourselves in in the early '90s, isolated from an emerging generation of listeners. We were adamant that ideas from dance culture should inform our songs -- not unlike our exploration of soul and bossa in the early '80s. We looked into areas that suited our mood -- downtempo funk, deep house, jazzy drum 'n' bass. I see Todd's mix, the collaboration with Massive Attack, my own remix of "Missing" under the pseudonym Little Joey and ultimately my submergence in the London drum 'n' bass scene as all part of this new broad-based offensive around 1994.

A tedious question: How would you describe the house on "Temperamental"? Basement Jaxx and Todd Terry say "deep" is over. What would be your new terminology?

Todd's mix of "Missing" wasn't really deep house in itself. It only had a kind of deep mood because of the melancholy melody and the sound of Tracey's voice. Todd's beats were pure prime time in themselves. However I still feel any house music that feeds off the rich, soulful, minor-chord sounds of soul and blues and funk will still be deep house to me.

When I DJ deep house, I look for a slow build towards a kind of bonded, almost spiritual feel on the dance floor -- not simply hands-in-the-air Saturday night frenzy -- and I know from experience that this works. Look at [15-year-old club] Body and Soul in New York if you want a really successful example. Modern deep house has learned how to hit the dance floor running, where the beats are fat and the grooves are funky. Gone are the days of limp kick-drums and ham-fisted Fender Rhodes solos.

Next page | The days of darkcore drum 'n' bass