Five For The Funk: What makes Boxed In tick?

After the release of their masterfully crafted debut album earlier this year, we got inside the head of Boxed In's creative mastermind, Oli Bayston, and extracted five tracks that inspire his production process.

Ben Smith

Date published: 14th Apr 2015

Image: Boxed In

If you haven't listened to Boxed In's eponymous debut album yet, you ought to get acquainted. Inspired by people like Theo Parrish, the mastermind behind the project, Oli Bayston, has come up with a well rounded slab of electro-pop through merging classic elements with contemporary vigour and solid songwriting.

After all, Bayston has been operating in the music industry for quite a while, working with a varied clientèle like The 2 Bears, Lianne Le Havas, George Fitzgerald and Cocknbullkid's Anita Blay who incidentally pops up on the album.

In order to pinpoint the source of his creative juices, we asked the man who based his moniker on Francis Bacon's Head VI painting for five tracks that make him tick.

Percussions (Four Tet) - KHLHI

This is always a good one to pulse in the room. I really hope that Four Tet does a full Percussions album. I've loved the tracks he's released in this guise so far.

Pepé Bradock - Deep Burnt

It's one of the best deep house records ever made with its surging strings, live percussion and laid back groove. I heard this played a lot at my favourite Manchester night, Eyes Down, back when I lived in the city.

Manuel Gottsching - E2-E4

At 58:39 long, this track always sends me into a true meditative state. Larry Levan famously played it in its entirety at The Paradise Garage, New York in the late eighties. It's amazing how it can keep your attention for so long, and yet the musical changes are so incremental.

Weval - Gimme Some

Here's a pretty new track of Weval’s, a fresh artist on Kompakt. The production is great and if you listen to it really loud on very good speakers at 5am it can set you off.

This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren

This is a cover of a Tim Buckley song, featuring Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser from The Cocteau Twins. It's a real sonic melt and I always put it on when it feels like the night's turning in.

Nice one Oli!

Want to catch Boxed In live? They play at The Rainbow Venues in Birmingham on Tuesday 9th June (ticketed here) and Gorilla in Manchester on Tuesday 16th June (ticketed here).