Producer, artist and DJ James Ellis Ford’s fingerprints are all over some of the great records of contemporary times. From Fontaines D.C’s freshly released Dopamine Chamber to Arctic Monkeys’ iconic 2013 banger-filled AM. Then there’s the Mercury Prize-nominated War Child charity album Help(2) and late-career milestones from Pulp and Blur. James’ versatility and musical nous have helped many of UK music’s most distinctive talents realise their visions.
Among these soaring highs, his new solo record, Lost in Another World, was born out of darkness – recorded in his hospital room after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells.
“There were some grim circumstances behind the record and it was made with whatever equipment I could get my wife to bring to the hospital,” James says. “I’m in a fortunate position of having plenty of gear that I’ve built up over the years but in a way it was liberating to not have any.”
From such a deeply challenging and emotive period has stemmed some of James’ finest and most personal music. His voice moves within an otherworldly electronic soundscape veering between poignant synth moments on album opener Overtones to the bubbling, uplifting The Ever After.
Astonishingly, given the background to its recording, the whole album was written and produced in a little over two weeks.
“In the weirdest way, I’ve never had music come so easy,” he explains. “I think partly because I’d been gagging to make some, I’d been laid out ill without any creative thoughts for some time. It was the first moment that my brain started to spin again and it was a wonderful feeling, being able to prove to myself that I still could write and record.”
Speaking from outside his Simian Mobile Disco partner Jas Shaw’s studio, James is in good spirits and fresh from DJing at the big Bugged Out! Party at London’s Drumsheds. He’s philosophical about his ill-health and how the situation forced him into a new creative space.
“As I’m a producer, I’m always extolling the virtues of limitations and trying to impose them artificially or by creating a system,” he says. “In this case, the universe did it to me without me wanting it.”
His laptop is at the heart of his studio, set up so he can move in and out of different locations for various recording sessions. A curiosity around old samples is also a preoccupation and guided him through the songs on Lost in Another World.
“There’s an SP1200 plugin I used, mainly for the drums, which is the classic hip-hop drum machine,” James explains. “I used a lot of old Fairlight samples alongside samples of the Suiko Koto Synth too, putting them into a sampler was my main sound source.”
Elsewhere, he included an UAD Apollo, the Teenage Engineering OP-1 field, Make Noise 0-Coast and various microphones to capture his vocals.
“Having limited choices around synths or the sounds you can use forces you to go with what you have at your disposal and one key element was my voice,” James states. “I found myself concentrating more on the chords, the melodies and lyrics. When you’re in the process, it can be hard to remember to keep all of the options open. Having this taken away, it meant I’d never found it easier to write and record.”
James cites the eighties-style Japanese pop sounds of the album’s first track Overtones as an album highlight. Another song, Here Today, is a beautiful ode to living, a ballad written between rounds of chemo after going out to the countryside with his family.
“We had this beautiful day and I was overwhelmed with gratitude and sadness about simple things like nature and being with the people you love,” James says. “It’s not often you have an experience and a song comes out of it so directly. But to be honest, I’m really proud of the whole record and the fact it happened at all.”
While the album was written and recorded in just a few weeks, it was mixed by James’ friend, Animesh Raval, who took on this role some months after the recordings were made.
“I felt like it could be a bit of a Pandora’s box if I was to do this myself,” says James. “I didn’t trust myself to change or alter things – and part of what I wanted it to be was a photograph of this moment of my life.”
Outside of the world of the new record, James has a studio in his loft at home which is bursting at the seams with equipment. Even though this latest album was made without much of it, his passion for music-making technology continues to keep him creatively fired up.
“I have an Atari 8-track tape machine which I’m using on something at the moment which is lovely and pretty lo-fi,” James says.
“My workhorse is the ARP 2600 which I use on pretty much every project, that was the main synth on the Fontaines sessions. I use it as a synth but it’s great for processing guitar sounds too. You can run a signal through it and it just crunches it up in the best possible way.
“I also have this odd-shaped Atrium polysynth designed around gestural controls,” he continues. “It generates loads of amazing sounds but it is hard to get what you want from it. But I’m always on the lookout for a new piece of gear, there’s a golden period with something fresh where you have to record everything you do.”
James’ first musical ideas were conceived through the psychedelic rock of Simian in the 2000s, a four-piece guitar-based band that soon morphed into Simian Mobile Disco (SMD) with his bandmate Jas Shaw. Back then, this wilful flaunting and blending of genres and styles seemed wild and chaotic with Simian’s track, We Are Your Friends, picked up by French duo Justice. This 2006 remix and release kickstarted a new rave revolution.
“I’ve always had a broad taste, sometimes I’m not committed enough to one style of music,” James says. “I guess you get to a level of expertise if you stick to one thing but I’ve always been driven by trying to find out how to make a particular song or idea.”
SMD went on to enjoy huge success with dancefloor killers including Hustler, I Believe and Audacity of Huge amid six albums and plentiful remixes for artists like the Klaxons and Muse.
“I remember hearing Autechre or Aphex at the beginning of Simian and I had no idea how to get there,” James states. “My delving into the electronic side was driven by trying to figure out how to do something and the discoveries are endless. Which is why it’s consistently attractive to jump between different styles. It means there are a different set of aesthetics to get to grips with and trying to do this is something I really love.”
Alongside his solo endeavours and DJing, it’s James’ production work where his presence can be felt most in popular music. From Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys to bands like Fontaines D.C., he’s guided many unique artists through the studio process. Arctic Monkeys are one of the UK’s biggest success stories and a four-piece he’s been working with since their second album, 2007’s Favourite Worst Nightmare, helming recent gems Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino and The Car.
“It’s like any relationship, it’s a constantly evolving thing,” James says of his connection with Alex Turner, Matt Helders, Jamie Cook and Nick O’Malley. “When I first met them, it was before the first record, they were this very tight-knit unit that wouldn’t let anyone in, and tricky to navigate. But as you progress, you build up this level of trust and we’ve worked across so many eras from the Last Shadow Puppets records to the later LA albums.”
Now seven studio albums into their career, Arctic Monkeys are continuing to grow and change. As far as James is concerned, the vision is all theirs – his role is just to serve it.
“As a producer, my role is the same for all of these acts. I’m trying to get to the bottom of what they want to achieve, then use my skills to help them reach it,” he says.
“I can’t take any credit or blame for the path they have taken, I might have had an influence on them but perhaps not as much as people think. Instead, I just try to be open, encouraging and a problem solver, to find ways to capture what they want.”
In recent years, Jessie Ware, Gorillaz and Mumford & Sons have all come knocking on James’ door. He was also at the helm for Blur’s 2023 record, The Ballad of Darren, while also working with Pulp on the triumphant More, their first album in 24 years.
“The hardest thing with these heritage acts, for want of a better word, is you don’t want to make their worst record,” James laughs.
“With all the bands I’ve done later career work with, they are still searching and pushing themselves, there’s no trying to recreate former glories. There is still a spark in all of those artists that are still striving to do something new.”
Speaking to James about working with some of these acts and it’s apparent he has ended up working in the studio with many of his own musical heroes. Did he ever see himself in this role when he was younger?
“Well it’s been a privilege to be in a room with artists I’ve grown up with, to see how they write and the dynamics between them and I’m incredibly grateful for it,” he says. “You can’t be intimidated either and I’ve become good at being honest. As long as you’re genuine and intentions are good, then you can tell artists some parts or songs might need more work. Sometimes acts of a certain stature are surrounded by yes men, which isn’t beneficial in a creative situation.”
Right here, right now though, and it’s Fontaines D.C. that are the band with the world seemingly at their feet. The Irish troupe have just released their latest album, Dopamine Chamber and once again trusted James to helm it to fruition, after working with him on 2024’s cultural watershed Romance.
“They are one of the best bands of their generation, they are so focused and serious, although working with them is undeniably intense,” he says.
“They might be on a certain trajectory but when making the album, we still want to make it creative and weird – and that is not an easy process. They are pushing themselves harder than most acts and within the band, they are pulling in different directions and you can feel this in the music. It can be fractious sometimes but I think the proof is in the pudding, their music is always so exciting.”
James feels it’s his balance of technical know-how and ability to get on with a broad range of artists that stands producers in good stead.
“I’m a musician so I can talk to artists in their own language,” he says. “For new producers, getting things sounding good is basic but vital – but then people management is so important too. I was always scared of things getting awkward in the studio. I thought that the whole thing could fall apart but these moments are so important, that’s often where the gold is.”
Whereas other producers might be more adversarial or demanding, James has his own unique way of working – and it’s led to this huge series of era-defining records.
“Honestly, the best way is to go in with good intentions and be open hearted, I try to be a member of the band for a few months and make the best record I can for me within the parameters of the situation,” he says.
With Fontaines D.C. James also remembers how the sessions led to unexpected surprises in terms of Dopamine Chamber’s sound and style. In this context, he also lists an ability to be flexible as a vital tool in the producer armoury.
“The creative approach is never a straight line, with Fontaines, I had thoughts on this record and what we came out with was entirely different,” he says. “Something might be going on in your peripheral vision and you need to be able to pivot – this is where the real magic is.”
Now the solo record is out and the Fontaines album has also been released into the wider world, he’s keeping busy with various projects and taking tentative steps around making new music with SMD. While currently in recovery, James is active and in a new creative head-space.
“My new love is an Oberheim Xpander which I’ve wanted for a while,” he says. “I’m at Jas from SMD’s house, we’re doing some new music, he’s using an E-mu sampler. Jas has had his own health issues but we’re hoping to do some more shows and see where it goes…”
James Ellis Ford’s Lost in Another World is out on Domino Records now and Fontaines D.C.’s Dopamine Chamber is available on 32 County Love Train & XL Recordings.
