ChimpanA was born halfway up a Welsh mountain, in a studio overlooking a disused coalmine. What began as a side-project for 3 songwriters; Rob Reed, Rob Thompson and Steve Balsamo, quickly grew into an altogether different animal. The intention of creating beautiful soundscapes was realised very quickly, as programmer Reed, armed with an astonishing array of vintage keyboards, latest studio gadgetry, old vinyl and an unhealthy fascination with Trevor Horn began his ‘soul mining’. Whether it was the effect of the location or the dark winter months, the sound of ChimpanA started to take on a much harder edge. Slowly, some of the more laid back grooves were replaced by real drums and real strings now mixed with the swampy moogs. As more conventional song structures started to take shape, the search was on to find an ideal voice for each piece of music. Balsamo, having worked with the amazing Sam Brown, Margo Buchanan and Aitch McRobbie in ‘The Choir ‘, made the call. Shan Cothi, the celebrated Welsh soprano was also asked to play… And so the angels came, feathers flying. Reed then enlisted Bluey, a DJ and remixer friend from Birmingham, to add beats, scratches and a little esoteric madness. Thompson played all guitars. Tony Dallas, an award winning London/Jamaican storyteller who Thompson had met at a gig was asked to write some words and speak on some of the tracks. Dallas’ rich dulcet tones lend an eerie apocryphal timbre to the opening of the record. ChimpanA’s influences range from early Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd to the more contemporary sound of Faithless, Moby and Zero 7.