Shortly before the end of 2006, the Anticon label dropped one hell of a bombshell when they gave us the Heathens 12" from Bracken - a record that flipped between genres with ease, embracing elements of hip hop, electronica, post-rock, trip-hop and shoegazing.

Although a debut record, Bracken (Chris Adams) is no stranger to music - afterall, he's been a member of Leeds experimental band Hood for years now. But so diverse and exciting was Heathens, that we just had to feature more of this inspiring artist.

Bracken is on the verge of releasing his first album, We Know About The Need, on January 30th.

Hi Chris, how are things?

Things are good thank you. I'm listening to some on-line radio mix things and hoping my computer doesn't crash. There is the small matter of a cup of chamomile tea to attend to.

You've just released your first EP Heathens that seems to have got nothing but high praise, are you surprised at the reaction so far?

I tend to look away if I see anything reviewed because my right arm usually goes numb and I start seeing stars in front of my eyes. Word on the street is that the powers that be didn't tear it apart which I'm obviously thankful for. Perhaps they're waiting to really stick the boot in when the LP comes out after lulling me into a false sense of security. Generally though I'm very pleased.

You've been making music as part of Hood for a fair few years now, so what made you decide to release a solo record?
It's just the way it came out. I didn't think it fitted into what Hood were doing but persevered as I was interested in the ideas I was coming up with. I've done solo stuff before, most notably "Downpour" which was an experimental drum n bass thing. I put a couple of 12"s and a 7" single out in the mid-90's and thought that Bracken might have ended up just being an extension of Downpour, but the music kept developing into something unexpected. My original plan was to create Bracken as a vehicle for the experimental grime/dubstep tracks I've been making but I guess I'll have to release those another time.

Did you find it harder writing / recording on your own?

Um, sometimes harder, sometimes easier. Once things started to come together I decided to hide away and finish it without really involving anyone else. I decided to make snap decisions and not go back on them even if I was worried they were wrong. Obviously if you're working as a band you have to take other people's opinions into account and the process can be slow but I just wanted to be bloody minded about it and go with instinct. It can be a bit lonely hanging about in the cellar banging drums and hacking samples into pieces but I guess its pretty rewarding.

We Know About has a strong hip hop aesthetic feel, I can hear Prefuse 73 in there. What were your influences when making the record?

I'm quite surprised by that comparision. I think the only thing that links my stuff with his is that I cut up samples quite a bit - but I didn't really have hip hop in mind when I was doing it. I was just a bit frustrated with my own playing and production so got thinking about how to sample, re-order and create patterns out of stuff I'd played live - basically just for kicks really.

I'm heavily influenced by Krautrock and pretty much anything to do with tape manipulation so got thinking about what, for example, Faust would be doing if they were my age and had grown up with computers. Like, the stuff which impresses me most are things where there's melody and memorable music but you can't quite figure out how it's done or what is going on and that's what I was hoping to achieve.

Any plans to tour the record at all?

Things are slowly falling into place. I'm in the awkward position of scratching my head and wondering how the hell I'm going to represent what I do live. It's not like I can do it with a standard 4-piece band and I'm sure as hell am not going to stand on stage peering into a laptop screen. There's certainly going to be touring but I definitely consider this a studio project.

Going back to Hood, how are things going with the band at the moment?

Things are good. I've been involved in Hood for so long that I can barely remember a time when I wasn't in the band (we started it ridiculously young!) so it's nice to get involved in something else. I see Hood as a long-term thing, almost like a lifelong project, it evolves and changes all the time and, in fact, if it doesn't then that sort of defeats the point of the band. We're in no rush to put a new LP out if it doesn't add something significant to the overall aesthetic/history of the group.

Are there any names / records you think we should be checking out in 2007?

I've made the mistake of changing my listening habits quite a bit over the past year or so and, of course, now it all ends up getting pumped into my ears down that internet pipe. I barely even know what I'm listening to most of the time. So, um, there's a lot of good stuff about but I can't name any names!

Thanks for your time and good luck with the record

Thanks very much!