bdrmm tell us how Bjork, Tim Hecker, Nine Inch Nails & more influenced their great new album ‘Microtonic’

The finest band from Hull, England since The Housemartins, bdrmm, got their start in the early pandemic days of 2020 as died-in-wool shoegazers, taking cues from the ’90s OGs, nailing the sound but not forgetting to write great songs while doing so. Since then, the genre has absolutely blown up thanks to TikTok, but bdrmm have all but left shoegaze in the dust.  They signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action for their 2023 sophomore album, I Don’t Know, which saw them dive headfirst into electronics and find their own sound in the process. Microtonic takes that even further. Is post-shoegaze a genre already? If not, this is it. Read our full review of the album here and listen below.

For more on Microtonic, we asked bdrmm to tell us about some of the influences behind it, which include Nine Inch Nails, Stars of the Lid, Bjork, Radiohead and Atoms for Peace, Space Afrika, Tim Hecker and more. Read that, complete with commentary from each from the bandmates and siblings Ryan and Jordan Smith, below.

Microtonic by bdrmm

BDRMM – 10 INFLUENCES BEHIND ‘MICROTONIC’

Space Afrika – Honest Labour
Ryan: Fuck, I don’t even know where to start with these. Ever since I heard Honest Labour, I have been obsessed. I love the textures that they create and the world that they bring to this record. Every bit of treatment to the sounds feels like it has been crafted so masterfully. They were a true inspiration in creating a whole atmosphere to a record rather than just a track. The dark and brooding nature of it. It’s perfect. (If you’re reading this chaps and fancy a collab. We’re waiting!)

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Radiohead – The King of Limbs (Live from the Basement)
Jordan: The King of Limbs is the ugly duckling when it comes to Radiohead’s post-2000 discography, and I’m unsure why. I find myself returning to it repeatedly, like a puzzle that can’t be solved. The jankiness of the melodies and rhythms, especially on record, adds to the charm of it all but left me questioning how they would replicate it live?

The direction bdrmm has been going in the past few years required a holistic incorporation of electronics rather than a complete replacement of traditional instrumentation, which left us scratching our heads how to get it to work until we watched this. With From the Basement, we could visualise how each member of the band responded to the album arrangement in a live setting, and how this could be used within our own live performance.

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Clark – Sus Dog
Ryan: I was quite late on getting into Clark, but when I saw this record being released, I delved into it headfirst. There was a particular song that stood out, the title track. I was hit straight away by something I have not heard from a track before. So much so that his name is firmly credited within the names of one of the tracks on the record. I love the abstract piano playing through out. The saturation that swallows the kick. Finally, its crescendo with the most beautiful passage from “Anika” (another huge inspiration). Yeah, the best track I have heard in a long time. Huge Bjork energy.

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Bjork – “Hunter”
Jordan: During the recording sessions for I Don’t Know I let it slip that I hadn’t listened to much Bjork before, much to the chagrin of Ryan and Alex. Since, I’ve become obsessed with everything that she’s touched, but this tune deserved a special mention. The juxtaposition of soft strings and abrasive electronic beats gives the tune an otherworldly air, and her voice sounds so menacing, yet trepidatious. After researching the recording of Homogenic I found out that Mark Bell recorded the 909 drum pattern in something like 15 minutes. Fucking unreal. Proof that intricacy and simplicity go hand in hand.

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Andy Stott – Faith in Strangers
Ryan: This is another example of my deep infatuation with texture within records. I love the ambiguity that surrounds the soundscapes before the beat comes in. With every bar you are greeted with another exceptional piece of instrumentation. It never seems to lose focus of the track it is meant to be. There is a whole dark aura that surrounds the album. All the cover artwork that he chooses are perfectly matched also. There is something in the water in Manchester.

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Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
Jordan: When I was at university, I did my dissertation about ambient music and experimental recording techniques, which gave me the chance to listen to ambient records on a more analytical level. Ravedeath stands out as one of my favourites from this period of my life and is a constant touchstone when we go to record. This album is basically a blueprint on how synths, field recordings or loops can be brought to life through textural and gestural processing. Similarly, the arrangements on Ravedeath really set it apart from anything else in the genre and made me consider how different suites and movements within a tune can work to conjure deep emotional connection, even when used in traditional songwriting arrangement.

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Atoms for Peace – AMOK
Ryan: Just fucking great innit. Groovy as fuck. I go back to this album so often. I recall listening to this a lot when I was writing “Lake Disappointment.” It was the first track I have written by starting with a bass line, and the amount of killer bass riffs on this record are vast, so I am sure I owe Flea a fiver or something.

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Stars of the Lid – And Their Refinement of the Decline
Jordan: Stars of the Lid are always my go-to when I get home from a night out absolutely mashed and want to drift into grand drug-assisted oblivion. In a world where everything is so fast paced and information is readily available, it’s very calming to hear a band so content with the glacial pace of ambient. Each song feels like the last breaths of a dying star, and I hope to one day capture a fragment of the magic that Stars of the Lid have managed to make in their music.

(I also went to see A Winged Victory for the Sullen, another project from Adam Wiltzie, and was so overwhelmed with musical joy that I’m surprised I didn’t die from a serotonin overdose then and there.)

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Actress – AZD
Ryan: I think I can say hands down that ACTRESS has become my favourite artists for the past couple of years now. Not since Aphex Twin have I heard someone create such unique soundscapes. (Either that or he is a massive fucking blag, which is also a plus). I was first captivated by this record. It was my first true introduction, so I could have really chosen any record, but this was the starting point. In some way shape or form, this guy will have influenced a track on the album, and probably many more going forward.

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Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile
Jordan: Trent Reznor really came to my attention after hearing his scores for David Fincher films. I knew Nine Inch Nails but preferred their score work until I listened to The Fragile, effectively starting my love affair with everything they’ve ever done. Labyrinthian and multi-textured, there’s enough on this record to unpack for a lifetime, and Trent Reznor’s pick-n-mix attitude toward genre and instrumentation is something that I always turn to during the recording process.

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bdrmm will be on tour across the UK and Europe in March. All dates are below.

bdrmm – 2025 tour dates
March 6 Wylam Brewery, Newcastle UK
March 7 The Welly, Hull UK
March 8 Project House, Leeds UK
March 9 Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow UK
March 11 Gorilla, Manchester UK
March 12 Rescue Rooms, Nottingham UK
March 13 The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham UK
March 15 Hove Old Market, Brighton UK
March 16 Papillon, Southampton UK
March 18 The Fleece, Bristol UK
March 19 Electric Ballroom, London UK
March 22 Club Volta, Cologne GE
March 23 Säälchen, Berlin GE
March 25 Bogen F, Zurich SWI
March 26 Santeria Toscana 31, Milan IT
March 27 TPO, Bologna IT
March 29 Trabeno, Paris FR
March 30 Botanique – Orangerie, Brussels BE
March 31 Melkweg OZ, Amsterdam NL