EarlyGame's Artist of the Day: Unify Separate

Unify Separate is a Scottish-Swedish electronic duo. So we asked them about video games.

Unite separate artist of the day
Unite Separate are a pretty interesting little electronic duo. | © Daniela Vorndran / www.black-cat-net.de

Unite Separate are a Scottish-Swedish electronic duo based in Stockholm, Sweden. It's the intriguing result of a collaboration between Andrew Montgomery (vocals), ex-singer of Scottish band Geneva, and Leo Josefsson (machines), the front-man of Swedish band Lowe.

The pair started writing together in 2015, a few months after Montgomery had relocated to Sweden. With a unique voice that’s equal parts choirboy and soul boy, Montgomery made waves in the Britpop era with Geneva, scoring four emotive Top 40 singles and two critically-feted albums (‘Further' and 'Weather Underground’) on Nude Records between 1996 and 2000, touring with label mates Suede along the way.

In 2014, after a long silence, he released his debut solo album ’Ruled by Dreams’, produced by Sean McGhee (Robyn, Alison Moyet, Imogen Heap). The album attracted rave reviews in Q (4 stars) and Uncut (7/10). Josefsson is a luminary of the Stockholm synth scene with the bands Lowe and Statemachine, whose work has been recognized with several Scandinavian Alternative Music Awards, including Best Newcomer, Best Live Act, Best Song and Best Album.

He's also a respected video director who’s worked with the likes of Kent, Miriam Bryant, Tilly & Elephant, Eric Saade, The Mobile Homes and Smith & Thell, and has technical direction credits for Rihanna and Robyn. He has a growing collection of analogue synthesizers that are taking over his studio by stealth.

Unify Separate play widescreen, beautiful, electronic music that is the dystopian film soundtrack to the end of an affair or a broken dream, combining Leo's epic wall of synths with Andrew’s distinctive three-octave vocals. ’Till the Dying of the Light’ is proof that machines can dream, and it’s all done with oceans of emotion.

Of course, we decided to ask them a few questions about music and video games. Here's what she had to say...

What is your favorite video game soundtrack?

Manic Miner or Frogger

Who's your favorite video game music composer?

Disasterpeace

What’s your favorite video game?

FIFA

What game inspired you to do music?

The fame game

What video game are you currently playing?

I prefer to watch ;-) (FIFA, mostly)

Would you ever like to write music for video games? What would it be like?

Yes! It would be dark, deep, dreamy and exciting!

How important is music for video games / video games for music?

It's intrinsic to the enjoyment of the game.