While his style of laid-back jazzy electronica means he’s been lumped into the “chillwave” category, the whole Portishead craze a few years ago, and [shudder] lounge music, he’s peeved that his sound is sometimes graded just a notch above elevator muzak. His tunes are not background noise meant to entertain yuppie martini drinkers or fill a boring ride up a skyscraper. The complexity of his music, syncing of beats, exacting use of samples, and of course, thick bass, caught the attention of Thru Thoughts 11 years ago. He’s then gone on to the label Ninja Tune, whose alums include Jaga Jazzist and Spank Rock.

On Black Sands, Green collaborated with singer Andreya Triana. Her sultry vocals accent the variety of musical styles Green draws from on his 12-track disc: hip-hop, electronica, blip, jazz, and latin. [PS if you haven’t checked out the music video for “Eyesdown,” do it now, it’s gorgeous]. Not one to rest, Bonobo recently jumped the pond from England to the states, where he’s doing a three-month long tour that will take him from the US to Canada, continental Europe, and back to the UK. IYS caught up with Simon via phone while he traveled between shows.

IYS: You’ve already started your US tour, how’s that going?

SG: We started Thursday in Chicago, we’re on the bus now. We did two shows in New York and in Manhattan, now we’re heading to Boston. It’s been great, we haven’t played in a band since July; new record, new band. It’s taken a couple of shows to get up to scratch – to get comfortable, settle in. The music started sounding like it’s supposed to in New York. We started to sound good. It’s all working out now.

IYS: When was the last time you were in the states? How’d you enjoy it?

SG: I’ve come out here DJing. The thing with us is we didn’t realize there was a following out here until I started to come out doing DJ shows and started building the DJ circuit. Finally last year we did the whole live show, last summer, and it went really well. Now we’re running.

IYS: Why the name Bonobo?

SG: I was going to try to find a name from Richard Kipling -- I didn’t have a name for myself. I was just reading about Bonobos literally that day: Great Apes [by Will Self]– a fiction novel. And then ten years later it’s stuck.

IYS: Under which genre would you categorize your music?

SG: I don’t know. I don’t think anybody likes having their music pinned down to a genre –but people need to know genres. I didn’t want to be associated with “chill out” lounge music. There’s everything [in my music] from psychedelic jazz to hip-hop; it’s really broad. I wouldn’t want to put it in a box with a name on it; I like to think it’s broader than that. It’s for people to decide.

IYS: What pushed you towards making this kind of music?

SG: It’s a reflection of the music I liked when I was younger. I was more into all kinds of indie rock and hip-hop and through that I discovered soul and jazz; through listening to hip-hop, early ‘90s stuff like A Tribe Called Quest. Early ‘90s hip-hop got me into soul and jazz and everything else. At the same time reflection, and discovering songs is something that really inspired me, discovering samplers and [learning to] make your own music without a band.

IYS: What inspires your music?

SG: Everything. Musically, everything I’m listening to. My music is a documentary of where my heads is at the time; it’s always evolving. The influence changes so it can be anything. It’s all recontextualizing what’s going on at the time. It’s hard to say; I just sit down and see what comes out.

IYS: Black Sands has been receiving great reviews – did you expect that, or do you have no idea how crowds are going to react to your work?

SG: Usually I have no idea because I’m so close to the record. I worked on it so long I couldn’t hear it anymore, I didn’t have enough perspective. Everyone gets to listen to the record the first time, I never get to do that because I’m so close to it. I knew it had some good moments on it – but before [it’s released] you get nervous about how well it’s going to go down. I was surprised it’s gone down so well. I’m never like “This is a great record.” I’m always critical of myself.

IYS: What do you think sets Black Sands apart from your previous albums?

SG: I think it’s the most contemporary sounding record I’ve done in terms of it sounding more progressive. There’s more energy, more darkness. I’ve pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I was trying things I wasn’t trying before. I didn’t want to repeat myself from anything I’ve done before. I was listening to a lot of new music, trying to do something so it didn’t sound like other albums.

IYS: What’s your favorite track from Black Sands?

SG: “Kiara,” the first one, because I had an idea of what I wanted to do and sometimes it doesn’t work out and sometimes it does. And with Kiara, that was the tune I wanted to make. It came together really quickly.

IYS: How do you create your music, is it just you at a laptop, or do you bring in other musicians?

SG: I play all the instruments myself. I have a studio in my home in London, so I play all the instruments on the record. I was a musician before [being a DJ/producer]. I can write stuff on the piano and I record it, get on the computer and start chopping things up.

IYS: Is it a solitary process or do you bring other people into it?

SG: I have one or two people whose opinion I trust, close friends I’m always playing stuff to. There’s something about having a couple of real close people -- it works both ways, they can say “you shouldn’t be doing that” or “I’m not sure what to think of it.” It’s important to keep testing things out.

IYS: You’re touring with a live band now, are there any difficulties in translating DJ music to a live set?

SG: No, not really. I have an idea, when I make a tune, and I know how it’s going to be done live. I play the bass, I teach the keys part to keys player. I deconstruct the track to see what works, see what doesn’t work. It’s never difficult, I know how we can make things work. They’re great musicians, I teach them the part once and see how it all works, and it comes together.

IYS: Your music has appeared in many TV shows - has the exposure brought you more fans?

SG: Yeah honesty I never know. You can never tell if it relates to the exposure. I’m not sure; I guess its just more the whole file-sharing thing is where people know the music from. Maybe.

IYS: Some artists are wary of having their music in shows or commercials, did you have any hesitations?

SG: I’ve done commercials people don’t have an idea [about]. It’s the same people saying you’ve sold out, you’re commercial – they’re the ones downloading in the first place. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t have to put my music in commercials. You can’t rely on record sales.

IYS: Is there one particular show you want your music to appear in?

SG: No, not particularly. Just film would be good.
IYS: What do you want listeners to take away from your music?

SG: Whatever they want, as long as you’re keeping engaged emotionally. It relates to me so I hope it relates to other people as well.

IYS: What are your favorite bands?