Growing up, Chris Davids and Liam Ivory — the duo behind Maribou State — discovered their passion of music while attending a university in Leeds. Along the way, the lads also found a love for "good ole’ English pubs," and released EPs and remixes (for Kelis, Lana del Ray and more) to international acclaim. On their debut, Portraits, the two present a full-length trove of glitchy, atmospheric gems, replete with pop hooks and earwormy break beats. Ivory chats with Myspace about staying close to home and what their album is really all about.

Hometown: We both grew up in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

Current residence: We still live in the same place. No place like home!

How did you two meet?

We both went to the same school, played in bands together, had mutual friends.

Did you both grow up in a musical household?

Neither of us is from a particularly musical background. We’re both self-taught guitarists, which was our introduction to playing and writing music. Over the years we’ve found our way around piano and drums but never really mastered any particular instrument.

Describe the moment when you realized you wanted to make music for a living.  

It’s been very gradual. Starting out from an early age we expectedly carried a young naïve approach; that we of course would have long careers in the industry. As we got older we began to realise the difficulties of making music for a living. We didn’t just quit our jobs one day and say lets do it. After Uni we kept up part-time work simultaneously to support the music, gradually dropping down to full-time producers.

Why are you called Maribou State?

We needed a name and liked the sound of those words. It doesn’t mean anything.

Do you have any pre-performance rituals?

Not especially. Each show, DJ or live, is always different. The only recurring event at our gigs is that we’re partial to a beverage of some sort, usually alcoholic.

What themes were you working on for the creation of Portraits? And why the name?

We were listening to all sorts, as we normally do. There wasn’t any few particular releases that we revisited. We tried to avoid themes for the LP, as we didn’t want to be restricted in the writing process. It was simply a case of writing a load of new music and seeing how we could fit it all together. "Portrait" is was the name of one of the songs that didn’t make the final cut. We loved the name and didn’t want to throw it away. As an after thought we realised that being our first LP, this album was in ways a portrait of inspirations, our memories and experiences up until that point in time.

What's your songwriting process like? Who does the programming, who does the lyrics, the beats?

It’s all completely varied based on the song in question. The general vibe is that ideas/loops are created separately then brought into the studio to develop. Sometimes one of us is playing an instrument and the other is programming, other times its reversed.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

A couple of names recently on our radar: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Billy Big Bollocks, Robert the Chair.

How does being British inform your music?

I guess its just being exposed to so many amazing new artists, before they reach other parts of the world. We’re also super lucky to have the opportunity and support to pursue a career in music, something which can also come from living in Britain.

What gear can you not live without?

I’m sure we could live without it, but we’re very fond of our Dave Smith Prophet 08. It gets used on almost every song we write.