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The trio Cobblestone becomes the quartet on the group's follow-up to the seminal slice of 21st Century electronica they created on 2007's 23 Seconds. Already performing under the guise of the Modern Deep Left Quartet (MDLQ) with fourth member Colin de la Plante (aka the Mole) for some time, the group makes the wise decision to make him a full time member and devote their new album to evoking that change.

There are still all of the elements of the improvisational jazz that makes the Cobblestone's so interesting on The Modern Deep Left Quartet but with more - like when John Coltrane added Pharaoh Sanders and Eric Dolphy to his classic quartet. It wasn't the excessive mess that everyone expected, but rather a glimpse into the genre's possibilities. That's what the Mole's addition to the mix has added in the case of Cobblestone Jazz. We had a couple of minutes to chat with the Mole and see how he feels about the situation and the new album.

What important things have you learned between the making of 23 Seconds and your new album?
I recently read a story about a man who had an object that contained everything in the universe. A point at which all points converge. Well really it was partially a story about loss. Loss of a love that, I like to think, was never achieved. But that's not what I want to bring up. It is this object. He calls it the Aleph. Borges. He's the writer of this story. He's amazing. Such beautiful stories. So this Aleph, it contains the whole universe, or at least one can see the universe in it. Imagine. The whole world. From every point of view. Without overlapping or being transparent. Of course even beginning to describe or imagine such a thing is a massive undertaking. Something so vast and, well, inconceivable. Huge and yet tiny. It was only a few centimeters long. Bubbling with light from the movement of so many millions of things. Almost unbearably bright he calls it.

Try to imagine what having an object like that in your house would be like. Something so fantastic. Unreal. How do you deal with the normal world, with time and space, when you've seen and experienced it all in an instance? The man, the owner of the house where this thing (I call it a thing now because more and more it becomes something horrible to me) the house where this thing lived, he seemed to gain less respect for the world. Treated it with contempt. Felt superior.

This is what he learned. And I feel like this is the incorrect reaction to such a thing. There is a much more wonderful lesson in it. And a much more difficult one. A respect. For the world. For time.  I would like to think that is something we've learned in this in between time...but perhaps that is just an illusion.

You recently introduced the Mole (Colin de la Plante) to your permanent line-up after years of working together? What does his addition bring to the Cobblestone mix?
Not really fair for me to answer this one since I'm the Mole. We all have to take turns answering these interviews and well.....this is my turn. But what I can say is it sure feels natural. We've been playing together in various forms for years. So I guess I could say it makes Cobblestone more moley. As formless a thing as that is to be or say. We've been playing together in various forms for years. So I guess I could say it makes Cobblestone more moley...

Tell us a little bit about "Light Spike", this track is a little different than your previous work. How did it come about and what influenced its creation?
This is another classic freak out moment from the studio. I think everyone who works in a studio for any length of time needs breaks. Kind of like when they serve you a small sorbet in the middle of a meal to clean your pallet. We do this often because it helps us relax and be more focused. "Babyfoot" is a good example of this sort of thing. So is "Midnight Sun". There will be a lot more of these moments coming out I think. We've got quite a deep vault of crazy time in our bag of tricks. Perhaps the next album.

What are your plans for touring in support of the album and what are some of your favorite places to play?
There's a bunch of favourites coming up in the next couple of months. The Rex in Paris. Fabric. Cityfox in Zurich. Panorama Bar. Trouw in Amsterdam. We just did Robert Johnson with the MDLQ. We've got another MDLQ Canada day party in Tokyo. So many good places run by really nice people. Maybe the best thing about touring in Europe, all the nice people running quality events. Caring more about sound and creating a good environment than profits. Giving people a quality experience for their money. Really a pleasure to see people be successful at something they're good at. That they obviously care about.

How do you all balance between your busy solo careers, a label, and doing Cobblestone Jazz?
Either our wives keep it together for us....or being single... we each have our own trip. Too be honest I'm still looking for that balance. Maybe because Cobblestone is more of a pleasurable experience. Something that we've been doing for years for our own pleasure. Maybe that's the answer to how we do it. When we get together we do music. Have for years. Some people like to gamble. Some like to fish. We make beats and talk about and listen to music. That's our off time. When the work is over and we can relax. Cobblestone time.

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