No Looking Back: 4AD’s President, Ed Horrox on Walker's energy and influence

Ed Horrox interviewed by Stephen Kijak, March 2026

Stephen Kijak: What was your role at 4AD. at the start of the label’s adventure with Scott?

Ed Horrox: I was running the A&R. Chris (Sharp) and I were a team running the label from 2000 to 2008.

SK: How did Scott come onto the radar? How did it all start?

EH: I remember that Martin Mills (founder of the Beggars Group) may have mentioned to Chris and I that Charles [Scott’s Manager] had let him know that Scott had been getting towards making a new record and that he was interested to talk to labels. And I don’t know if Chris and I even needed to take the meeting because I think we looked at each other and it probably was about 10 seconds where we were like, “Well, we’ve got to do that. We’ve got to be involved with a Scott record.” 

SK: What did that mean to you to even have Scott in the 4AD. family?

EH: That was at a time when we were releasing records by artists like Beirut or Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), who were making records on their laptops with one microphone. And of course, it was a thrill to be able to be involved with that sort of revolution. But at the same time, it was an incredible honour to be working with someone who was still very committed to the pursuit of excellence in studio recording, and having a partner like (producer) Pete Walsh and having a crew of musicians who were excellent and wanting to pour whatever resources he had into that process, which is a process that goes back through the decades to when he first started... Scott was obviously very keen for his records to have that level of excellence.

SK: But you also have Kim Deal on the label and she’s another very analogue person, right?

EH: That is true. Absolutely. And she was a huge fan of the work Scott was doing. I remember being in the basement of her house listening to some of her new work, and I played her some of The Drift, and it was one of the only times when I remember seeing her just absolutely floored by something that... I think she called it magnificent or majestic. And of course, as you say, she was very keen on excellent standards in recording. And Steve, bless him, who’s no longer with us, (producer) Steve Albini was her right-hand man. So like Scott had Pete, Kim had Steve. It’s great when that happens, those partnerships.

SK: And the partnership with a supportive and nurturing label...

EH: It’s flattering and it’s lovely to hear him and those close to him say that he appreciated us. But for us, it just felt second nature because we were in awe of him and the work that he produced. And then to hear the work – it was like nothing we’d had the privilege of being involved with up until that point. The way you felt when you first heard those records (The Drift and Bish Bosch), it was almost like confusion; the things that usually orient you, your anchors of melody, of rhythm, of harmony, those things were not there. So, you were a little bit disorientated in a wonderful, exhilarating way.

There was no looking back for Scott. It was all about the future, and the challenge was to do something that hadn’t been done. And I remember being in the studio when he’d invited us to come and listen to The Drift, and he generously sort of gave us one or two intros to a couple of songs, and for the first song on the record, Cossacks Are, he said something like, “Ed, I’ve been listening to a lot of hip hop and particularly with close attention to the drum breaks, and I really believe I’ve come up with something for this track that I haven’t heard before.” He was saying, “ I’ve worked really hard on this drum beat. I don’t think I’ve heard it before. Hip hop has inspired me. I’m proud of it. I did what I could to be fresh, to be new, and that was like, wow, man.” And then we were off! We were off listening to that record for the first time.

SK: Just galloping away with the charging Cossacks!

EH: Yeah! 

SK: Were you also at the string session? I know Chris Sharp observed the recording of the strings for The Drift. 

EH: I remember being at the Bish Bosch string session. One of the first things I remember, the musicians were taking a break at the time I arrived, so I walked into the library at Air Studios and I saw eight double basses leaned up on the side, and I was like, “Okay, I don’t think I’ve seen eight double basses in an orchestra before! I don’t think that’s normal.”

SK: He likes his bass. He was a bass player.

EH: Yes. That’s true! So straight away, this is an unconventional setup. So that was interesting, just to see the way they all worked and the professionalism and the communication between the various personnel, to the creative guidance that Scott was giving. He seemed to always be looking for something different, looking to get people out of their comfort zone, looking for people to not be in tune, or for people to be slightly sharp or slightly flat, to try to get people to play in ways that they’re just not accustomed to playing, which he did and got what he wanted!

SK: What do you remember most fondly about the impact these records had on the world?

EH: The biggest thrill for me was working with a new generation of artists who were absolutely inspired by Scott. They could see someone in an artistic “late period” doing work as good as they’d ever done, and doing stuff that felt fresh and like nothing else. So, to hear artists in their 20s saying that they listened to Scott’s music - Paul, the bass player from Beirut, he would say, “Oh yeah, I put The Drift on before I go to bed.” Crazy. I mean, he’s a lovely man, but that sounds slightly crazy, but bless him!

SK: It’s not just that the label is happy to have this eminent figure, it’s the young artists you’re signing who are excited to be in his company.

EH: Absolutely. That for me has always been the highlight of our time with Scott, the way that the musician community was inspired by him. 

SK: Did you think you would get another record, let alone two records, an EP, a film score...?

EH: I think so, because it was so clear how serious he was about his work and how much the place he wanted to be was in the studio. He wanted to be making music. That was the best situation for Scott, to be in the studio with Pete and his musicians executing the things that he’d been planning and building and drafting and working towards.

One thing I did do before you came over today was I look back at some emails that he’d sent me and I think the last one was, it might have been that January and he said something like, “I’ve got something that’s nearly ready to go. I’m looking forward to talking to you about it.”