Aqosto (Moscow, Russia)
Posted by tipkin
To rephrase (quite drastically) George Orwell: all people are unique, but some people are more unique than others. They don't necessarily stand out from the crowd, in fact most of them are pretty modest and don't like to advertise their uniqueness. This is why I value their acquaintance greatly - they help me look at the world in a different light, through the prism of their talent. Today trippin' the rift is talking to one of those people.
tipkin - Tell us about your project Aqosto and its unique name.
Aqosto - You know, some people ask me how I managed to come up with such original and resonant name. They picture me sitting in an armchair and thinking, what kind of moniker should I pick for myself. No, it doesn't happen like that with me. I noticed that when I'm trying to come up with some title, not a damn thing comes to mind. And with time I cam to realize that the real titles have to find themselves. And that's what happened with Aqosto. One summer I was vacationing at my friend's place, we were sitting around, chatting, listening to music, basically just having a good time. Suddenly my glance fell on the big calendar that was hanging on the front door. It had dates and the name of the current month in different languages. Since it was end of the summer, I noticed the word Agosto, which means "August" in Italian. I changed the second letter, so it would sound somewhat softer and would look prettier in writing and that's how the name for my project was born.
t. - What is music to you - expressing your own thoughts and feelings or trying to evoke those in other people through art?
A. - Expressing my own thoughts and feelings, of course, mainly. But at the same time trying to bring my impressions, emotions, feelings to the listeners through the music. I wish that at least a dozen people find reflections of their soul in my music.
t. - I know that you're very interested in metaphysics and even preach your own philosophy of life. I must say that your views of live are full of optimism while your music belongs to much darker side of the spectrum. How do you explain that?
A. - Well, you're exaggerating a bit with metaphysics and philosophy. It's just every person forms a certain attitude towards life and certain way of thinking, and a lot depends on it. But yes, if analyzed, my views of life are in fact more optimistic than my music (laughs), it's just happens that way for some reason. By the way, some people after listening to my music say that this guy must be a very depressed person. But it's not the case at all. I don't think there are terms in music like grim, depressing, cheerful etc. When creating music, a person is immersed in this particular state that is impossible to compare with anything, it is euphoria and darkness and sadness at the same time. I was interested in creating something slow, dark, for listening in solitude. So the listener would understand something or at least felt something.
t. - So you don't see your music playing in front of the audience? Or live concert is a different story?
A. - I think a live concert is a very different story. It's something unimaginable and you have to present that properly. Generally, I see my music playing in front of the audience, but I feel like my muse isn't ready for that yet, she's very shy and distrustful, you know (laughs). Naturally, to play my music for a pleasant audience is on my wish list.
t. - My favorite tracks of yours have female names – Alison and Melissa. I wonder if those ladies exist in real life and if they know that they have music numbers created after them?
A. - Those are my favorites, too (laughs). No, everything is more abstract with me in that sense, my music in general is one big mysterious abstraction. It would have been too simple if I fell in love with some wonderful girl and dedicated a song to her. Alison, Melissa – they are collective female images, they can be put together from imaginary details as well as real. They are two main heroines of my album that exist in the form of a sound track. Non-material dolls that came to life through my melodies. There are parts of Alison and Melissa in every one of us.
t. - If you would compare your music to a different kind of art, would your tracks be more like paintings or works of literature?
A. - I think my music is more like painting. Literature is more sensible and informative, I guess you could create an abstraction with words as well, but it won't be the same, too specific. Painting is different story. You look at the painting, trying to find the meaning that the author was trying to convey, but then you get lost in your own thoughts, filling the painting with your own meaning. As a result, you see and think whatever you want. I was in Musée d'Orsay in Paris and there I couldn't tear myself away from the impressionist paintings. Every new look at the panting - a new idea, thought, try to guess what the author wanted to convey. This is a great field of creative planes. Our thoughts are so free and vast that one can easily get lost. But maybe there's no meaning in the very search for the meaning? Same thing with my music.
t. - Tell us about your last album – Hibernation. Why did you find the idea of seasonal dormancy so attractive? What was the reaction to the release?
A. - I came up with the concept for this album a long time ago. I wanted to create something mysterious, homogenous, wholesome. So the first track of the album would be the entrance door and the last - the exit door, and everything in-between depends only on the listener. Hibernation – album-dormancy. It's a background for listener's thoughts that I carefully painted. In this album I tried to express feelings and emotions from walking through a big supermarket at night, when there's no one around, from walking in the rain in the evening, etc. Hibernation is the music of emptiness. Empty cafes at night, empty airports, supermarkets. It's this strange feeling inside, when there's you and this place surrounding you, and from non one being around this certain state of lethargy is born. State of unreal. I think I hit the bull's-eye in the sense that if someone would ride an empty bus at night listening to my album, he'll understand what I'm talking about. About reaction. I don't know, it's Russia. There are some good comments, seven hundred downloads on the [torrent] tracker and whole bunch of links in search engine. Some berate, some praise, everything as usual.
Tensei (Chicago, USA)
Posted by tipkin
It's raining Chicago trip-hop projects! Just a little while ago I was a lonely trip-hop soul in Windy City, and then all of a sudden Scarlet Monk appeared with her album, I was finally able to make contact with Atomica Project (them and Scarlet Monk are playing a show in January and I'm definitely going to be there!), and now another Chi-Town duo emerged on the trippin' the rift horizon. Please welcome Tensei, presenting yet another fresh and exciting dimension in what turns out to be a rich world of Chicago electronic music scene.
tipkin - Who are Tensei? How and when did it all start?
Tensei - Meaning ‘heaven star’ in Japanese, Tensei consists of producers Simple X and Midas Wells, kindred spirits of sorts, one might say. Midas from the Chicago suburbs and Simple X from the Chicago south side, the two first met circa 1998 at the dorms of Southern Illinois University during a cypher. Soon, the two were banging out tunes on whatever their limited student resources could afford. However, Tensei’s journey has certainly been anything but linear: post-graduation saw a “regular” job for X and a momentary complete departure from music for Midas.
Then came the serendipitous run in at a mutual friend’s gig a few years ago and Tensei was born. Both committed to their crafts, Tensei does not heavily rely on samples and in fact play many musical parts themselves. Any gaps that need to be filled are done by session musicians and vocalists. An incredible amalgam of soul, house, jazz, electronic, and eastern sounds comes alive.
t. - While Chicago is known for its dance music tradition, it’s not the first (or even second) city that comes to mind when talking about downtempo electronica/trip-hop. Are you hoping to break this stereotype?
T. - While we love our upbeat music, yes we are hoping to break this stereotype by working with LA based super indie label Plug Research.
t. - What are some of your main influences/sources of inspiration?
T. - It’s really hard to list off all of them. But we both started off as golden era hip-hop heads. Digging for samples over the years we both started to get deep into other music such as jazz, soul, library, afrobeat, brazilian funk, and such. We both have extensive record collections that influence us. I would say in the modern era our influences could be seen in The Roots, DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus, Sa Ra Creative Partners, and Pete Rock.
t. - Would you consider yourselves “a trip-hop project”? What’s your take on trip-hop and its current state?
T. - Yes and No. Yes, because we do use many trip-hop-ish music influences by blending hip-hop with other genres. No, because we are not exclusively a trip-hop artist. I would say the state of trip-hop has turned into future beats, i.e. Brainfeeder Crew (LA), Hoya Hoya (UK), a lot of records Alpha Pup dropped. I would say that trip-hop has mutated into such music.
t. - Your music is a combination of samples and instrumentation. What are the most difficult (and most fun) aspects of creating your works?
T. - The most difficult part about making our music is finding vocalists who get what we are trying to do. A lot of times we end up getting vocals that are really heavy in RnB which is not what we are looking for. MC-wise it’s pretty much we want smart dope raps and none of this watered down coonery.
The funnest part is making the music, we literally jam out in our studio and tracks pop out of the blue.
t. - You’ve done a decent amount of remixing. How do you choose songs that you want to remix?
T. - A lot of remixes came about in one of two ways - a trade with an artist or a contest. If someone is paying us, we will remix anything (as long as the OG is NOT terrible), but the contests we choose based on how much exposure we think it will result in. This strategy worked pretty well for us as the Bilal - "Robots" remix leaded to us getting signed by Plug Research.
t. - Let’s talk about your upcoming LP. What’s the concept, what kind of listener do you think will appreciate the album?
T. - Our upcoming album is going to be an experience through life. There is not going to be one genre this fits into, there is a good blend of jazz, funk, soul, electro, and hip-hop in these tunes. We think the trip-hopper will dig it, people who like genuine music will dig it, and also other artists. This one is prolly going to end up as an “artists artist” type of album.
t. - Do you do any live gigs? Where can people find your music?
T. - Midas from the team DJ’s, we are prepping our new live set at the moment. We will let you know when it’s ready to go…
Please do, I like the way Tensei blends those styles into a new vibrant sound. Crazy, but tasteful. Not all of it is downtempo, but does it have to be to be liked by trippin' the rift? You know the answer!
Check out Tensei's music on Soundcloud and Bandcamp and stay tuned for the updates, cuz I'm sure am intending to keep in touch with them.
Sin Smiley (Los Angeles, USA)
Posted by tipkin
It's been a while since we FEA(U)TURE'd anyone. But don't you dare thinking that I have abandoned this category, - I still find it one the most (if not the most) important and interesting sides of this project. It's just there's not enough time for anything anymore. "Thanks" to that, while this FEA(U)TURE was in the works, the musician moved from the far Khabarovsk (Russia) to closer (to me) Los Angeles, CA. But let him talk about it (among many other things) himself.
tipkin - Traditionally, let's start with some history, - when and how did everything start, where did the name come from? Where is the project currently located?
Sin Smiley - My solo career began (I remember it as if it was yesterday) in the Summer of 2009. At that moment our beloved pop-punk band 2day, still existed, in which I was occupying the position of lead-guitarist. However, constant disagreements and schedule conflicts have done it, - the band was still alive but didn't show any activity. It was a pity, - we were getting ready for that season, worked on and already started rehearsing the new material, and then all of a sudden that was it, - no calls to each other, conversations along the lines of "Hi-Bye, how-are-you-good-how-are-you" - and nothing more. I'm sure that that moment affected all of us, I in particular first started looking into electronica and modern classical music, tried working with FL-studio... Gradually something started to appear and I decided to give "to the people" a little demo-album under the moniker Sin Smiley (Sin - my ancient internet nickname, going back to early 2000's). To be honest, those "people" were the only one to hear that "lil' demo" - it was too embarrassing to show such crude piece to the wide audience. But be that as it may, this point can be considered the beginning of Sin Smiley.
Currently I live in Los Angeles, CA.
t. - My understanding is that (before moving to the US) you used to be the only representation of the trip-hop movement in the region. Where did you find support/listeners/critics for your music?
S.S. - I Khabarovsk region (just like in Russia in general) trip-hop and modern classical aren't very popular, but if you manage to find listeners, they will continue to listen to it almost throughout their entire lives, no other style of music is capable of giving such feelings as those and their other derivatives, it's like something very close to your soul... Later I was able to get hooked on those (it sounds like a drug dealer's monologue) the beatmaker 9Crime, whom we are friends with since college, and with him we released our first more or less listenable-sounding disc Fyrsta ("first" - Icelandic).
t. - What are your main sources of inspiration? Are there any particular musicians/bands that influenced your style?
S.S. - Our snowy winter, gloomy weather that takes up most of the time. Moments when you're not doing anything but lying and thinking about everything and nothing in particular, - I source inspiration from everything that cennot even provide it for me. I don't sit down to write music just "because I must", this how things come out that critics usually pick on. From the artists I would note the sensei Akira Yamaoka, Wax Tailor, Yiruma, Rowan Converse, Alexandre Desplat, Emancipator (cannot do without Douglas), Arms & Sleepers, Sigur Ros, God Is An Astronaut, Normand Corbeil, as well as the classics of the solo piano genre.
t. - Speaking of style - how would you define it? What is trip-hop to you?
S.S. - My trip-hop is mutating with every new track, the boundaries are getting washed out more, but it turns out to be more interesting without them, - for example when I decided to dilute main compositions on Streets Of Night with piano sketches and reprises. I would describe it as "non-Bristol", but similar sound with significant portion of classical sketches and interesting motions.
Marilyn Carino (New York, USA)
Posted by tipkin
There are some people with such interesting and rich personalities, that when you find out that they're also extremely talented and create amazing and beautiful things you're not even surprised, you just go, "yeah, that makes sense". It happened the opposite way with Marilyn Carino - first I heard her new beautiful record Little Genius and then I got to ask her a few questions for trippin' the rift. But even when I was listening to her music, I had a feeling that only a truly extraordinary person is capable of producing something that sensual and sincere. See Marilyn's answers below to see for yourself that I was right.
tipkin - To say that your life has been eventful would be not saying much. There are some crazy facts about you posted on your website. Want to share just one story with us to illustrate?
Marilyn Carino - Well, all my strange adventures are loooong stories that just sound surreal to paraphrase! Sometimes I wonder how I survived til now. I consider myself an adventurer – that’s the spirit with which I approach life and enter into every endeavor. And it seems to run in my family in a bizarre way – cousin in the CIA, uncle in the mob, grandmother running off to jet-set with royalty, nobody did anything destructive like abusive behavior or addiction, except I was REALLY into drugs for a while – and I had a great experience! I think making music is my own way to really eat life up – I’d never do sky-diving or climb a mountain, to me that’s just gratuitous risk and a bore. I’m interested in creative adventures – putting your heart and intellect to the test, having faith in your actions when you don’t have all the answers. To me life is all about embracing that risk and encouraging others with your experience. The essence of my music is about that.
t. - Where did the affection for music come from? When did it all start? Can you talk a bit about your country and jazz background?
M.C. - My mother always had music on. Always. A little transistor radio in the kitchen while she cooked, food + music, a deadly combination for an Italian! She loved everything. One of my first memories is Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack” on my mother’s radio. I sang it over and over, I was in a high chair so that’s pretty young. And my dad loved Dixieland jazz, Kid Ory especially – and Eddy Arnold who sang beautifully and also yodeled something fierce! Lots of singers, really high-level: Tony Bennett, Sinatra. He was an older dad and old fashioned to boot. But the music was always great and always on.
t. - Where did the inspiration for lyrics and music come from at the beginning and what keeps inspiring you today?
M.C. - I have been practicing Nichiren Buddhism for a long time, I chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Herbie Hancock, who also practices this Buddhism, spoke to a group of artists at our culture center in New York and what he said affected me profoundly. About artistic inspiration, he said, “When I want inspiration I need to remember that music is what I do – being a human being is what I am. Everything originates from who we are as human beings.” Everything is inspiring if you are able to be sensitive to what the world is telling you and if you have the wisdom and courage to interpret your own feelings about it. So I am always trying to cultivate that insight. I am really proud of my lyrics, and to me each of my songs is a perfect expression, a perfect little question. If I can’t get to that when I’m writing, I have to ask myself what do I need to change or cultivate in myself in order to get to that level of openness and honesty? It’s a process that excites me more than anything. And as long as I’m alive I’ll never be out of ideas and I also know that I will always keep getting better as an artist.
pomegranate (Glasgow, UK)
Posted by tipkin
There are many (perhaps too many) great artists and bands that are always kind of under the radar, that are an inalienable part of The Rift but whose names rarely come up when talking about trip-hop's brightest stars. Not sure why that's happening. Maybe they aren't too shrewd in matters of promotion and distribution of their music, or maybe you (yes, you there, reading this blog) are too lazy too go and look up who actually is playing this tune that you're hearing and liking. This is the story of pomegranate - the quiet explosion of sound from Glasgow, who invented their ambient awesomeness back in 1999 and keep reinventing it throughout 3 albums and the new series of 6 EPs. And really I shouldn't be writing a FEA(U)TURE about them - you can hardly call pomegranate 'a new name in electronica', their past is rich and fruitful enough to earn them a place on the list of trip-hop favorites, but with the new project in development their future looks even more exciting. And it's about time you actually learned their names. Vanessa Rigg is the wonderful vocalist and tortured by me with questions is the pomegranate's founder Stef McGlinchey.
tipkin - I guess let's start with the history. It seems like quite a journey - from futuristic theatre to ambient electronica band. What are some of the highlights of pomegranate's biography from the very beginning to the present day?
Stef - It is an interesting question, especially since my current pomegranate project is the Outersonic series of 6 EPs (or mini-albums), the starting point of which were early project tapes and mixes which I perceived to be unfinished.
I have been recording music at home for over 25 years, so I have gathered mountains of tapes, as you might imagine. In September 2008, I signed a deal with Believe Digital to release my music. This gave me the opportunity to go back to the archive and put together some collections.
During the 1990's, I had created lots of instrumental soundscapes for theatre, performance and various other art events - this was how I first met Vanessa Rigg. Anyway, I spent two years compiling the For Images series of 6 albums taken from these recordings, and they were released under my own name by Integral.
For Outersonic, I focused a lot on the 97-99 period (although not exclusively). I had no digital mastering facilities at that time, so a lot of those tapes were unique 2-track mixes. I collected about 4-5 hours of music which had pomegranate associations. (I was working solo at that time, and hadn't named the project ... in my head there was only the vague notion of making an album!). Then last summer, I sat down and began the daunting task of whittling this down to around 3 hours. At the same time, I took each piece and worked them digitally - editing, processing, filtering.
And that takes us to the start of this year, which is when I did the final remixes and mastering for Outersonic 1, which is digital-only, released on 31st Jan 2011 and subsequently Outersonic 2, released at the beginning of April.
I see Outersonic as a bridge between past and future. Obviously, I have gone back to those little time-capsules which were the roots of pomegranate, but in order to take them further, I've had to learn new techniques and software and this, I believe will form the basis of new, future work.
t. - You're from Scotland and yet your music is being released abroad and I feel like most of your fans are also from outside of UK. Isthere a reason for that? What is UK electronic music scene like now? Is it different from when you have started pomegranate?
S. - I started my own label Integral in 2000 in order to release our first album. With previous projects, I had hawked stuff round various labels and publishers. This was, invariably, a soul-destroying experience of rejection and indifference, so I had vowed never to go there again. I'm a fan of the independent 'do-it-yourself' approach and wanted to emulate that. So, I managed to license the album to various territories like Germany, Russia/CIS and Canada. I think we've carried a lot of people with us from those areas, especially from middle and eastern Europe. Listeners from those parts of the world seem to 'get' our music a bit more readily!
Having said that, we've also had a decent press in Scotland, and the few live shows we've done have been very well received, so there’s no problem there, but we have always had an Internationalist approach, and the world is just a big village now, isn’t it?
t. - A mandatory question - how do you feel about being associated with trip-hop style? What is trip-hop to you?
S. - Well, I was discussing this with a friend recently and it made me do some research. From what I can tell, the term was coined for a DJ Shadow single in the mid 90’s, and we all know it soon started to be used to describe the Bristol scene. There’s no doubt when I was making our first album that I was influenced by those bands – the first two or three Massive Attack albums, Portishead’s first two and Tricky’s Maxinquaye were all fantastic. These, for me, are the essence of ‘trip-hop’, where the ‘trip’ is dirty and dangerous and takes you to unexpected places. Speaking of which, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing album was also a big influence, although I think it’s stretching a bit to call it trip-hop, apart from "Midnight In a Perfect World". Unfortunately, as we moved into the new Millenium, the term started to become associated with stuff that was way too safe for my liking – about as dirty and dangerous as a trip to IKEA in an SUV.
So, to answer your question, I don’t mind being associated with the style if it’s in keeping with its original trippy, psychedelic vibe. Also, there has to be a freshness and a re-generation to keep any style evolving healthily. I hope that through the efforts of blogs like this, that process has already begun.
t. - If you have to choose one word to describe each Outersonic, what words would that be?
S. - Improvisational.
AM444 (Shanghai, China)
Posted by tipkin
Suck on this, all ya'll who ever questioned my taste in music. A little chronology of events: April - yours truly is digging through Bandcamp searching for something good to play on the radio (not the easiest task) and finds this project from Shanghai called AM444. Later the same month - AM444 gives trippin' the rift an interview that sits in yours truly's inbox waiting to be edited due to the author going through all kinds of mini-crises. June - your truly gets an RSS update from the UK's Guardian Music Blog, where in the post 'June's best new music from across the MAP' he finds what? Yep, AM444, which is described as "a jazzy, funked up, dubbed out Chinese language sonic assault and some of the most exciting music to come out of Shanghai in a while"(C) and their debut album Eye Wonder is referred to as "a landmark release for Chinese underground music"(C). 'A landmark release' bitches! And trippin' the rift discovered them first. I should quit my job and go work as a talent scout for EMI. Nah, I'm not gonna do that, I know you'll miss this blog. But enough about myself (really), let's talk about (and with) Jay.Soul and ChaCha (aka AM444):
tipkin - Tell us a little bit about your project. How did you meet, how long ago, what does the name mean?
ChaCha - AM444 is producer Jay.Soul and myself on vocals. We met when Jay first dj-ed at Shelter in early '08. We liked each other's music so we planned to work together back then already.
Jay - Being both busy with a lot of other projects it took a while to actually happen. Last year ChaCha freestyled along with a dj set of my own productions. The vibe was so good, we decided to finally get the ball rolling. The name AM444 is derived from the time in the twilight of the night that ChaCha often noticed on her clock, for example after going out: 4:44am.
tipkin - Why did you choose electronica as your style? You call your music "Electronic Soul", but I couldn't help but see similarities with trip-hop. Do you agree? What is trip-hop to you? What are your music influences?
Jay - We didn't choose any style actually and we think there's quite a wide range of different sounding songs on the CD. We're just trying to create good music. Genres are not important. My background is mostly in hip-hop but also soul, funk, electronic, jazz, reggae, etc.
ChaCha - It's hard to label, but yes a lot of people think it sounds trip-hoppy. I really love trip-hop, but also am into pop, dubstep, reggae, etc. etc.
tipkin - You are the first trip-hop project from China that I've ever heard about. Do you think this certain exotic angle works in your advantage, or do you think it could work against you and that some people may see you just as "this Chinese trip-hop band"? What are your songs about?
ChaCha - We're not worried about that. There's not a lot of artists yet doing similar things so that can also be an advantage. My lyrics are in Mandarin and talk about - of course - emotions and feelings, but usually a bit different from average songs. For example "Eye Wonder" is about most of us having turned into digital zombies, always glued to our screens, iphones etc and spending more time online and less time meeting people face to face.
tipkin - What is electronic music scene like in China? Is it hard to find distribution? Do you play live shows?
Jay - Electronic scene is rapidly developing (as everything else in China...). We've only played a live show as AM444 once so far but are definitely gonna play more. Shanghai just hosted the big Midi Festival ... (previous 10 years in Beijing) and the electronic stage was a massive hit. CD distribution is pretty much non-existent as they're virtually no real cd/record shops. Everything is bootleg.
tipkin - Congratz on the "Eye Wonder" video! Looks great. Do you want to talk about it - what's it about, how was it made?
both - Thanks! See [answer to question] 3. 
We made it with a local film production company who were very interested to make a good music video. We mostly shared the costs and came up with a lot of creative solutions to keep it as affordable as possible. Due to some investor politics, for now we can't disclose their company name. Hopefully this will change soon, because they've put in incredibly long hours and delivered a great video.
tipkin - What are the plans for AM444?
ChaCha - Once we're both available (I just got married and Jay's becoming a father soon) AM444 will tour different cities in China and possibly other Asian countries.
Jay - Also, we'll start recording more material as we both see this as a long-term collaboration.
So, if you're in Asia, you might get lucky and catch AM444's show, if not, check out their trippy video here and their funky album Eye Wonder on Bandcamp.
AM444 - "Eye Wonder"
Djeh – Screenatorium/Asleep We Live/Asa Zen’ Seï (Lyon, France)
Posted by tipkin
Interesting (to me) fact - ever since I started writing this blog probably over 90% of the music I listen to is independent, cherished by a few but not ever seen on TV or heard on the radio or written about in magazines. The funny part is - I don't miss the "Big Music" at all. Sure, sometimes I wish I could join the discussion about the latest release by Those Guys or have some kind of opinion about This Lady's new music video. But I don't miss the quality of it, because my total immersion in the world of independent music opened up exactly that - an entire new world of music. That is just as good, just as exciting, but a helluva lot more free (in every definition of this word) than its spoiled commercial relative. In this world there are projects like Screenatorium, which you would find on many, many trip-hop fans' favorite lists, somewhere in-between Portishead and Bonobo, and yet Screenatorium is as independent as they come. Please welcome Djeh - the man behind the music.
tipkin - At first I wanted to introduce Screenatorium, but when I looked further into the project, I found out that I should really introduce Djeh, because in addition to Screenatorium you work on several acts, all of them more or less related to electronica/trip-hop: No Color, Asleep We Live, Asa Zen’Seï (which I'm not familiar with yet), ... Am I forgetting something? How are all these projects different and how do you find time to work on all of them?
Djeh - Let's start with the most important music project for me: Screenatorium.
I started to make music on my own with this project. Before that, I was playing bass guitar in a few nameless pop-rock bands in Lyon. And when I discovered trip-hop, I was rellay hopin' to make some records with MC and female vocals. So I left my band and started to work alone, searching for some people who'd agreed to work with me a little. Since then I've met so many people who taught me things about their way to make music and tried to understand what I was trying to do. You may know Degiheugi, he's like my sound daddy (laughs). Anyway, actually Screenatorium is not really a band, it's more like a collective project where musicians come and go. I'm still searching for my dream team, which I think I've found for the third upcoming album Flyentists. Future will tell...
No Color is some abstract hip-hop duo I made with a very talented French beatmaker Mobster. Man this guy is amazing, but he's working slower than I am, so that's why we've only released one EP at the time. We're actually working and talking about making some LP, but I really can't say when this will be ready. There's no purpose in No Color, we only like each other's work and try to leave some fingerprints together. I'm really enjoying working on this. And go listen to Mobster's work, he's some dope beatmaker, like I've rarely heard.
Asleep We Live is a pop project I wanted to do when I moved from Lyon to Montpellier, 'cause I though Screenatorium was gonna be on hold, with Nawelle Saïdi (singer) in Paris. I started to search for another voice, and I've met Astrid Van Peeterssen. We did Showmance EP in 3 months, 'cause I was really expecting some quick work. I wanted to do some catchy love songs, which I don't believe is possible with Screenatorium. I'm actually thinking about some Asleep We Live LP, but I think if we make it, there will only be one, cause I really started this with a side project idea. Actually, Astrid is working with us on Screenatorium and Asa Zen' Seï too.
Finally Asa Zen'Seï was my former dub band when I was a teenager. We were three at the time: Mote (saxophone player on Screenatorium's album Audimat), Bice and me. When I moved to Lyon they made some 5 track EP without me, and then nothing for 6 years. I've finally found Bice again, and we talked a lot about music and stuff, so we decided to make music again together. Mote is no longer playing with us due to different way of living. People change heh?
I think AZS is like Screenatorium, more of a musical project than a real band in fact. We're actually mixing our (second) first EP, with Astrid singing and some talented piano player. Release in 2011... let's pray! (laughs)
Ночная Жизнь Наших Книг (Nightlife Of Our Books) (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia)
Posted by tipkin
To be honest, when I first started listening to Ночная Жизнь Наших Книг (Nightlife Of Our Books), my hand instinctively went to the STOP button. "Eh, another amateur crap," - I thought, - "another inarticulate self-indulgent mumbling on top of handicraft almost-music". But something stopped my hand, some unknown energy, or actually very well known - the energy of NOOB's music. The more I listened, the more its mysterious atmosphere filled me, the more I understood how terribly wrong my first impression really was. If there is an indulgence in their work, it isn't in any way "self-" - it's indulgence in poetry, in the surrounding world in its every manifestation, and in people - which is an especially strange phenomenon. And the minimalism in the arrangements is actually very subtle and thoughtful - instruments are not dominating or submitting to vocals, but carry on a live and harmonious dialog. NOOB's music reminded me, an early 90's kid, of that "Russian rock" which is so trendy to dump all kinds of crap on nowadays, but which, despite its technical imperfections had a soul and desire to actually say something rather than make a quick buck with a loud hit. I asked the guys a few questions about their project.
tipkin - As usual let's start with a bio - who are you, where are you from and where did such name come from?
NOOB - In English language there is a word 'Serendipity'. One of its definitions is "discovery made without deliberate actions". This exact word perfectly describes the formation and development of Nightlife Of Our Books. But if you want to go into details, it all began in a provincial town Kstovo on the Volga river, when certain multi-instrumentalist Daniil Rubtsov (Даниил Рубцов) one day invited his friend, an aspiring guitarist and poet Roman Bizyaev (Роман Бизяев), to just for the sake of it try and experiment with recording some ambient music at home, just for themselves. Then the name came about. Have you ever fantasized about what the characters of your favorite books are up to when you ignore their drama and/or happiness filled lives? And then there was a show of the band Записки Неизвестного (Notes Of an Unknown). They left a deep impression in guys' minds and they decided to just for the sake of it, for themselves, try to work in the genre of abstract hip-hop. The recipe turned out to be simple - guys just combined the accumulated Daniil's keyboard pieces and Roman's poetic exercises, simply laying them on top of uncomplicated trop-hop betas. This is exactly how in the course of a few weeks 11 songs were recorded, that together make one story called Твоя Ночь. Моё Утро (Your Night. My Day). After we uploaded the first album on the internet, the duo was joined by their friend Roman Beloglazov (Роман Белоглазов), who became a permanent member of the group. In this exact lineup - Daniil, Roman and Roman, based on the good and bad sides of the first album, guys started recording their second album Жизнь Есть (Life Is).
t. - Even based on online comments I can see that you're being categorized as trip-hop "just because". What is trip-hop to you and is the genre identification of any importance to you at all?
NOOB - NOOB never defined themselves as any kind of genre. It isn't an attempt to escape everything old and reinvent the wheel, it's just no one ever really thought hard about (other than times when we had to submit the album to websites and online forums).
But trip-hop had a very serious influence on all of us, especially such projects as Portishead, Arms And Sleepers and Tricky. By the way, "just because" NOOB is also being categorized as post-rock (it's hard to overvalue the influence of the Icelanders Sigur Ros on us) and abstract hip-hop (it sure is hard to compare Bizyaev's amateur melodeclamation with rapping, but what else would you call music that is based mostly on modern poetry?).
t. - How is the creative process distributed within the group? Does it ever happen that a song is radically changed from the moment of the author's idea under the influence of collective creativity?
NOOB - In the collective there is no such things as author's idea. The entire creative process is based on the formula "1+1=3", where the combined work of several talents results in something bigger than the sum of those individual talents. There three of us, each one comes up with his own part and combined and complementing each other these three pieces become something ready and finished...
But in general we have a healthy anarchy - no one is directing what every one should do, but everyone knows a priori what their goal is at the moment.
Ana Katana & Li Vox (Tampa, USA/Almada, Portugal)
Posted by tipkin
Ana Katana
There are some artists that just get everything right. You come across one of their songs and go: "Yeah, that's the shit, who is this?" And then you find out that it's some band who hadn't even had any releases yet. Which makes you extra proud that you made that disovery before anyone else did. Now I have this lucky chance to introduce one of such promising collectives. If it was all about image, they still would have gotten it - just look at that sexy/dangerous/mysterious picture. Luckily, their music lives up to expectations. Ana Katana & Li Vox create a combination of knock-out beats and enchanting vocals that is both "retro" in its stylistic similarities to "classic trip-hop" and refreshing in its enthusiasm and love to music that is reflected in every note. Naturally, I wanted to know more.
tipkin - So, is it Ana Katana, Ana Katana & Li Vox or something else entirely? How did it all start and how did Li Vox become part of the project?
Ana Katana - I’ve been writing, recording, and performing music for many years, mostly as a bass player. A few years ago, I started getting really into the world of electronic music. In 2010, I decide it was time to start releasing some of the music I had been making online. I started out just as “Ana Katana”, but I felt the instrumentals I was putting out were in need of vocals. I posted an ad on my MySpace, and got a bunch of responses from interested singers. When I got the demo that Li sent back to me, I was blown away. She was exactly what I was looking for. Her voice really fit my music. As soon as I heard her sing, that was it. I took the ad down and stopped looking.
I felt the best way to represent what we are doing is to make a change from being Ana Katana to being Ana Katana & Li Vox. I really think what we have is greater than the sum of its parts.
Li Vox - I just contacted Ana Katana through MySpace, because she was in need of a vocalist. So, firstly, I recorded the song «She Change Her World», and apparently she liked it!!!
I must say there's a 3rd person involved in the whole process: Daniel Matias. His amazing skills and studio (Djungle Productions), allowed me to record our first songs.
Then Ana and I started chatting through Facebook, Skype, SoundCloud, e-mail, and we started exchanging ideas and concepts. Amazingly it's working great! We match perfectly, musically speaking, and I'm very honoured that she picked me to sing along her songs.
t. - Why trip-hop? Do you feel that there is still demand for trip-hop music out there? What is trip-hop to you?
A.K. - I never really set out to specifically make trip-hop music. I had been listening to a lot of it, and I think the influence found its way into what I was doing. When I started listening back, I could hear those influences in my music, so I decided to let the label stick.
I think there is always a demand for music of every genre. The internet is what allows everyone to connect with others that have the same musical tastes. The audience is there, they just might not exist in any concentration. If a few people in every city in the world love trip-hop, multiply that by the number of cities, and it adds up pretty quick.
To me, trip-hop is electronic music that moves your body, your heart, and your mind. It’s not the music you hear at the club on a Saturday night. I think of it as being a little more personal, something a person can form an emotional connection to, which seems to be absent in a lot of electronic music these days.
Li Vox
L.V. - Personally, I always enjoyed trip-hop - stuff like Massive Attack, Tricky, Thievery Corporation, Portishead, even some stuff from Lamb... it's a "relaxing" genre, I guess... this is a genre where I feel comfortable whilst singing.
t. - What is the music scene like in Tampa, FL (and in Portugal)? Is it hard to find distribution for your music?
A.K. - The music scene in Tampa, Florida, has a lot of unrealized potential, in my opinion. There aren’t really any clubs that play trip-hop or downtempo that I’m aware of. Most of the electronic music around here seems to tend toward the more harsh, breakbeats and drum and bass. There’s definitely a lot of the club stuff for people to shake their asses to, but without any emotional depth. That’s all my perception, of course, so I could be mistaken. As far as distribution goes, we’ve been going the internet route. Bandcamp, Reverbnation, Soundcloud, MySpace. We try to get our music up anywhere we can. I think we’re to the point where some help from a record label would really put things over the top. The way things are with the music-industry these days, though, I’m not holding my breath.
L.V. - I'm not too involved in the trip-hop scene in Portugal. (I'm not really sure there's a "scene", actually!!) We have some radio stations that promote electronic music in Portugal. Also, some gigs and small events. But, I was always a "rocker", more than a trip-hop"er".
t. - Your music is very "classic" trip-hop (if one can say so) - you're not trying to incorporate trendy genres like dubstep and such into your sound. Is that deliberate "purity" or are you planning on experimenting with different styles in the future?
A.K. - If our music is considered “classic” trip-hop, it was unintentional. Everything that I write has only one deliberate goal, which is to find sounds and loops that work together to make a whole. I try to avoid falling into the trap of striving for things like “staying pure” or experimentation for its own sake. I’m just trying to lay down some tracks that sound good in my headphones, and I’ll pull the sounds from wherever it takes to achieve a great song. If I have to write 50 shitty songs in order to come up with one really good one, then that’s what it takes.
As far as the future goes, who knows? Sounds and ideas can come from anywhere. The only thing I can say is we’ll write the best songs we can, and hopefully the music continues to resonate with people like it has been so far.
coldreavers (Saint Petersburg, Russia)
Posted by tipkin
This FEA(U)TURE is very special to me. Here I talk to a musician and a person without whom not only the existence of my tiny but mighty netlabel TTRR would be impossible, but quite possibly the very idea of promoting independent electronica on the pages of this blog would have been mercilessly abandoned. You may already be familiar with his work - if not from the latest release Blue Eyes (my microscopic involvement in which still makes me indecently proud), then from his multiple previous albums, EP's and single tracks floating around the interwebs. His music has a quality that is pretty rare these days - style. And everyone seems to hear this style in a different way, which is also pretty amazing. Well, without further ado - coldreavers.
tipkin - When and how did it all start? Where did the interest for electronic music come from and how did it develop from an interest into the actual creating?
coldreavers - It began around the year 2006, - I didn't have anything to do and I started working with sequencers and such. I didn't have enough patience back then and until 2009 I gave up on it and was just a listener. Then in 2009 it all started spinning again, this time for real. At first the works were primitive, with time the level built up. I've been listening to electronic music for a long time, as all the other ones however, I don't have preference to one genre.
t. - Then why in your work your prefer downtempo/experimental electronica, and not, say, techno etc.? Was there a particular influence? Or...?
c. - I just like more melodic and slow music, with BPM up to 100 maybe. And if it's faster... it just doesn't fit me. But there are exceptions, like if you take house, I just adore Beach House from Hed Kandi and some of the releases by Defected. I don't know what influenced me in particular, - I'm not a huge fan of Massive Attack or Portishead, even though Tricky's first album I almost know by heart.
t. - Another standard question - what is trip-hop to you and what do you feel when coldreavers is being referred to as a "trip-hop project"?
c. - To me personally trip-hop has expanded so much so long ago that one can shove anything in it. I personally go by this line - Tricky's first album is a trip-hop perfection, I haven't heard anything better. The rest is to some extent repeating it, but still cannot get even close. Well, he cannot get close to himself in his early years to be honest. Regarding coldreavers as a trip-hop project... well, I guess that's what it is, what else?
t. - No, really, what else? Can you describe your style to someone who never heard your music?
c. - Well, if you think about it, it would probably be some kind of ethnic-hop, or what they called Four Tet - folktronica.
t. - OK, let's leave alone genres and styles, I know artists usually hate talking about things like that. What is music for you at this point - hobby, passion, life's work?
c. - At this point I'm sort of at the crossroads. On one hand I love doing that and don't know how to do pretty much anything else, on the other hand I'm scared of what would happen if I dedicate all my time to music and end up with nothing as a result. I'll see how the new album will do and then make the final decision.
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