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Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there?
I’m in Guelph- I’m not sure yet how it compares to other towns but so far I find the music peeps in Guelph incredibly welcoming and warm to new artists and sounds. I’ve met a lot of artists from the area who work super hard and make cool, unique stuff, and they’ve all had a massive impact on me this year.
How did you first start playing music?
I started with piano when I was a smol bean. I got into electronic music when I met my friend from the band SolarSolar, and got sucked in by their pulsing, ghostly music and my friend’s soundtrack work.
You are a relatively new artist on the scene, what have you found most challenging and rewarding along the way?
The most challenging thing for me was getting used to the idea that I needed to actually go out and meet people and play my music in front of them. Once I finally put together a set, I was actually excited to get out and do it live. Now I’m far more into with it than I ever expected to be.
What have you been working on in 2018?
2018 was a lot of acquiring the music gear I needed, learning how to use it and just creating a bunch of stuff in isolation. Other artists and music friends told me I needed to start playing out, so I kind of reluctantly put my live set together over the summer, and played my first show at the end of it. I understand how important that is now, and I’ve met some really cool artists and bands, so I’m thankful I’ve had some supportive people around to push me with the live set thing.
What do you have planned for 2019?
2019 is the future so I’d like to go to space.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I’m not doing a ton of listening to other music atm as I’ve been busy finalizing the mixes for my album. But I know Phosphorescent and Empress Of have new albums out that I’m going to pay attention to next. I listen to Brian Eno to help with sleep sometimes.
What programs/equipment do you use?
Lately I use a mix of Maschine and Cubase to arrange and produce my music. I recorded some of my vocals for the album with a bluebird condenser mic and then later upgraded (imo) and did some with an akg c414 condenser. I use a lot of Native Instruments software – I LOVE their Kinetic Toys and Kinetic Metal instruments, and Replika XT is an awesome delay with lots of modes and effects. I record my samples with a Zoom H4n. It’s a really really fun tool and with a massive range- you could listen into your neighbours’ homes with it, hëhė. I don’t do that.
How do you usually go about writing music?
There’s so many different ways, depending on the song. For my song Armadilla, I took all the samples outside one night and then made a kit with them in Maschine on my laptop. I made the initial synth loop and then played my sample kit over top of it and built the song up from those loops. I arranged the instrumental track, and then spent some time writing the lead vocals, and filled out the sonic gaps with a minilogue synth.
Who or what influences your sound and songwriting?
¡Aliens!¶[] [] ~[] and Henlo.
What direction do you see electro going in the future?
I think sampling organic sounds is a really big thing that people are getting more into. It’s interesting how instruments have branched out from naturally resonant bodies like flutes, lutes, pianos, harps etc., towards the more electric sounds from guitars and analog synths and then digital synths and computer software. And now some of us are throwing sand and slapping flowers and rocks and making songs out of that. It’s circled back to the way all this music stuff began except now one person can record the individual sounds on a portable mic and paste it around on their computers to create a boppin jam. It’s not a brand new thing as of the 21th century but I think definitely becoming more common.
What do you like to do away from music?
I love birb memes and videos.. I love birbs. I watch a lot of videos of birbs being dinks. I also like playing video games and lately, a lot of phone games. Brilliant ones like Machinarium and life-wasting ones like Flip Trickster.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Fruit by the Foot! And tofu made by someone who gets it. I like being on boats.
