hi-me4

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

I started making music when i was around like 11. I just sort of started writing music naturally because I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do. I didn’t think about it too much, i just knew it was the best feeling in the world to write something, and I still feel that way. When I made Between Years, I had been making music for 10 years, and i’m always looking for new ideas and ways of creating sound. The ‘sound’ of Bodyhorror is just me experimenting with sound. I’ve written tons of pop songs, but I find it super enjoyable to just dive into new technologies within sound manipulation and see what I’m able to do.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

Between Years was written and recorded in two weeks. I only had two weeks off in between first and second year of college, and I knew I was gonna dedicate all my time to creating something. The process of making these songs was some of the most fun I’ve had in my life. I had a blast making this, because I really just didn’t care what people we’re gonna think and that mindset was super freeing. I would wake up in the morning and jump out of bed to start working on it, and by working on it, I mean hunting for new ways to manipulate and create sound, which is my favorite way to spend my time. This led to Between Years being very experimental sounding, and definitely stripped it of any mainstream appeal, but I’m happy with the result.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

Musically, when I made this EP, I was very influenced by experimental Techno. I was listening to music from Nina Kraviz’ Trip label, which had a big influence on me. I was also listening to a ton of The Tuss, which I think comes out in the tracks. Other artists include Kraftwerk, Boards of Canada, Daniel Avery, and countless sets from different DJs. Ironically, the biggest influences were actually non-musical ones. I’d say my biggest inspiration for this project came from the show Superjail on Adult Swim. I was binging this show when I was making Between Years, and it totally made its way into the music. I was so blown away with the amount of detail within the show. I was thinking like, ‘man, every ten seconds of this show must take so long to animate’, and that really influenced me. I started looking at my songs in ten second increments, trying to see how much sound manipulation and experimentation I could pack into those ten seconds. This led the songs to be sort of animated sounding.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I’d say a big thing that sets me apart from the rest of the so called “IDM” genre, is the use of live drums. I spent hours and hours recording the drums for each song, using techniques in order to make my playing sound more robotic without using quantization. Something else that may set me apart, is that barely anything is programmed, which gave the EP a bit more of a “performance” feel. I’d say this EP is maybe my attempt at making the most natural sounding robotic music possible.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Hmm that’s very tough, maybe like,
Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits
Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits
and Pet Sounds – Beach Boys

me-hi

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Performing live is a big rush, it’s very exciting and makes for great memories. Though, i have to pick the ‘studio’. Something about creating music is just ‘it’ for me. It’s pretty much what I’m doing all the time. It just gets the dopamine in my brain flowing more than any other activity could.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

Can’t think of much off the top of my head. There’s a sample on the song Poster Villain, of me jokingly doing death metal “fry screams”. I was recording a track a couple years ago, and as a joke did these death metal vocals over the song. I thought that part of Poster Villain needed a scream so I grabbed that death metal take and manipulated it a lot.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

On my last release, I had a song called Mass in Model D Major. I’d say that’s one of my favorite things I’ve made. I’m just happy with the writing, and the sounds I was able to get out of my Minilogue for it.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

I’m going to be putting out more music before the summer ends, and it’s gonna be a bit more accessible I think. It’s been 90% done for a while, and I’m about to try to wrap it up.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

Q: What new recording techniques did you use when recording this EP?

A: Something I had a lot of fun with, was using MIDI information to control the parameters of my Korg Minilogue. I thought it was so cool that I could essentially get my computer to do all the “knob twiddling”, and program in a way that the parameters are being adjusted beyond anything I could do with my own two hands. I had a ton of fun with that on Poster Villain and The Twins. There’s so much we can do with MIDI to manipulate these hardware synths, I love it. I can be playing a riff on the keys with my hands but the computer is the one essentially twisting the knobs like a maniac, it’s pretty fun.

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

Recommended listening:

Connect with Bodyhorror:

https://bodyhorrormusic.bandcamp.com

https://www.instagram.com/bodyhorrorrrr/