9+1 Q&A with Mirrors

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’ve been interested in writing my own music for as long as I can remember. As a kid I played violin in the school orchestra and was always making up songs and writing new pieces on blank sheet music. My first experience with electronic music came around age 14 tweaking Garage Band presets. I moved on to Reason 5 and Ableton Live from there. For about the next six years I made various kinds of dance music and honed my production chops that way. The MIRRORS project came many years later out of a desire to unite my love for songwriting and indie music with my composition, production, and sound-design skills.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

“Homesick” is an exploration of some of the darker emotions we experience – loneliness, anxiety, frustration. Lyrically it reflects a lot of the stuff I have been going through over the course of the last year, when I moved from Seattle to LA. Adjusting to a new place and building a new life while still feeling very much rooted in another place and culture and aesthetic has been an interesting journey, and this EP represents a conclusion to this very transitory period of my life. Musically, it’s a sort of jumping-off point for me to explore a new direction – less polished, grittier, edgier, more progressive, and less predictable.

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

Obviously my roots in dance music are a big influence musically, even though I no longer listen to or identify with EDM music or culture. Likewise, my love for indie music, punk, garage, and psych are all evident, as the project has always represented a conceptual joining of these two musical mindsets. I don’t think I would have been able to come up with this project if I hadn’t spent so many years writing high-concept EDM, and then subsequently spent years playing guitar and singing in bands and on my own studio pieces. Non-musically, I’m heavily influenced by the way my brain processes sound – I have slight synesthesia and so I see colors and textures in my mind’s eye. MIRRORS has always been a sort of audio-visual experience for me that way. Not sure how well that comes across to others.

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?

It’s definitely different. I tend to describe it as indie-dance, 80s-influenced, highly textured and dreamy, different but relatable – the sort of sound you realize you haven’t heard before but is somehow familiar.

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

Music-wise, I’d bring Bleach by Nirvana, Lonerism by Tame Impala, and You In Reverse by Built To Spill.

Movies – The Room, Eternal Sunshine, Inglorious Basterds. I know it sounds like a strange collection but it’s the truth.

Books would have to be Brave New World, Handmaid’s Tale, and Please Kill Me.

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

Currently I prefer studio time, since for me performing live is just an elevated form of DJing while in the studio I can be more creative. Triggering MIDI clips is a really fun way to perform electronic music but it just doesn’t compare to actually writing.

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

One time I was onstage, and right in front of everybody, I dropped the bass.

Just kidding. No, I can’t really think of anything at the moment. It’s a very new project and I’m sure many opportunities for goof-em-ups will present themselves in future.

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

Definitely Reflections. It’s a truly odd one, but also one of my favorites. It has a really stuttering, staccato sound that’s somehow still catchy. The vocal part is a manipulated recording of me reading a journal entry I wrote during a panic attack.

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

I’m writing an album at the moment, so there’ll be some singles in coming months, as well as some local shows around LA I’m sure. If there are any readers in the LA area that want to collaborate or schedule a show, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook.

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

Is a hot dog a sandwich?

I have always been team yes, but this question has sparked some seriously heated debates among friends and coworkers in the past.

Photo credits: Sean Goldie (2nd one)

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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