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.
While at school three of my best friends and myself formed a band called ‘The Field’. I played the drums but after a few years behind the kit, I felt my tastes had developed and made the decision to step out into the electronic music world. I spent a good few years learning the foundations of electronic music production before stepping out with my latest project ‘Yarni’ in 2014.
Provide us with some info about your latest release…
“Displaced” is a collaboration between vocalist Oriel Poole and myself. After a few Skype chats, we discovered we both had a mutual love for trip-hop, electronica, and jazz. With these influences in mind, I wrote a backing track for Oriel’s vocals to sit center stage. We’re really happy with the unique palette of sounds we created.
Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?
Reni & Mani from The Stone Roses really taught me the importance of a good solid rhythm section and Tony Allen inspired me to be more experimental with creating obscure & interesting percussion arrangements. Away from music I am obsessed with Brutalist architecture and spend a lot of time researching Japanese ‘Americana’ clothing brands. All these things contribute to my creativity in different ways.
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?
My debut LP ‘Entkommen’ was me trying to turn the pain of my then terminally ill Nan into something positive. The emotions within that album really show and that is what I feel is important within the ‘electronic’ world. I feel what made the LP and my sound unique is my use of field recordings I’ve collected from around the world and how I blend them with acoustic instrumentation and an electronic backbone.
Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels are two things I’ll never tire of listening to and watching. I’ve always wanted to read Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell so I guess something new would help keep my mind active.
Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?
Having played in several bands I feel naturally I am a performer, so I definitely am longing to take this project to the “live” stage. The early foundations of my live performance are there. It’s just the simple case of working hard to build a fan-base who cares enough to come and watch me!
Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?
I used to be in a band called ‘Tudors’ where we lost our path & put out an EP which was pure pop music. I can’t listen to it now because it’s so embarrassing. I think it had full on auto-tune and it sounded like the British ‘band’ McFly! Urghhhhhhhh
Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?
“Avaz” is one of my favorite productions to date. It’s got a zither I sampled, found sounds from Peru and the breakdown still gives me goosebumps now.
Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?
2018 was a year of collaboration and 2019 has so far been a year of remixing. People are slowly picking up on my sound and I’ve started to generate a steady flow of nice requests. Aside from that I released my ‘Hear No, See No, Speak No’ EP on Oleeva Records the other day and the lead track has picked up a lot of attention!
Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…
What’s your favorite sausage?
Nduja, it’s a spreadable and extremely spicy sausage from the Calabria region right on the “toe” of southwestern Italy.
Curated by: Christos Doukakis
Recommended listening:
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