Theory Therapy 84: 990x
Cloud rap dissolved into ambient drift
How are you today?
I have caffeine flowing through my veins, feeling excited for the regal86 day of the dead gig tonight at yu yu cine club in CDMX.
What was the last song you listened to?
Anthony Gonzalez & Gael García Bernal - Un poco loco
Where do you most enjoy listening to music?
I really enjoy listening to music around a fire in the bush, on long bus journeys and sometimes when I'm driving I'll kick a little freestyle.
What’s the best music discovery you’ve made recently?
Stumbled upon the album first utterance by comus. Really awesome folk rock album from the 70s, it's such a trip.
Is there an artist or album you listen to often that people might not expect based on your own sound?
I feel like everything inspires me in some kind of way.
Tell us a bit about your musical background – what was the first album that really stuck with you, and when did you start exploring electronic production?
As a kid I remember being really fascinated by technology particularly tapes and things like that, i used to play with my parents stereo eq settings and record stuff off of the radio. That fascination with old technology led to me inheriting an old church organ that my aunt was about to throw out and from there I taught myself to read music, later getting trumpet lessons and joining the school band.
For whatever reason hip hop culture in particular became a major fixation for me during high school, I was also heavily online at the time participating in forum culture and even joining an international graffiti crew online.
Around the same time I was writing shitty raps on my phone and wanted to start recording. a friend of mine who wanted to become a dj showed me fl studio and my focus changed from writing raps to beats.
Being deep into the forum culture; particular stones throw forums I found the whole LA beat scene with flylo, samiyam etc and that heavily influenced me. But id say it was shlohmo - bad vybes album that really resonated with me the most. While I was already a big j dilla fan, bad vybes kinda showed me that a hip hop influenced producer can transcend the whole “beat tape" label. The whole cloud rap thing was kinda overlapping with that world and I just really started to dig deeper and deeper into more textural and ambient beat music. I discovered people like clams casino, andy stott and burial which all had a major influence on me.
You’ve developed a pretty distinct sound over the years. Are there particular textures or moods you naturally gravitate towards when producing?
Thank you :) It's changed quite a bit over time, but initially I was just really drawn to kinda sad but hopeful moods. I’ve always been into spirituality and mysticism so that kind of liminal, transcending, obe kinda feeling is a major influence but its often portrayed in a cheesy way in new age and world music, I still love it but I try to add swag to it with trap elements.
What does your current music setup look like, and how much does your environment shape what you make?
I've basically been semi homeless for the last few years, I lived in my car, squatted and couch surfed at the end of lockdown. Not paying rent for so long allowed me to save up for a long term travel adventure which I'm currently on. When I used to rent I had monitors, good headphones an audio interface and a decent desk set up but since I moved out and into the car I basically stripped it all back to just a laptop and cheap headphones. If I can find a guitar I will record it into the built in laptop microphone. My environment is obviously very chaotic since I started living like this but it's made me a lot more creative due to the limitations and all the crazy experiences that come along with it.
Do you usually work solo, or is collaboration becoming more part of your process?
I always struggled to collab in the past but that started to change when I linked up with ijji, sauron, mutant joe and imitation therapy in brisbane. Collabing over the internet was never really very authentic in my experience, but meeting up with my friends from online has been great.
Have any experiences outside of music filtered into your sound lately?
Yeah totally: my friend sauron really helped me approach music with more abundance and less perfectionism, we played a set together with ijji and wear pounamu as the citadel at twisted frequency in New Zealand not so long ago. That whole experience was very insightful. We hitchhiked around the south island, slept under the stars and met a lot of interesting characters along the way, it was a great bonding experience and his wisdom and those experiences have heavily influenced my current lifestyle and approach to music.
Talk us through your Theory Therapy mix – where it came together and what kind of space you were in mentally or musically.
I put that mix together while laying in bed next to someone iv been growing close to in a hostel in Nicaragua. Iv been really enjoying layering stuff together in a kind of mashup way so theres abit of that going on in the mix.
Where would you recommend listening to it?
In nature, in bed, somewhere chill
Tell us something exciting that's coming up in your life, music or otherwise.
Ive been on the road for a while and need to get a job soon haha, looking to work somewhere in germany which is pretty cool. Lots of new music in the works including an album and ill be linking up with some really cool music friends soon :)