Voices #2
◦ “voices” is the place where we ask, artists reply and you read.
here we got:
Passage
answering some questions. We have already observed his drone / ambient / dark ambient / experimental work here.
[1. IDEA]
■ The A. O.: The track from “gateway” that we prefer is “how to get away“. Can you tell us how it came to light?
► Passage: “How to get away” is the only song on the album that was recorded in separate sections. The first of the two sections has the only original sound on the album that doesn’t come from a guitar or a synthesizer, instead, what you’re hearing is a music box being played very slowly through a pedalboard. In an earlier version of the track, there was a short acoustic song during the intro, and the track was called “waves” in reference to one of the lyrics. Like the rest of the tracks, I came up with the final title while uploading the album to bandcamp. The title “how to get away” represents, at least for me, the existential dread of living under the American regime.
[2. CREATION]
■ The A. O.: How do you usually approach composition? Do you start with a concept, a sound, a state of mind or what else? How do you generally proceed from the initial seed to the complete work?
► Passage: The bulk of it comes from ideas I come across while improvising. I generally have a solid outline of the piece before I press record, and almost all of it is recorded in one take. I then add samples to the track to guide emotion and solid pacing.
[3. FEEDBACK]
■ The A. O.: What do you hope listeners feel or experience when engaging with your music?
► Passage: The overall themes I wish to evoke fall into the spiritual realm and the political realm. I aim for a massive, dense, and overwhelming sound, which unsurprisingly leads to a very spiritual and abstract experience. At the same time, the use of samples drags the experience back down to earth. The juxtaposition of reality and unreality, for me, leads to a feeling of uncertainty, which more accurately conveys the meaningless situation capitalist society has put people in.
[4. IDENTITY]
■ The A. O.: In a world saturated with digital music content, how do you try to keep your sound distinct and personally meaningful?
► Passage: I think one of the main reasons I developed a distinct style is that there are limits to the sounds I can create. Those limitations don’t exist for people who know how to create music in a DAW, but I chose to limit myself to the hardware that I own. I also try not to fall firmly into one particular genre, but instead use aspects of a variety of different genres in my music. The main qualities i aim for in my music are tension, direction, and emotional intensity.
[5. INFLUENCES]
■ The A. O.: Name three albums that you consider relevant to your musical path and why.
► Passage: ○ “Natural Snow Buildings – The Dance of the Moon and the Sun”
In terms of genre, Natural Snow Buildings is my most significant inspiration by far. This album basically taught me what Drone is and what makes it good. Their style is a combination of Drone, Post-Rock, and Folk, all of which I take big inspiration from (Folk to a lesser extent).
○ “Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven”
Lift Your Skinny Fists was my formal introduction to post-rock, and their style had a profound impact on my musical development. This album introduced to me the concepts of tension and beauty in music, influenced my use of sampling, and taught me how to convey political themes in instrumental music.
○ “Swans – Live Rope”
For Gateway in particular, Live Rope is perhaps the single most influential piece of inspiration. The sound of the album perfectly represents everything I try to achieve, much better than I ever have. The song “Rope” in particular, is an absolutely massive piece, revolving around drone, tension, and sheer sonic intensity. I had the fortune of seeing Swans live last year, where they played almost the same exact set as the album. That performance was probably the most important I’ve ever seen in terms of my musical development.
[6. REGARDS]
■ The A. O.: Leave us with a quote you love.
► Passage: “I don’t appreciate avant-garde, electronic music. It makes me feel quite ill.” (Ravi Shankar)