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INTERVIEW

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Alice Gee | 12/07/2024

HATC: When did music first impact your life and interests?

 

 

A: The first true relationship I had with music was with the piano. I started playing classical music on the piano when I was 9. A friend inspired me, since she was also playing. So I visited her piano classes and was instantly hooked. In school I always loved to sing and as a child I was always encouraged by my teachers to sing solos. In my teens I started actively writing music. Just me and the piano. When I was 18 I taught myself how to produce with Ableton by writing a thesis about producing and from there on I found a new love - music production.

 

 

HATC:What was it that drew you to doing a concept album based on where reality ends and fantasy begins?

 

 

A: Because I’m a person that has very intense dreams, day dreams and a very broad fantasy, I couldn’t help myself but write about those aspects. I often times find myself confused to what I’ve dreamt and what happened in real life. So my word always seems somewhat intertwined between what is and what isn’t

 

 

HATC: What interested you about taking listeners on a journey through your music for your new album?

 

 

A: I love the idea of concept albums. Not just randomly listening to track 17 and then track 3 but being taking on a thought out journey. Combining several pieces of art into one whole big storyline. Something that can exist as several small individual parts but makes sense as a whole.

 

 

I must say I can’t define myself as an artist that “just” focusses on dreampop or electronic music and it didn’t feel quite right to make an album which is mainly one music genre. So I decided to include all parts of my momentary music production interests (dreampop, indie, psychedelic rock, electronic music, experimental music, breakbeats) into this album and curate them in a way that the listeners can enjoy the album as an exciting journey.

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HATC: How did writing, often focusing on nostalgia transport you back in time?

 

 

A: In a way it often reminded me of old relationships (romatic & platonic) but also the relationship to music and the source of my intention of making music in the first place. The general nostal

 

 

HATC: Did you base your album journey on your own experiences? If so did you find it therapeutic when looking back and create an audio world?

 

 

A: I did base my album on certain experiences in my life. Yes, I found it very therapeutic or at least certain songs because I paid attention to how I wrote the songs. “Welcome to Peace” for instance is intentionally written in a way that the listener feels like they're in a therapy session or having a conversation with a friend. The friend is asking the right questions; simple but deep and telling them everything will be okay in their own way.

I’m quite proud that I was able to form these lyrics, the music, the whole concept and form it into one audio world that makes sense to me.

 

 

HATC: What are your first memories of the genres that inspired your album?

 

 

A: I really got into psychedelic rock from the 60s around 20 I think. That music genre really resonated with me on another level. At about the same time I started listening to a lot of Indie and Dreampop and loved the dreaminess and sound aesthetics. I liked how the productions weren’t always super clean and had their own style. Around 23 I got in touch with Jungle much more by working on a sound-art project for a fashion designer friend. Another very good friend also introduced me into the world of more breakbeat genres. The complexity and effectiveness of the percussion caught my attention and inspired me to do more genre mixing.

 

HATC: How has your identity fed into your music and writing this album?

 

 

A: Even though I can put certain songs quite clearly into specific music genre boxes, I still feel that I have my own way of composing and producing a track and leave a big fingerprint behind. People can recognize that it’s my production without even hearing my voice and that is one of my most valuable achievements so far.

 

 

HATC: As for the content and the lyrics I’m basically singing about a bunch of simple dreams and pleasures I’d like to have and could easily achieve but they seem yet so far away (like spending a day in the park or perhaps something a little more impossible, trying to physically multiply myself so I can do more).

 

A: There are also some more nostalgic songs of happenings, learnings &  losses I’ve had in my life which may seem a little cryptic to the listeners but I know what I’m singing about and that’s enough.

 

 

HATC: When balancing reality and utopia in music what is it about finding the balance in the escapism that intrigues you and how listeners receive and digest the music?

 

 

A: I like to leave my music open to interpretation for the listeners. When I’m in my producing and songwriting mode it’s an absolute automatism but also a very intimate experience with my emotions, which I hardly have in my daily life. So what happenes in the studio is magic to me and touches me so much I can really and truly express my emotions and myself from a very genuine place. And when I listen to the music again and have to answer interview questions like I’m doing now I generate a new perspective of the meaning of the lyrics, the composition, parallels of certain songs and so on and I’m like: Whaaaat this is deeper than I thought?! And those are wonderful moments because I see the whole piece from a complete other perspective and can rewrite the book in a new way.

 

That’s why I love it when the listeners can also rewrite the book (of my album) in their own way and tell me about their interpretation/story and I will happily listen.

 

 

HATC: What’s been your experiences as an independent artist? What has been a freedom and what has been difficult?

 

 

A: Fortunately I’m in luck to have the pleasure of infinite creative freedom. That for one is a massive plus as an independent artist. Well I’m not quite sure if I can call myself an independent artist per se, since I’m an artist at the Label “Forcefield Records”. But they give me absolute liberty in how I approach things during the production phase and release phase.

 

 

I learn a lot and also visit a bunch of courses about the music industry and how it all works in Switzerland at least. It is however a challenge to get in touch with the right contacts that can really help you be more visible in the music scene. I’m quite glad that I’m a very outgoing person and also have a manager who is very outgoing aswell. So we don’t really struggle with the whole networking business. But it takes time till you reach the people who will actually make a big difference in your career and a lot of trust.

 

 

Photography Binta Kopp

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