Interview with desert sand feels warm at night
1. Hi! Can you tell a story about how your project came to life? Were you making music before?
I’ve been making music now for about 9 years and I’ve really never taken it anywhere because I guess I’ve never had any sort of initiative or motivation to do so. I went through multiple phases of making random things but then last year, after discovering vaporwave and listening to many ambient and slushwave artists, I thought I’d give it a go and finally get my stuff out there. And I am so, so glad that I did as it’s been an amazing journey so far and its the thought of everyone listening to my music and appreciating it that really brought it to life.
2. Indeed, that’s amazing how quick your stuff was recognized! Besides the music itself, do you think that’s because of being part of the community? Or you have some secret of success =)
I can’t say I really have any secrets in regards with the music, apart from trying to be as unique as possible with both my artist name and my style, that grew over time. I do strongly feel that the community has played a huge role in my success, some of the people i have met and the widespread coverage that my music is received on makes the community one of the best to be in. Especially now, after big events like Electronicon, the community has never been more alive. I’m not one for advertising loads, and I think generally the reason I’m known is because of how close everyone is in the community and the good word of mouth that spread about my music which has brought most of my listeners. It still amazes me to this day that despite it being only a year, my following has grown to numbers I would’ve never expected nor imagined. It’s a privilege to be a part of.
3. Speaking of 100% Electronicon, would you perform live if there will be a possibility? Looks like vaporwave is not just “online microgenre” now and community is ready for all kinds of IRL interactions. If yes, what kind of sound could it be?
I would certainly perform live and I’m actually performing at the Aloe City Records concert that is going to take place at some point. Nothing is official yet but it seems very likely that this will happen, which will be exciting. To be honest, I have no idea what it would sound like, I need to play around with my sounds and try and create something super hypnotic yet energetic at the same time! We’ll have to see…
4. Guess it will be your original tunes, not sampled stuff, right? Speaking of which, do you think it’s the future of vapor (in general) or your project? Or sampled vapor is not over yet?
Well, I thoroughly enjoy working with samples and really don’t believe that the future needs to be driven by original content. Of course, as people get more comfortable with making music, it is really refreshing to see some original works out there, and I’m looking forward to releasing my next original slushwave album later on in the year. However, all my albums apart from 水に流す and Tomorrow, 2096 are sampled material, and they have all been very well received, and I will continue to make sampled albums as well as the original.
5. Tomorrow, 2096 is quite different from your sound, you also did two gorgeous ambient works for Seikomart, yet looks like slushwave is your primary style, right? Which other styles you’d like to try?
Well, I interchange between ambient and slushwave frequently, even sometimes into nature wave and mallsoft-like areas. I think if I were to try and make a dedicated album to a particular style I would go for mallsoft, with proper mall background noise and taking inspiration from artists like 猫 シ Corp.
6. Speaking of inspiration – what inspires you the most? Are there some things highly necessary, so to say, to make good vaporwave? Like being in love with certain time in the past or something?
I think to be passionate about something, you have to love something or do something regularly. All the music I sample I listen to quite a lot, as well as the many genres associated with my samples and hearing the way these are crafted and the way they affect my emotions really play a huge part in the inspiration for the project. Also, I would recommend listening to other artists who are doing similar things to yourself and think about how you could do that differently. Like with me, I listened to many hours of telepaths to gain a good understanding of elements in his music that made him successful, which I then tweaked and applied uniquely to mine. And it’s at the point where you have something that’s quite different and something that you are proud of, that you get the true inspiration to carry on with the project and really spend a lot of time on it.
7. That’s definitely a good insight! And since you mentioned telepath, which albums are your favorites? And besides telepath and vapor in general, what are the three albums you’d take with you on a long trip through the desert?
アンタラ通信 is most definitely my favourite telepath album, also one of the first albums in vaporwave in general. I just love the etherealness and gentle swathes of otherworldly energy that comes through on that album, it’s a trip and a half.
Man, this decision was really hard, but the three albums I would take would be:
- t e l e p a t h テレパシー能力者 - アンタラ通信
- 譚詠麟 – 再見吧!? 浪漫
- killedmyself - Backyard Cemetery: Revisited
8. If someone “outside vaporworld” asks you about music you’re doing, how would you describe it? Do you think it’s possible (for a complete stranger, so to say) to get involved with the genre now when there are so much history and levels of subgenres in it?
Funny you should ask that as I’ve been asked many times by my non-vapor friends about it. Generally, I just say its a type of experimental music as I don’t really want to waste my energy on explaining it as most of them won’t really care. However, if there were to be a stranger who did care, then I would gladly explain it to them. Whilst the catalogue of releases has grown significantly in recent years, there’s always a place to start, and there’s plenty of subgenre communities to be involved in.
9. That’s pretty much same as me trying to explain why we release & listen to cassettes =) Do you collect tapes or vinyl? Are there specific ones any you’d kill to get?
I do have a collection but its nowhere near as substantial as some of the ones I’ve seen. I have a few Japanese ones I’m looking for but they are quite rare and only pop up now and again, but really I’m not particularly looking for anything. If the albums really good, I buy the physical. Simple as that.
10. Do you have a dream album or something which you’d love to do with this or any other projects? Or maybe even a dream of life which you can share? =)
Man, I have no idea what to say to this one. In the way I think about music, I don’t have set goals or set dreams that I aspire for and rather just create with what I’ve got and see what happens, and to be honest I am very proud of all my recent stuff and couldn’t have asked for more support from my fans and followers. I guess if there was ever a dream album with any possibility it would probably be a collab with t e l e p a t h or Brian Eno, and it would be the most chilled album ever.
September 16, 2019
Great interview made by my friend with slushwave artist! Good reading!