Digging into the creative process, Byta speaks with artists, musicians, producers, DJs and anyone involved with music creation. A conversation about how they create, collaborate and share music. From studio setups to routines, and the first person to hear about the next 'big' work.
Where are you based?
Austin, Texas. Was originally based in Brooklyn, New York, then moved here three years ago.
How, when and where did you start making music? Are you primarily a musician or a producer, or do something else?
I’ve made music in some form or other since I was eight years old. Holy Wire was the re-manifestation of a solo project I had some 8-10 years ago. I reappropriated some of the songs and turned it into a full band project. We had our first live performance two years ago on June 7.
Who would you consider some of your biggest influences when it comes to your “sound”?
A lot of the typical 80s cult heroes, like New Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Grauzone, DAF, etc. But a lot of it came through artists through the late 2000s and 2010s recontextualizing those sounds. LCD Soundsystem, Chromatics, Black Marble, George Clanton.
Explain your creative process. Do you have a routine?
No routines, only chaos. I will approach a song from any angle. It might be a hook idea. It might be a bass riff. It might be lyrics. Sometimes, when I’m feeling stuck on a song or I don’t like where it’s ended up, I’ll try and “break” the song open by playing it as a solo acoustic song with only chords and melody, or only keyboard, or build the song up again around a single synth sequence. All is fair game.
What is your “studio” setup?
I work from home. Some of my favorite gear that I lean on most is my Roland HS-60, my modular setup (now a drum rack, a polyphonic rack, and a single-voice based rack), Moog Sub 37, and for writing scratch vocals I sing into an SM57 and switch to the Mikteck CV4 when it’s time to commit before mixing.
What is your process when working with other people? How is collaboration different in the studio vs working remotely?
I’m fussy, so working in collaboration can be difficult. I hyperfixate on details in the name of an overall creative vision, so I have to be able to work with people who can tolerate that are willing to toil through what may seem like negligible details to see the thing through. And the whole thing may get trashed anyway.
At what point(s) are you comfortable letting other people hear what you are working on?
It’s difficult to anticipate how much vision and imagination people have. I find I can show other artists who I know things at an earlier time, since they understand the process, and have the leap of faith and imagination it takes to see the potential in something, and where it might sound later, after all the recording and writing changes are done, the mixing and mastering, etc. If I don’t know people as well I might wait til later in the process to show them anything, in case they can’t really envision the difference between a more “demo” sounding recording and a produced one.
Do you share your work in progress (streams or downloads)? Any technical frustrations?
I generally don’t publicly share works in progress. There’s way too much work to be done before the final form!
How do you know when a track/album is finished?
When I begin to hit the point of diminishing returns. When nothing is jumping out at me as needing change, and when any changes I make end up being worse or the same as the existing parts.
Who on your team gets to hear the final versions first and why, what formats do they each need?
I might show friends and musical colleagues if I haven’t been annoying them for feedback enough already.
Outside of your inner circle who are the people that will need to hear the new tracks next?
The usual. The record label, music video directors, album artwork designers, and sometimes photographers.
Anything you are working on, anyone you are working with and want to share?
At the moment, there is this: “THE ENDING OF AN AGE” SINGLE + MUSIC VIDEO & new album as of June 5th: THE ENDING OF AN AGE AVAILABLE NOW