Paul Dunmall about Improvisation
"Getting to the core of the music is a deep search within yourself - basically walking a tightrope.”
Franky Wah about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"I always write and produce from scratch."
Kjetil Jerve Shares his Creative Process
“The material and measurable part of our Universe only represents a fraction of its totality. This experience affects me in all aspects.”
Viels about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"When I’m low on ideas I always try to buy new hardware or software to find new inspiration."
Marja Ahti & Judith Hamann about Material Sound and Intimate Attunement
"Music is not about creating an illusion. It is about investigating what is."
Mark Knight About Production, Technology, and Creativity
"I’ll have an idea and I’ll see it through."
Evgueni Galperine Shares his Creative Process
“When our ego gets small, it loses control over what we are doing. It lets us work in peace without judging every step.”
Alexander Robotnick about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"The result of my work is always a surprise to me. Sometimes it's a good surprise, sometimes it's bad."
Bruxa Maria about Collaboration
“As long as people are on the same page and honest, people write how they want to write ...“
Guro Skumsnes Moe of MoE about Collaboration
“My will to create was always so much stronger than my doubts.”
Brian Eno about Helping the Music Business Help Save the Planet
A plan for change from Eno's keynote at IMS Ibiza
Alva Noto Interview about the Mathematics of Music and Reshaping the World through Art
“Everything we are capable of imagining we can also realise.”
Scott McCaughey (Minus 5, No Ones, R.E.M.) Shares his Creative Process
“The more I try to stick to a plan the worse the song turns out.”
Gabriel Levine of Black Ox Orkestar on Collaboration
“If your idea works, great. If it doesn’t, onto the next one.”
Tools of Creation: Disklavier
Deru about a piano that embeds digital sequencing tools in an acoustic instrument
Theo Bleckmann about Improvisation
"My work is sometimes weird - I need a collaborator who wants to go there with me."
Tools of Creation: The Guitar
Oliver Darling about an instrument that adds a unique blend of rhyhm and texture.
Mat Muntz about Alternative Tuning Systems
"My ultimate goal is to have a band with as many tuning systems as there are instruments."
Isaac Watters about Architecture and Music
"I would have loved to hear Corbusier as a songwriter."
isomonstrosity Share their Creative Process
“This project grew in bursts, in fits and starts.“
Joachim Spieth talks Sound
"Words sometimes only distract. Focusing on sound trains the imagination of the listener."
Dobrawa Czocher Shares her Creative Process
“Some of my colleagues think suffering is the best factor for creating. This is very different for me.”
De Staat about Staying Excited, Fast Music and Slow Lyrics
“I like to write about all kinds of things. But it has to be something I’m a little obsessed with.”
Pale Blue about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I’m selfish. I just want to find the best and easiest ways to make original music."
Tools of Creation: Korg MonoPoly
Eddie Hale about a highly tactile synth for alien expressiveness
Phil Gibbs about Improvisation
"The greater experience of life, like music, is the direct experience that you are more than this personality, more than a physical material being.”
Johannes Motschmann about Composing with Artificial Intelligence
"Our task as musicians is to take composing back from those people who produce music out of purely economic calculation."
Katie Munshaw of Dizzy Shares her Creative Process
“A lot of my best lyrics have come from the seed of something dumb.”
Sandbox Percussion about Interpretation
“We're not trying to mimic somebody else’s interpretation. We're trying to learn what could be possible in any interpretation.“
Theodora Shares her Creative Process
"I feel happy when the sacred and the mundane go together."
Hög sjö (Charlie XCX, Lana del Rey) Shares his Creative Process
"Lyrics are the toughest part. What do I really have to say that millions of people need to hear?"
Michael Begg about Data Composition and Music for Human Survival
"I haven’t found God yet. But you might say that I have found the place where God should be."
ATŌMI about how his Personal History led him to the Art of Sounds
"When I was four, the resonance of a bass drum made my chest and belly vibrate. Right there, something awakened inside me."
Scott Thomson about Improvisation
"If I act belligerently at a dinner party, I shouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get invited back! Music-making is similar."
Kings Elliot Shares her Creative Process
“I love following the endless trail that leads to a song.”
Roger Street Friedman Shares his Creative Process
“Writing music can feel like I’m communing with my own soul.”
Andi Pupato about Collaboration
“Unleashed creativity may appear chaotic. But it can be an infinite source of new ideas.”
Nerk & Kirn about Production, Technology and Creativity
“We’re always building on tradition. There’s never really a blank slate.”
Selina Martin Shares her Creative Process
"Sound manipulation brings me joy. It’s like being a part of evolution."
Noémi Büchi about sound as matter and “late-futuristic symphonics”
"Electronic music allows any sonic fantasy to become reality."
Tools of Creation: Mellotron
Nylenda about a legendary proto-sampling keyboard enabling auditory time travel
Sarah Ruth Talks Sound
"Growing up in old farm houses, the wind whistling through was often my lullaby."
Emmaline Rasmussen of Sound Nutrition about Food, Creativity, and Performance
"Touring performers are subjected to similar conditions as athletes."
Redi Hasa about Interpretation and Arranging Nirvana for the Cello
"It’s incredible to witness the birth of a harmonically and rhythmically rich structure."
Kim Cascone aka Heavenly Music Corporation about Originality
“The more an artist concerns herself with being “original”, the more likely she is to sound like someone else.”
Julian Lloyd Webber Shares his Creative Process
“Recording ideas should feel unforced and natural.”
Nadine Khouri Shares her Creative Process
“Writing is freedom. Anything can happen between the writer and the page.”
Garrett Saracho about Improvisation
"Improvisation reminds us of our ability to make the world that we want to live in."
Avram Fefer about Improvisation
"Engagement is the key to a meaningful life. Otherwise, why are we here?"
Orions Belte Share their Creative Process
“Ideas come at any given time. Often inconvenient.“
Joshua Burnside Shares his Creative Process
“I often need someone else to tell me that it's done. Not that I ever listen.“
Pedro Da Linha about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"Not to be selfish. But it's really important for me to start the entire process."
Ana Moura about Identity, Fado and Casa Guilhermina
“In Fado, souls are communicating – in their own unique language.“
Chad Fowler about Improvisation
"Freely composed pieces don’t carry the baggage of pride. Nobody will recognize them."
Steve Louw Shares his Creative Process
“Songwriting? It's like being a sounding board for spirits.“
Jean-Michel Jarre about the originators of electronic music and his time at the GRM
“Electronic music is coming from our heritage of classical music. It is not originally a pop format.“
Crawlers Share their Creative Process
“I’ve listened to all our songs at least 100 times until they come out.“
Pitou Shares her Creative Process
“There’s always an element of planning. You need to sit down and make space for the creation.“
Pete Cunningham of Ishmael Ensemble about Collaboration
“If it’s an amazing gig, you can share that feeling. If it’s a bad one - you can laugh it off together.”
The Invincible Czars Share their Creative Process
“I’m rarely satisfied with my work. More often, I get sick of it.”
Sawako talks Sound
"We may be able to compose in 5D. But our 4D brain can’t recognize that world."
Casanora talks Sound
"Sometimes I walk through the city and inhale the noise. Sound is all around us, it is in everything."
MUST DIE! about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"I use a lot of what people might view as just noise or error sounds."
Interview with Jean-Michel Jarre about Oxymore, David Lynch and Audio Objects in Space
“With some of my music, there is a mixed feeling. It's very familiar. And yet, I don't know exactly how I did it.“
Surya Botofasina about Improvisation
"I feel every piano or keyboard I see wants me to play it."
Letters to Cleo Share their Creative Process
“Songwriting has a magic to it that is unexplainable. It is sort of like god with a small g.”
Vicente Hansen Atria about Alternative Tuning Systems
"Microtonality is the perfect playground for my obsessiveness."
Arovane about Collaboration
“What matters for a collaboration are the quality of the interaction and the music. Names, even famous names, are not important to me.”
Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) Shares his Creative Process
“I’ve found plenty of opportunity to get addicted to peak experiences and undervalue quiet and subtlety.”
Tools of Creation: The Piano
Stefan Schultze about an instrument with an exciting range but limited control
Håkon Kornstad about Improvisation
"I am a very in the moment person. I always forget the last gig after I have done it."
Nick Storring Shares his Creative Process
"I was genuinely concerned that I had somehow lost my creativity."
Tools of Creation: Trident Mixing Console
Dubokaj about a powerful mixing console with a silky sound.
Fiona Brice Shares her Creative Process
“Explore every avenue. You need to find out where they lead.”
Holysseus Fly of Ishmael Ensemble about Cancer, Creativity, and The Rebuke
“Through music you can turn darkness into light. You can take a painful experience and turn it into something beautiful.”
Carl Cox about Electronic Generations, Improvisation and Trusting the Moment
"After an hour of sweating away, there was a finished track. And then another one. It was incredible."
Sarathy Korwar about KALAK, Indofuturism and Surrender through Music
“When we speak of utopias we must be aware of the colonial language that informs its origins.”
Tools of Creation: Eurorack Modular with Akemie's Castle Module
Mads Kinnerup about a module that bridged the gap between analog and digital.
Yosef-Gutman Levitt about Improvisation
"I took ten years off from playing my instrument. I accepted who I was and who I was not."
Der Assistent Shares his Creative Process
“If you are truly in the zone you do not start an insta-story. Maybe that's why so much music sucks nowadays.“
Tools of Creation: Farfisa Louvre
Lake Turner about a bulky organ with an inspiring feel from a bygone era.
L.A Salami Shares his Creative Process
“If you could express things without poetry then you wouldn’t need poetry. Art exists because it must.”
The Young Gods about Repetition, Variation, and Terry Riley's “In C”
“The more I play “In C”, the more I want to take risks and surprise my fellow musicians.”
Editors about EBM, Collaboration and Fighting Friction
"Would everyone find their place in the new Editors? That was definitely a question."
Nils Frahm about Space, Manipulation and the Heart of the Artichoke
"Editing is a drama. All your neuroses come into it."
Bill Callahan Shares his Creative Process
“Creativity? I’m recently starting to think of it as a pathology.”
Jesse Harris (Norah Jones, Bright Eyes, Lana del Rey) Shares his Creative Process
“The only ritual I have is the act of working on something.”
Thylacine about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“A good mood is the best equipment ever.”
Black Lilys Share their Creative Process
“Your soul is taking over your mind when you’re creating something aligned with yourself. Like an orgasm is only a few seconds when you make love.”
Jan Philipp Janzen aka Dumbo Tracks about Collaboration
“I feel so much more relaxed when I’m collaborating with others.“
Paolo Baldini aka DubFiles about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“Roots music was an important impulse on modernity.”
Tools of Creation: The Cello
Clarice Jensen about a high versatility instrument with a generous range
Marilyn Mazur about Collaboration
“Playing with greats like Miles Davis and Jan Garbarek felt like coming home.“
Matthias Lindermayr and Masako Ohta about Improvisation
"There are only two rules in improvisation: Be free and be honest."
Tools of Creation: Novation Summit
Patricia Wolf about a synthesizer with effortless flow and almost limitless possibilities.
Sunda Arc Share their Creative Process
“We have more of a struggle knowing when a track is finished than starting one.”
Fifteen Questions Interview with J-Shadow
If a tree fell and no-one is around to hear it - does it make 90s jungle?
Daphne Parker Powell Shares her Creative Process
“I will plan a tour. But I never plan a song.”
Jeremy Rose about Improvisation
"You need to know when to act, when to react - and when to stay out of it."
Shlomi Aber about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“If a producer tells you he managed to get exactly what he had in mind, it is sure to be a misrepresentation of the truth.”
Trooko (Beyonce, M.I.A.) about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“Many times I sit in front of my computer and hope for the best!”
Lykke Li about Bedroom Experiments and Painting with Sound
"It was going to be an album I made for my 19-year-old self. I didn't want to worry about anything other than making it feel right."
Melawati about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“I am sometimes baffled by the rigidness in people protecting a genre from any outside influence or innovation.”
Fifteen Questions Interview with Mark Kimbrell (Oort Smog, Upsilon Acrux)
Unexpected Directions
Alabaster DePlume about Improvisation
"When I’m asked how I do the show, I say I don’t know – it depends who is there."
Steve Bates about Colonialism on the Universe and Existence as Vibration
"I like to think of field recordings as completely “made-up”. Like music."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir
A Social Streak and a Curious Mind
L.A.B. Share their Creative Process
“Some of the best songs we’ve written have been smashed out in a day in the studio.“
SPILL (Magda Mayas / Tony Buck) about Improvisation
"A lot of people have a strong sense of what is “musical”. It’s nice to challenge what that means exactly."
The Coronas Share their Creative Process
“After the completion of each of our last 5 albums, I’ve said: I’m not sure if I’ll ever write another song, the well is empty.“
Johanna Knutsson Shares her Creative Process
“If I plan too much I loose myself. The studio is the only place where every hour isn't scheduled.“
Bruno Bavota about Collaboration
“No vanity. Everything has to support the goal of celebrating the music.“
Kids Return Share their Creative Process
“A melody is timeless. It will remain when we are gone.“
Owen Broder about Improvisation
"There are certain aspects of playing jazz that were missing in my education. I’m still trying to make up for it."
Courtney Marie Andrews Shares her Creative Process
“On my new album there's what I call a word vomit song. The chords, words, and melody all came out in ten minutes.“
A Winged Victory for the Sullen about Deliberate Notes, Perfect Drones and Atonal Masturbation
“Music was never something I thought I was particularly good at. It always feels like a constant struggle.“
Chantal Acda about Collaboration
“I have a hard time to really let people in. Through music I can connect.“
Fifteen Questions Interview with Stepha Schweiger of The Moon Is No Door
Extreme and Expressive
Mosaik Kollektif about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“Some of our tracks take ten years before they are released.”
Kamran Arashnia talks Sound
"There is music hidden in the sound of boiling water and burning firewood."
Doom Flower Share their Creative Process
"Our new single was written with the visual of riding a horse and shooting a gun in the air."
Jerry Folk about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“For me the computer is the most important tool. I don’t need much to make a beat.”
HamsandwicH Share their Creative Process
"The songs that cause the most torture are usually my favourite tracks."
grentperez Shares his Creative Process
"Who knows, maybe 3 and a half strawberries might help to enter a transient state."
Halina Rice Talks Sound
"I love sounds that have an organic and yet unplaceable feel to them."
Sol Messiah (Jay Z, Aesop Rock) Shares his Creative Process
"It’s a building block thing. Almost like Lego."
Dominic Voz talks Sound
"I disagree that I focus foremost on sound abstractly. This music still has intense melodic, rhythmic, harmonic components."
Brian Auger about Improvisation
"Sometimes I have the strange experience of watching my fingers play, and asking myself: Who is doing this?"
Noise in the Key of Life / aint about me Shares his Creative Process
"I want to feel like I’m in a Murakami novel – I don’t want to know where the thing is going."
Klaudia Kudełko about Fashion & Music
"For impressionist music, I love to wear more gentle colors. But when I play Rachmaninov, I think of red."
District Five Share their Creative Process
"If we like something, we'll record it. Next time time we play it, nobody quite remembers how it was."
Nils Hoffmann about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“I’m less productive the bigger the studio is.”
Donald Nally of The Crossing about Interpretation
"As a conductor, you are never the person who makes the sounds – never the person that listeners actually hear!"
Living Hour Share their Creative Process
"It’s hard to explain what I’m doing in questionnaires such as these."
Nick Storring about Music as Cooking and Telling Stories with Sound
"We tend to neglect the more gastronomical elements of composition."
Sean Brosnan (Needwant, Future Disco) about Compilations and Curation
“My eternal holy grail? Trying to find the future of disco.“
Janus Rasmussen of Kiasmos about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“Maybe humans are too weird to put into code.”
Fifteen Questions Interview with Sheila Brody (George Clinton, Public Enemy, GAP Band)
Can’t Fake the Funk
KMFDM share their Creative Process
"KMFDM is not necessarily a “lyrical” thing. The words have to hit, to punish and hurt a bit."
Susie Seiter about Scoring for Film
"As long as it’s serving a movie's story, I don’t think the music can be wrong."
Austin Wintory about Scoring for Film
"We’re not really writing ‘music’. We're contributing to the ‘Audio.’"
Andy Klingensmith Talks Sound
"Noise is an essential and natural part of our everyday existence. A beautiful chaos."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Matteo De Vito (C'ammafunk)
Creative Flexibility, Flexible Creativity
Steven Dayvid McKellar Shares his Creative Process
"The conception of something is where the fire is at. Something can only be born once."
Blaue Blume Share their Creative Process
"I can’t be creative, use my intuition and police myself at once. That’s too pop, that’s too noisy, that’s too corny."
Siavash Amini Talks Sound
"When I was in a professional studio for the first time, the possibilities seemed endless. I still feel they are."
The Human League about Production, Producers and the Primacy of Ideas
"We've got a tendency to go into 48 tracks and wonder: Oh, what's that triangle doing?“
Morphing Roles
Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir about stretching collaboration to its limits on "strengur".
Dubokaj about Dubbing the Swiss Alps, Lee Perry and Painting with Sound
"I've always been interested by things other people would discard."
Oberst & Buchner about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“A Juno-60 does not have many faces. But the few things a Juno can do are close to perfection.”
PINK COURTESYPHONE Talks Sound
"We are all just a collection of vibrations, some vibrating more dramatically than others."
Lissie Shares her Creative Process
"My ambition is not to say anything unless I have to. I don’t want to fake it."
Tools of Creation: TR-909 Rhythm Composer
Moderat about the arguably most recognisable Drum Machine of all time.
Felix Taylor talks Sound
"Sound is an invisible presence. It has the ability to completely occupy and fill a space it's in."
Local Suicide about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“We rarely have a concept in mind when going into the studio.”
Fifteen Questions Interview with Julius Windisch of the Windisch Quartet
Working Through it - Together
Timmy Kinsella Shares his Creative Process
"I would have no idea how to write a song if someone asked me to."
Abstract Division about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“With the birth of granular synthesis, the whole world changed for us.”
Erik Truffaz about Originality
"Your tools are not important. Originality should first and foremost be the result of an internal journey."
Emme Moises about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“We are already becoming cyborgs. Our intertwinement with machines is getting deeper every day.”
Tools of Creation: The Cello
Theresa Wong about an instrument that feels like a soundbox with infinite possibilities.
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Shares his Creative Process
"So many things go nowhere and I love it."
Beacon about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“The most creative moments with equipment are when you don’t quite understand it.”
Terry Lee Hale Shares his Creative Process
"Don’t be too precious about the process. Face the fact that you might not be the best songwriter in the world."
Bertrand Gauguet about Improvisation
"Improvisation turns the brain into an alternative tool of perception."
Bells Larsen Share their Creative Process
"It can be hard to know when a song is done. Especially when I’m posting sixty second fragments of half-written things online all the time."
Howard Shore about Scoring for Film
"In the Cronenberg films, we are often working around the edges of the subconscious."
Denzel Curry about the Relation between Beats and Lyrics
"You just made a post? Well, you don't get a fucking medal."
Rich Aucoin about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“I was given 15 minutes at Abbey Road. I ended up getting enough stuff for 2 records.”
Tools of Creation: The Hardanger Fiddle
Erlend Apneseth about a local instrument with truly original sound qualities.
Fifteen Questions Interview with Collisions (Ciaran Morahan, Tom Hodge, Ollie Howell)
Photo in Time
Paul Kendall about the Influence of Technology on Creativity
"The Doctor Who theme music shattered any preconceptions of traditional timbre."
Nick Storring about Inspiration, Innovation and Imitation
"Imitation still remains a crucial ingredient for me."
Tools of Creation: Revox B77
Jérôme Noetinger about a tape machine that gives him the utopia of having the sound in his hands.
Ströme about Production, Technology and Creativity
"It is great to have quite a bit of equipment. But there is a point when it gets too complicated."
Chris Liebing Shares his Creative Process
"First, I need peace in the studio. Then, I let chaos take over."
Dienne Bogaerts talks Sound
"I don’t like putting sounds in corners. Street noise can be as fulfilling as a pop song."
Tool of Creation: Roland 303
Force Mass Motion about a tiny bass synthesizer that left a fingerprint on hundreds of monumental tracks.
Shafqat Amanat Ali Shares his Creative Process
"Bringing something fresh to a song is welcome. But you can‘t create a revolutionary national song if your brief is to write a romantic one."
Pleasurekraft about Artificial Intelligence
"Algorithms are clearly making aesthetic judgements - even if we don’t want to grant them such agency."
Asger Techau of Kashmir Shares his Creative Process
"When I start composing, I almost never know where I’m going."
Kid Loco Shares his Creative Process
"I’m a romantic anarchist blended with a communist spiritual guy."
Bob Driftwood Shares his Creative Process
"What’s nice about music is the effort to uncover something so intangible. You’ll never be able to touch or see it."
TRY about Production, Technology and Creativity
“We want to create things that people haven’t seen before.”
Smomid about Building and Composing with his own Instruments
"Every synth guitar, or midi guitar I’ve played, except for mine, completely sucks."
Kahani about Giving the South Asian Diaspora a Voice
"Indo house is the next frontier. And I’m here to bring it to the world."
Kristin Oppenheim about Working with her Voice and the Magic of Words
"We all hear voices in our head. They are private moments, some darker than others."
Tools of Creation: Rhodes Chroma with Enabler
Mathew Jonson about an analog synthesizer that captures performances in ways that other keyboards can’t.
Caleb Wheeler Curtis about Improvisation
"One moment we are talking about our day, week, life. In the next, we are knee deep in sound."
Greg Davis about Alternative Tuning Systems
"Everything throughout space and time is interconnected, dying and being reborn at every moment."
Hot Chip Share their Creative Process
"The idea of musicians as vessels for superhuman ideas is over rated."
Emily Elbert Shares her Creative Process
"Our stories are full of beauty and meaning. The first job of an artist is to have the vulnerability to dig deep into that story."
Ran Nir Shares his Creative Process
"Music requires less personal interpretation. It doesn't require your intellect."
Lasse Marhaug talks Sound
"My perception of sound is visual. It’s almost a kind of controlled hallucination."
DEHD Share their Creative Process
"This is my best advice to writers: Allow yourself to suck."
Tools of Creation: Sequential Prophet 6
CoastalDives about an analog poly-synth that makes simple ideas sound unique.
John Monkman about Production, Technology and Creativity
“In the world of modular synthesis I’m in discovery mode.”
Kutiman Shares his Creative Process
"I must create all the time. Doing nothing is something I just don’t know how to do."
Carlita about DJing
"Too much production or AI can take away from what you’ve really come for."
Nate Wooley about Improvisation
"To improvise is to embrace as many possibilities as possible."
Mafro Shares his Creative Process
"A writing session without a jumping-off point gives me anxiety."
The Midnight Share their Creative Process
"I'm a ditch digger in my own personal mythology: You just shovel dirt."
Tools of Creation: Behringer 2600 Gray Meanie
Wehbba about a semi-modular clone that doubles up as a time machine.
Monkey Safari Share their Creative Process
"It's important to remove the pressure that something should be perfect. It never is."
Fripp & Eno: No Pussyfooting (1973)
Dirk Serries about an album that created structure from time.
Paulina Fae Shares her Creative Process
"Writing a song is a pulse that takes me beyond the earth realm."
Tools of Creation: The Violin
Tobias Preisig about an instrument that has become part of his DNA.
Damsel Elysium talks Sound and Neurodiversity
"I hear whole symphonies when the tube screeches and hallows."
Tools of Creation: Moog DFAM
BRUX about an analogue percussion synth that is keeping her on her toes.
Patrick Holland fka Project Pablo Shares his Creative Process
"I wrote the majority of my record in a windowless room lit by a grow light."
Gimenö about Production, Technology and Creativity
"Working without a DAW totally changed the way I write music."
Rüdiger Gleisberg about Scoring for Film
"If the chemistry is right between director and musician, great moments of cinematic art can arise."
Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch about finding Closure and Confronting Loss and Grief with Music
"Trying to put the passing of my father into words was limiting, reducing it to something too small. Music was a better transcription."
Paul Kendall (Depeche Mode, Barry Adamson, Nitzer Ebb) Talks Sound
"I witnessed Stockhausen’s Mantra in concert as an 18 year old. The entry of the ring modulation still sends shivers down my spine almost 50 years later."
Katy Guillen Shares her Creative Process
"I forget how I worked creative time into my schedule before the pandemic."
Ludivine Issambourg Shares her Creative Process
"I love losing control. I'm constantly looking for it."
Paul Beaudoin Shares his Creative Process
"It is a common perception that all work begins at the beginning. It doesn’t."
Model Man about Remixing Debussy and the Hidden Connections between Club and Classical
"My remix is kind of like I’ve eaten a Debussy risotto. The rework is next day’s arancini balls."
Lewis Thompson about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I usually find that a good song is easy to produce. Try producing a bad song, it’s really hard."
Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire) Shares his Creative Process
"Little things eat away at you. Then they begin to take form."
Colin Baldry aka Ambient Jazz Ensemble Shares his Creative Process
"Often, I’ll be awake at night and my head begins to swim with ideas."
Goon's Kenny Becker Shares his Creative Process
"I adore lyrics that are simple and childlike. If a kid could have written it, I will probably love it."
Tools of Creation: MFB Synth Pro
Phairo about a rare analogue synth capable of some really, really nice chords
Automatic about Defiance, Limitations and why it's more Fun to Synthesize
"It felt natural to write about extreme excess and greed."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Brandon Coleman (Kamasi Washington, Flying Lotus)
Ancestral Connection
Telenova Share their Creative Process
"I was staring at a tree and cried. The bark and the leaves and the birds and the pollen drifting like little snowflakes, were just so beautiful and so perfect."
Kanye West: Jesus is King (2019)
Tobias Fischer about an album that sacrificed itself for a higher goal.
Martin Taxt about the Connections between Architecture and Music
"Architecture is a constant movement between the space, its surroundings and consumers. There are endless individual stories."
Jeff Cardoni about Scoring for Film
"I knew this was going to be a challenge of the best possible kind - every note was dissected, and discussed."
Ches Smith About Improvisation
"I like getting into other people’s systems. It keeps me growing."
Doe Paoro Shares her Creative Process
"I yearn for my releases to connect to the sacred … instead, I'm feeling the profane."
Doctor Dru Shares his Creative Process
"In the unknown, just guided by the moment – isn't that exactly where you want to be as a creative?"
Nick Millevoi of Grassy Sound about Nostalgia and the 50s-80s-2020s continuum
"The research for this record has been a lifelong project."
Delicate Steve Shares his Creative Process
"Getting started is like leaving the house: you just need one reason to do it. From there you can go anywhere."
Manni Dee about Production, Technology and Creativity
"It’s ideas, not technology, that instigate everything."
Zimoun about the Connections between Sculpture and Music
"My pieces create spaces that one can enter, stay in and leave again. There is no true beginning or end."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Friederike Bernhardt aka Moritz Fasbender
Digging like a Dentist
Fifteen Questions with Raffy Bushman of NuShape Orchestra and Unit 31
Therapeutic Brain Workout
Finding Fresh Air
What makes rock great - and the pleasures of not seeing Jack White in concert.
Maude Vôs & Marie Nyx about creative spaces for female, LGBTQIA+, nonbinary and BIPOC artists
"The only people that say art isn’t political are the ones upholding power."
Mansions In The Sea Shares his Creative Process
"I resisted this project for a long time. But you have to follow where creativity leads."
Janine Rainforth of Maximum Joy Shares her Creative Process
"Walking is where a lot of my work happens and starts."
Michael Canitrot About Architecture and Music
"There is a correlation between the structure of a monument and the shape of a track."
Wilhelm Kempff: Die Goldberg-Variationen (1970)
Tobias Fischer about an album whose beauty turned into an object of hate.
Rose Ringed about Moments of Truth, Sprituality and the Three-Sauce-Paradox
"Going to nightclubs and festivals is our new way of going to church."
Marco Cassanelli and Deckard about Production, Technology, and Creativity
“With live instruments and musicians, the music remains fluid until you record it.”
Hilma Nikolaisen Shares her Creative Process
"I put the music out there before I get the chance to regret it. Even if it might seem primitive."
Cenk Ergün about Alternative Tuning Systems
"Equal Temperament has obscured intersections among musical traditions - the ratios everyone from Pythagoras to Al-Farabi, from Itri to Monteverdi thought about."
Chloe Alexandra Thompson Talks Sound
"Sound cannot exist in a vacuum. It is an urgent way to connect more with the world around us."
Buchla 208 + 200e & Strymon Magneto: Tools of Creation
Braxe & Falcon about the Buchla as a limitless sound generator.
Fifteen Questions Interview with Jessica Boudreaux (Summer Cannibals)
Filling in the Weak Spots
Ryan Packard (RedGreenBlue) on Collaboration
"Enjoy the failures as much as the successes. They are both pretty special."
Charlie Kirchen (RedGreenBlue) Shares his Creative Process
"To make the music we want it to make, I have to resist certain temptations."
Paul Giallorenzo (RedGreenBlue) about Improvisation
"Even the freest sounding material has a pulse. Or some kind of cyclical experience of time."
Madelene Eliasson aka LonelyTwin Shares her Creative Process
"Most of the time I have very little idea of what I’m going to make."
Denzel Curry about Death, Creativity, and Luke Skywalker
"Once I was finished with therapy, I could no longer be angry for listeners like I used to be. But I can still channel energy."
Andrew Duhon Shares his Creative Process
"When I'm afraid to say a line, that's exciting to me. Because someone else is probably afraid to say it, too."
Heather Woods Broderick Shares her Creative Process
"Songwriting has been with me for so long. We miss each other if we spend too much time apart."
Mike Storm about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"Stars emerge, stars die. Just like working with analogue equipment."
Bridges into the Present
Glenn Gould, Max Richter and the Four Seasons – how much Respect do Composers Deserve?
Sebastian Reynolds Shares his Creative Process
"If I could communicate verbally what I want to say with my music - why would I bother making it?"
Mica Millar Shares her Creative Process
"A lot of people questioned whether I would ever finish this record."
Sam Slater talks Sound
"I am often very drawn to sounds that remind me of voices - without actually being from a human."
Fear Falls Burning: Frenzy of the Absolute (2008)
Tobias Fischer about an album that was glorious and self-destructive at the same time.
Tools of Creation: Simmons SDE
Bintus about a ruff as f*** drum expander you could pinpoint a mile off.
Tanya Donelly (Belly, Breeders, Throwing Muses, The Loyal Seas) Shares her Creative Process
"At some point, I’d like to try to just let the emptiness happen."
Binker Golding about Improvisation
"There are a million principles about improvisation. Some of them contradictory."
Manuel Göttsching: E2-E4 (1981/1984)
Tobias Fischer about an album that introduced a new approach to improvisation.
WhoMadeWho about the Art of the Song
"Songwriting is one of the last forms of black magic left in this world."
Dirk Serries about Improvisation
"It's an unspoken rule not to talk, negotiate or discuss how to approach a live performance."
Simon Belshaw Shares his Creative Process
"At the completion of a piece, I often feel: I can never do that again."
Tiger Stripes Shares his Creative Process
"Once I've started working on a track, I can’t wait to finish it. It might be a bit like being pregnant."
GAF & The Love Supreme Arkestra about Improvisation
"Some of us have been playing together for more than 20 years. And we still don’t have a clear answer to how we do it."
Alexander Kowalski about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"Some of my tracks take years to get finished. Some will never be."
Andrew Bernstein of Horse Lords Talks Sound
"Sound is always changing, always in flux. This is the state of world also."
Stefan Goldmann about Tools, Instruments & Creativity
“Instruments come first. What you might call creativity follows.”
Sietse van Erve about the Connections between Autism and Music
"The world would be a better place if more people would listen to drone music."
Hans P. Kjorstad about Capturing Forces of Nature and Mass Extinctions in Sound
"It’s really really creepy that we are not thinking more ahead. What will be going on in 500 years? Or even 100 years?"
Lia Mice about Building and Hacking her own Instruments
"Creating instruments and producing music are part of the same project: To make new music that hasn’t been made before."
DJ Rocca about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"I am a classically trained flutist. Technology has completely changed my mind."
Tools of Creation: Disklavier
Jameszoo about an instrument that detaches humanity from aesthetics.
Peter Coccoma about Death, Decay and a Misdiagnosis that changed him
"Death taught me that you shouldn’t wait.“
Heidi Talbot Shares her Creative Process
"I walk for hours and sing ideas into my phone. If you stay open, it's possible to catch an idea."
Grant-Lee Phillips Shares his Creative Process
"For some, writing songs is a kind of necessary evil. That's something I simply can’t relate to."
jaimie branch of Anteloper about Improvisation
"30 seconds as a duo with Evan Parker realigned my atomic make up."
Carl Stone about Production, Technology and Creativity
"A digital working environment is a two-edged sword."
Bryan Senti Shares his Creative Process
"I wanted to connect my world to that of my parents and ancestors."
Matilde Meireles Talks Sound
"Don’t get me wrong, I do like technology. I just have a very particular focus."
Jenny Berkel shares her Creative Process
"The creative state is the most giving place I can imagine. It can also be the most frustrating."
Eraldo Bernocchi (Sigillum S) talks Sound
"Sounds are a utopia that can be heard. They're possibly the nearest thing to a God I can imagine.”
twocolors about Production, Instruments and Songwriting
"We want to implement 100% of what we have in mind. Like a vision of a film."
Linqua Franqa about Rap as Activism and the Contextual Power of the Word
"If you don't fucking know what you're talking about, it's okay to say nothing."
Louise Quinn of Gates of Light Shares her Creative Process
"When my ex-husband listened to one of the songs, he broke down crying."
Heavee about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I consider myself to be tethered to my studio."
Peter Gregson about Sleep, the Subconscious and the Value of Silence
"Everything is possible in a dream state."
Bag Raiders about Modular Synthesizers
"The modular is the ultimate starting point. A kind of limitless inspiration source."
Tangerine Dream about Improvisation, Collaboration and Speculation
"There are no restrictions in our world."
Dave Tucker about Improvisation
"I was messing about - which in turn became improvisation, of sorts."
Tools of Creation: Waldorf Microwave
Stefan Goldmann about a synthesizer which is rewardingly akward to use.
Síomha about Irish, English and the Influence of Language on Creativity
"I find singing in the Irish language so freeing."
Mazen Kerbaj talks Sound
"My childhood was rocked by sounds of shells, bombs, rifles, and tanks. We made competitions to identify a brand of rifle by its sound."
Tools of Creation: Moog Modular
Hannes Bieger about a synth that you can have conversations with.
Melody's Echo Chamber Shares her Creative Process
"Sometimes I am so nerdy and tyrannical about the smallest detail. My producer sometimes thinks it's madness."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Pachakuti & young.vishnu
Always Tradition, always Transition
Christian Winther Shares his Creative Process
"I never wrote for anyone else but me. How can you make anything while thinking about an audience?"
Richard Talbot aka Prospector Sound talks Sound
"The kitchen is always rewarding. Some of my sounds are samples of saucepans."
Xinobi about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I believe in creative mixing. It's the ultimate personality stamp on a piece of music."
Khompa about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I think the element of surprise is fundamental. Isn't that why we make music?"
What do Black Holes Sound like?
"There is a mystery about the inner part of a black hole. I wonder what it would be like to travel there."
Gabriella Vergilov about Healing Music and Dancefloor Existentialism
"It is not beauty that is going to save this world. It's music."
Life On Planets Shares his Creative Process
"I’m not as gifted as Prince. But computers help fill the gaps."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Jarboe (SWANS, Neurosis)
Open the Door to the Corridor of Discovery
Paul Beaudoin about the Electricity of EDM and the Illusion of Time
"I had tears running down my face. How can it be that music is powerless to express anything?"
Roger Eno Shares his Creative Process
"In medieval stone carvings the angels are playing instruments. They're not making coffee or watching television."
Abigail Lapell Shares her Creative Process
"Music is the closest thing I know to the meaning of life."
Heidrunna Shares her Creative Process
"I can cry my eyes out while I’m writing some of my saddest songs."
James Heather about Music as a Tool for Forgiveness
"My jaw was wired shut for a month, and all I saw was darkness."
Lord Pusswhip about Production, Technology and Creativity
"Producers with the most broken, fucked up computers tend to make the best beats."
Simon Whetham talks Sound
"Llistening to the environment is a different experience from listening to a pop song. It takes patience and practice."
Bambounou about the Art of Remixing
"You can create a whole new track from just one second of an original."
Rizomagic about Production, Technology and Creativity
"For us it’s really important to imagine the music before putting our hands on the instruments."
Yung Bae about Collaboration
"At first, when I set out to tackle the new album, it was a bit intimidating."
Steven Brown (Tuxedomoon, Ensamble Kafka) Shares his Creative Process
"Yes, I believe in the presence of spirituality in what I do."
Michelle Willis Shares her Creative Process
"The same impulses that direct everyday tasks come through in our songwriting. That’s what gives music a voice, a character, a shape."
Victor Santana about Music, Sounds in Space and Cosmic Exploration
"I hope to be able to make music on Mars one day."
Fifteen Questions Interview with James Singleton
Moving Humans Forward in the Grand Illusion of Time
Kaori Suzuki Talks Sound
"We've reached a point in Western experimental music where artists are incredibly self-conscious and verbose about where their work fits in."
Topic about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I often find myself looking ages for the right snare. It's a little bit like tinder."
Principe Valiente Share Their Creative Process
"Music might be the most physical and direct earthly religious experience you can have."
Felsmann + Tiley about the Art of Remixing
"100% loving a track is the worst precondition for a great remix."
Jacknife Lee of Telefís Shares his Creative Process
"What if nothing comes? That fear now excites me."
Roland JUNO 106: Tools of Creation
David Agrella about a synth that shaped the sound of a decade.
Hayden James Shares his Creative Process & Views on Technology
"When a song is released it feels like it’s born again to me."
FloFilz about Inspirations and Mental Travelling
"Many people have told me that my beats sound quite melancholic. I guess they're not wrong."
Katie Thiroux about Helping Female Jazz Players Stand up for Themselves
"I find females to listen better and to be more instinctual."
Silke Eberhard about Improvisation
"It's always a wonderful feeling to fill space with vibration."
Lola de la Mata about Tinnitus as a Creative Spark
"I've been fighting against my body for most of my 20s. Now I make music in order to … befriend it?"
Breakbot & Irfane about Production, Technology and Creativity
"We are very far from Prince’s vault."
Kaja Draksler about Building new Musical Languages
A musician told me: "I can hear the mountains of your village in your music."
Polo & Pan about Production, Technology and Creativity
"Technology can be in service of creativity. But the concept of surprise is human."
Hyesu Wiedmann about Film Music and Orchestration
"In a film, I want the music to be the unspoken voice."
Matthew Hawtin about Music & Design
"I’ve never consciously attempted to paint music. Yet unconsciously maybe I am."
Larry Tee about Fashion & Music
"Electroclash was so political - and I became its unofficial spokesperson."
Proper. about going from Black Suffering to Black Genius
"There’s no reason a simple tale about a black American can’t be told."
Chilly Gonzales about Collaboration, Negative Space and Consumed in Key
"Many electronic musicians think that sound can replace melody or harmony. No, it can't."
Richie Hawtin / Plastikman about Technology, Collaboration and Consumed in Key
"It was a incredible, frustrating and annoying. Isn't that why we became artists in the first place?"
Danny Clay about Healing with Music and Music for Hard Times
"Music is a powerfully functional tool. It should be used with the utmost care."
Kevin Saunderson about DJing
"People would say: Who's this cat? We haven't even heard of him! But it didn't take too long to prove myself."
Superpoze about Production, Technology and Creativity
"I'm not a fan of spontaneity in music."
Tommaso Moretti Shares his Creative Process
"Sometimes, the seed of a song will haunt me. I have to get it done to have some peace of mind."
KIDSØ about Production, Technology and Creativity
"Sometimes technology stifles creativity. Especially when you're more into technology than music."
Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul about Morality, Fun & Uncomfortable Dancing
"Anger is a good starting point to get your point accross. But if you want change, you need to grow past that."
Avery Draut of Night Palace Shares her Creative Process
“I rarely think of starting a song at the beginning.”
Brian Chase about Improvisation
"Whether collaborating or working independently – we can expand ‘who we are.’"
Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Delerium) talks Sound
"Our brains are still adapting to all the noise. There’s a reason why every third person has insomnia."
Vincent Corver about Improvisation
"Life on earth never dies. It goes through stages of life and dormancy, remaining in a state of constant transformation."
Juheun about Production, Technology and Creativity
"Humans are not ready yet to give machines full control. I'm not sure we'll ever be."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer
Infinite Worlds, Infinite Ways
Imanbek about Production, Technology and Creativity
"Every single element of a production should reflect my feelings."
Daniel Bell (DBX, Cybersonik) about Early Inspiration, Detroit in the 90s and “Less is More”
"Ultimately, I wanted to create something that broke away from the old order."
Ken Ikeda about Improvisation
"Most soloists are like the main actor in the spotlight. I'm like a stage designer or cameraman."
Étienne de Crécy about Production, Super Discount & Motorbass
"Chaos and accidents are essential!"
Horse Lords about Just Intonation, the Rhyhm-Harmony Unity and Networks of Constraints
Dense, Dazzling Drones
Rizomagic about Identity, Tradition, and the Colombian Electronics Scene
"Music is as an instrument of union. It is a tool to demolish mind veils."
Johannes Albert about DJing
"We DJs are present at a club to play music FOR people. Give and take right?"
Mary Yuzovskaya about DJing
"My taste is very specific and super narrow - I’m not eclectic at all."
Michael Rother about Improvisation
"What is the creative state like? I don't know. In fact, I'm not sure I would even want to know."
Vittoria Maccabruni About Collaboration
"Out of your comfort zone can be a very interesting place to be in."
Alexander Lloyd Blake of Tonality about making Classical Music Socially Conscious
"Gun violence, climate change, mental health, women’s right - I want to create music that gets people really discussing issues."
Massimo Magee about Improvisation
"Once free jazz exploded in my brain, it changed my perception of what music could be. It changed my life."
Madeline Juno Shares her Creative Process
"I've become addicted to feeling hurt by my own lyrics."
FloFilz about Collaboration and the New London Jazz Scene
"The best collaborations are based on trust."
Damian Dalla Torre Shares his Creative Process
“Sometimes I need a good friend to tell me to stop.”
Markus Rom about Improvisation
"I like it when it’s hard to tell if a piece of music is composed or improvised."
Elles Bailey Shares her Creative Process
“So many great lines were written while I was taking a break to make a cup of tea!”
Nyokabi Kariũki talks Sound
"In Africa, musical engagements are often not divided between stage and audience - everyone is a contributor to the sound.”
Roedelius & Tim Story about Collaboration
“The reason to collaborate is dangerous – to work with someone who is not ‘like’ you.”
Bugge Wesseltoft about Improvisation
"Already Johann Sebastian Bach was improvising over contrapunctual concepts."
Joshua Idehen (Deadelus, Sons of Kemet) Shares his Creative Process
"My early versions can be shit drafts. A lot of shit drafts."
The Range Shares his Creative Process
“It’s not uncommon for me to have 100 different saves of a song.”
Eric Chenaux about Improvisation
"When I am improvising I am often in many states at once. A present-tense that has ghosts all over the place."
Lewis OfMan about Production, Technology and Creativity
"It's like there's an ancient civilisation hiding behind the DX7 algorithm."
DJ Vadim Shares his Creative Process
"To know when a track is finished, when it feels right - that's a hundred million $ emotion!"
Blindsmyth about Production, Technology and Creativity
"You don't need technology to be surprised. That's a marketing trick of the industry."
Kajsa Magnarsson & Marta Forsberg talk Sound
"That’s beautiful - you are the adoptive mother of lost and found sounds!"
Sharon Farber about Scoring for Film
"We touch upon the deepest level of human experience - cliché or not cliché."
LB aka LABAT about Production, Technology and Creativity
"What sets your music apart is the percentage of honesty you put in it."
Lissy Fey Shares her Creative Process
"Some of my lines can only be explained in hindsight. Some remain a mystery."
Chrome Canyon about Scoring for Film
"Film music is like a magic trick - you know you’re being manipulated and the crazier it feels, the more wonderful it is."
Julianna about DJing
"Dancing translates another view of our experience in the world. It’s another kind of listening."
Willy Vlautin of The Delines Shares His Creative Process
"My rituals when writing novels? I have to feel good, and I can’t be hungover. When writing songs, I can be hungover."
Jaimi Faulkner Shares his Creative Process
"I often need to retank after making a record. I need to live new experiences, read, walk, laugh, cry."
DunkelpeK about Improvisation
"Improvisation is a willful adventure into the unknown. It can be scary and disorienting for some."
Melt Yourself Down Share their Creative Process
"No amount of cycling, running, meditating, coffee or incense will help if you’re not happy inside."
Ray Angry of Public Domain / The Roots Shares his Creative Process
"Once I sit down at the piano, the music just pours out of me."
Jamie Lawson Shares his Creative Process
"If a singer sings, “I love you,” and believes it, it can be the best line ever written."
Kasztan (Stal, M83) About Technology and his Creative Process
"Every time I start with an idea, it ends up becoming something completely different."
Awkward Moments about Fashion & Music
"Music has always led fashion. Nearly no one has written a song about a dress."
Christina Giannone Talks Sound
"Sound challenges our beliefs of how the universe is supposed to be."
Peter Knight of Australian Art Orchestra Shares his Creative Process
"I can reach part of myself in music that I can’t in other spheres of life."
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay Talks Sound
"Sound travels from one body to another. And on its path it makes connections."
Kate Havnevik Shares her Creative Process
"I'm like a sculptor. I look at the song and decide if it needs a different shaped nose or bigger ears."
Andrea Oliva about DJing
"Everybody want’s to be the headliner. Everybody wants to smash it."
Merzbow about Improvisation
"If I can't achieve sufficient volume and sound pressure, the nature of the Merzbow experience changes."
Thandi Draai Shares her Creative Process
"Africa is so rich in its native languages - and that’s a powerful thing!"
Niall McNamee Shares his Creative Process
"Being hungover awakens the senses. But that can’t be the answer forever."
Pierre Vervloesem Shares his Creative Process
"Do I have certain rituals? Just walking. Everything else is actor bullshit."
Rob Mazurek & Mauricio Takara of São Paulo Underground about Improvisation
"You can transform a whole tone scale, a brown shoe, the blue sky or a rollercoaster.“
Mladen Kurajica & Daniel Garcia of Tupperwear about Improvisation
"It is fun to get lost for a while."
Omar Péne Shares his Creative Process
"I am a creator. I create at every moment. It is my job."
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten about Improvisation
"It's social music. We need the audience as much as they need us."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Maurizio Vitale aka Lolita Terrorist Sounds
Into Non-Identifiable Space
Tall Heights Share their Creative Process
"We’re trying to create something spiritual in an agnostic sense."
Joshua Lutz aka The Road Up North shares his Creative Process
"The experiment is greater than the plan. It always wins in the end."
Fifteen Questions Interview with Torstein Lofthus of Red Kite & Elephant9
Connected by Something Bigger
Fifteen Questions Interview with Even Helte Hermansen of Red Kite
Music helps a party. Music helps a funeral.
Trond Frønes of Red Kite about the Art & Challenges of Collaboration
"We are looking for chaos. But we also want to be on the same page."
Thierry Maillard of MLB Trio about Improvisation
"Without composition, there is no improvisation."
Hans Joachim Roedelius about Ego as an Energy and doing IT
"We are god's creatures. Not selfmade egomaniacs."
Thomas Fehlmann of The Orb Shares his Creative Process
"I like to hoover the studio before I begin. Or clear up the kitchen."
Deri Dako about Illness, Brain Injury and Creativity
"Medicine and music can help us live betters lives."
Zach Chance of Jamestown Revival Shares his Creative Process
"The flaws are what make recordings relatable to me."
