Perpetual Loop Interview

Click the title to go to Perpetual Loops web-site.

Perpetual Loop a.k.a. Charles Massey from Manchester. Charles is an artist who fuses ethnic, balearic, ambient, breakz and soundscapes which have appeared on compiliations and has just completed his second album. You can also catch Perpetual loop live p.a.'s and d.j. sets at various festivals and club chillout areas.

1. You used to run a promotion in Liverpool playing house, progressive & trance. Which artistsinfluenced you to work in the ambient genre?

I've always loved ambient / chill out music, I'm a huge fan of Vangelis. Voices is one of my all time favourite albums. Other people include Simon Posford, his production style is amazing. Shpongle, Celtic Cross, Younger Brother, you can always recognise his work. I love cinematic music as well, Cliff Martinez and Clint Mansell to name a few. I actually stumbled into the ambient genre when sending of 4 track demo to record labels (three upbeat and one slow). It was the slow track that caught the eye of Organic Records.

2. In 2004 along with veterans Michael Dog (Megadog/Pushmipulyu) and Joie Hinton (Ozrics/Eat Static) you appeared on the Rumour Records release “Gateway to the Sun”. What did you learn from this experience?

To be honest I was not involved in compiling the actual release, that was more down to Chris Organic and Om Records. I was just lucky enough to be included in the release with the slow track mentioned above.

3. Where can people hear your music?

Well there's Myspace and SoundSauce. There's links to these sites on my own website http://www.perpetualloop.co.uk/ . I've recently put up on my site some DJ sets I've done, as well as few recent live performances. I'm a resident DJ at Fluid radio so mixes are sometimes played there, as well as Last FM. Of course there is also sunisshiningdubnchill.blogspot.com now. :-) I've had tracks released on Compilations such as Gateway to the Sun, Psymeditation I and Psymeditation II, as well as my own album called "Universal Flow". I've also recently started to play live PA sets and are always on the look out for more places to play. I love playing live! It's a real buzz. I've play downbeat as well as upbeat chilled sets depending on the venue. To date I've played a few festivals (Offworld and waveform) as well as Inspiral Lounge (Camden) and a few times at Tribe of Frog (Bristol). My music is pitched as "psy-chill" but I think it's much wider than that and therefore I'm trying to play at a wider range of venues. I'd love to get out to Ibiza and do a few gigs there, but then again I'm sure alot of people are thinking exactly the same thing.

4. You’re currently working on a new album. Is there any new hardware or software you’re using on the project which excites you?

Well the album (Catching Zinc) is now finished, and should be getting released later this year. I actually made the decision to remove most of the my hardware from my set up. I use to have a 48 track desk, with several effect units, and a Super Bass Station, Emu Orbit and a Supernova (which I loved). Anyway most things these days can be done in Plug-in form like the Novation v-station being a softsynth of the supernova, so I sold it all. That way I have studio at home with a hefty computer, but also I can replicate the same set up on my Laptop and take that with me. What excited me the most was probably the Thor inclusion into Reason. An amazing peace of equipment. Cakewalk's Rapture is also pretty impressive. The first album was very much sample based from Reason, where this one was much more instrument driven and loads and loads of plugins over everything. I got to grip more with the production side things with this release as well and Wavelab has to be my choice for that.

5. You’re classically trained on both the cello and piano and havewritten film soundtracks. Which do you find more challenging playingas part of an orchestra or creating someone’s vision employing thecomputer as your orchestra?

That's a really cool question. Definitely the latter,as you are responsible for all the instruments and how they sit with each other, and not just one. I played the cello when I was younger and one thing that frustrated me at the time about it was that generally to play any peace of music you would need the rest of the orchestra with you. You were part of it which was great, but practicing was a bit isolated. Then I moved to the piano, basically because you can play the whole peace of music on your own with out the dependency being there. Now with computers you have the best of both words. You create the entire peace of music on your own but with the backing of 30 - 40 virtual players. Technology has really opened up the possibilities.

6. Which artists impress you at the moment?

I'm really loving the internet. It opens up your access to artists that the you would never encounter in the conventional music store. I use music-map.com allot of the time to find new artists that sound like artists I already know and like. Currently, I still love Shpongle and younger brother. Other artists are Phutureprimitive, Ted Madison, Ulrich Schnauss, Eat Static, Enoch Prusak , Chime, Snakestyle, OmniMotion and Lunar Sound, to name a view!

Mystical Sun Interview

Click the title to download a Mystical Sun podcast for Ambient : Emissions of Sonic Beauty.

Mystical Sun is an aloof ambient project from California in the United States. His releases utilize both organic and synthetic elements as well as using custom built instruments to create an ethereal exploration into sound.

Q: How significant is heliolatry in choosing the name Mystical Sun and how does this reflect the music that you’re producing?

It plays a part on multiple levels. There are several layers of meaning in the name. In studying and reading about other cultures, particularly ancient ones, the Sun has always been central. You can find winged sun discs all the way from Egypt to pre-Columbian Americas. The physical Sun is something phenomenal. There would be no us without Sun, this is all possible because of it. The name is and homage to that as well.


Another meaning for the name is more akin to the spirit of the Sun as a being, entity or life-form. Somehow our brains are networked to the Sun and in the future I think we will discover that the magnetic fields produced by the Sun have effects on human consciousness.


Hopefully the music functions like the Sun and brings people some electromagnetic nourishment.


Q: When did you first start creating music and when did you find yourself drawn towards the ambient genre?

A: Creating music is something I've seriously explored since the early 90's when the project was intentionally formed to create this type of sound.


The mission began before I was aware of the genre. It began when electronic music was more underground and less infected by pop music culture. Creating cinematic soundtracks, atmospheric worlds, and dissolving time is the mission.


Q: For people visiting California are there any festivals or clubs you would recommend?

California has festivals and clubs of all kinds and many active scenes. There is the annual Earthdance Festival and several others that happen at various times around the year. Northern and Southern California are very different and sport alternative scenes. If someone is visiting California they'll have plenty of options. I tend remain peripheral to all this activity.


The best part about California though is the land itself. California has amazing terrains to explore like a multitude of beaches, deep ocean coastlines, high deserts, sand dunes, the lowest place in the northern hemisphere, alpine lakes, rolling grasslands with dotted oaks, ancient boreal rain forests, the oldest and biggest living life-forms on Earth, lava beds, several mountain ranges, inland seas, a 14,000 ft. volcano and sister volcanoes of immense power, a mega volcano and forest river systems. To fully explore all the terrains in California would take someone several decades.


Q: When creating music what do you prefer using most hardware, software or organic instruments?


All three. My criteria is the sound first, the source of the sound isn't as important as to whether or not the sound is what the track needs. I have several acoustic, ethnic and electronic instruments and a vast sound library that I have been building up since the 90's. I mix everything "in the box" now, in the past I had an elaborate mixer/effects rig analog tape based studio. I prefer to work digitally now because it allows for maximum flexibility and the option to evolve tracks over years with no sound degradation. When I work on a track, I hear the instruments and sounds in it, before they are actually added, so my task is to find the closest sound to what I am hearing in my mind.

Q: Where can people unfamiliar with Mystical Sun hear your music?


On the internet. This music difficult to find so the best way to find it is online. The internet really helped early on, because it enabled the music to reach the distant sets of listeners who are looking for something different.

The best and prescribed way to listen to the albums is on CD or in lossless format digitally. There are settings that work best. Like a sunset ride, drive some place cool during a sunset and start the CD. Space exploring, wait until late at night, wear a full set of headphones and listen. In the background, just put the music on all day long and ignore it. I've designed utility in there intentionally.


I'd like to get across to new listeners that the music is non-linear and moves through time in a different way than other music. A different way of listening opens many doors to understanding the tracks. The tracks are growers meaning, they make more sense over time.


Q: Apart from Mystical Sun are there any other projects you’re involved in?


Not right now, Mystical Sun is all I have time for.

With the longest solar eclipse due in 2009 there are various festivals running this theme. For those with a deeper interest there is this DVD from the Exploratorium & NASA. The soundtrack is by Mystical Sun

http://www.ideum.com/portfolio/total_eclipse

A.I.A. Interview

A.I.A or Ambient Intelligence Application is a new upcoming ambient, down-tempo group from Greece who are trying to explore some new atmospheric paths...this group consists mostly from two brothers (writing, producing ,djing,...) I spoke to Konstantinos one half of A.I.A. about the project.

1. Which artists inspired you most to work in the ambient genre?

We could say, that some of the artists inspired us are Robert Rich, Jean Michelle Jarre, Vangelis Pathanasiou, Brian Eno, Ian Boddy.The sound from these artists was the first feeling, which took us inside the world of ambient.It’s difficult to say and stop only on these artists, being an influence to us. Influence is all things and all situations around us. So we would say, influence is a whole mixture of situations, feelings, nature and music and not only some certain artists.

2. For readers visiting Athens which clubs or festivals would you recommend?

To be honest there are no clubs focused on chill-out, ambient music in Athens.
Only some production teams are organizing some events where well-known artists are invited to perform live or dj’ing. There are some teams like: Art Ubber Ales, Organic Dream which try to keep the chill-out spirit alive. Regarding festivals it is a big story. After the legendary festivals in Samothraki Island, many organization teams start making efforts for similar festivals. We would like also mention the Aurora team which tries to help the Greek scene. Another festival is Mafia island fest, organized by the same people who organized the legendary Samothraki dance festivals. Unfortunately this festival is in Africa miles away from Greece. We wish them good luck with this.

3. You released your debut album "Physical Moments" on Ajana records in 2009. Could you tell us more about the album?

Well the shared vision and the basic idea of forming came to us on Samothraki Island in the year 2005. Where we performed as chill-out dj's (and not with the name A.I.A). As a part of the dj sets we used live compositions. Our audience enjoyed it and that was the beginning for creating the album “Physical Moments”. Our common vision is to create new sounds that could be listened to at home as well as a festival. It’s a mixture of sounds created and recorded live in a dj set.

4. Which artists currently impress you?

It is impossible to name the entire artists that impress us. We have a large collection from all kind of music. We can name few: Desiderii Marginis, Subheim, Field Rotation, Mike Sheridan, Bersian Quartet, Half Dub Theory, Somnia records, Ultimae records, Younger Brother, Shpongle, Kaya Project, Makyo, Niyaz and many more….  Also, some post alternative rock and ethnic sounds pass through our headphones.

5. Are there any plans to take A.I.A. on tour in the future?

Yes there are plans to take A.I.A on tour and we hope to participate in festivals during summer 2010 as a dj & live act. Nothing yet is confirmed. We still try to focus on preparing the live performance to be sure 100%, continuing to add to our studio set-up to make new tracks and more interesting sounds.

6. Where can readers unfamiliar with A.I.A. hear your music?

In a few months the official A.I.A. site will be uploaded. On there, our fans will be able to listen to new tracks, re-mixes and dj sets. Until then, our home is on Ajana records web-site and our Myspace profile (click the header to go there).