Keiichiro Shibuya about his AI Opera and Buddhist Insights on Technology
Shibuya's oeuvre questions the nature of death, offering a new romanticism through the eyes and ears of AI.
Sound can Change the World: Laurie Torres
“I strongly believe that community is key to fighting injustice. Music is one way to build communities.”
Dane Alderson of Yellowjackets about Directions in Jazz
"I use music and concerts as a way to forget about current events, worries or concerns."
Bon Entendeur about DJing
As masters of Back to Back DJing, the French duo are constantly in conversation through music.
Ralph Heidel about Directions in Jazz
Jazz-Ambient-Rap-Drone composer Ralph Heidel still “fucks up a lot.” But he's confident “the audience still knows what I’m trying to say.”
Selassie about Directions in Hip Hop
For the Ghanaian rapper, hip hop is a case of “either you're living it or you're watching it.”
Abel Selaocoe Shares his Creative Process
In the prayer-like realm of “Moya,” Selaocoe translates African musical languages to the cello.
Rafiq Bhatia about Improvisation
"Before we think too hard about freedom we should start by focusing on kindness."
Toribio about Directions in Jazz
In the spiritual jazz-house of the NYC multihyphenate, improvisation is a tool for tapping into the subconscious.
LESSSS about Energy & Music
“I feed off the audience's energy, and amplify it through the music. It’s a constant exchange.“
Jean Claude Vannier Shares his Creative Process
The legendary French composer and arranger (Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy) still writes music "like they did in the 17th century."
Hadiqa Kiani about her Voice and Singing
"I wanted every note to feel pure, unfiltered, and deeply authentic—a reflection of the soul and spirit of Qawwali."
Abdomen about the Magic of Sound(s)
The almost frighteningly intense noise-rock of the Dutch trio is inspired by a longing for the unexpected.
Ebba Åsman about Directions in Jazz
Improvisation is everywhere on Ebba Åsman's hip-hop-infused torch songs. But she doesn't need to sound like her jazz heroes to honour them.
Andorra: The Band Interview
The Danish fivepiece's magical, multi-facetted jazz is held together by friendship, laughs – as well as lots of coffee.
Emma Jean Thackray about her Voice and Singing
"I’m definitely revealing deep secrets and singing about uncomfortable truths."
Martina Bertoni about the Magic of Sound(s)
"Sound is one of society’s core expressions. It’s one of its identification marks."
Nathan Ott about Drumming
To Nathan Ott, drumming is a deeply sensory experience: Lighting will change how he plays, rhythm becomes melody, textures turn into grooves.
Joke Lanz and Thomas Rehnert about the Magic of Sound(s)
A conversation about “sucking music through the pores," becoming a sound field, and extreme sonic experiences.
Jung Latch about Directions in Electronic Music
“The process of DAW to Bandcamp to CDJ is starting to run out of mileage. Exploring new ways to present your work is going to be the fun part.“
Chris A. Cummings of Cici Arthur about Lyrics
With the trio Cici Arthur, Cummings connects with his inner world – and his experiences with the "shittier aspects of showbusiness."
Morgane Lhote (Stereolab) aka Hologram Teen about the Magic of Sound(s)
"I lost a fair amount of my top end hearing so I gravitate towards bassy sounds. It’s a physiological response at this point."
klingt.collective: The Band interview
"I like it, when we “tickle” each other with our music."
Bob Mintzer of Yellowjackets about Directions in Jazz
"All the great improvisors worked hard at a compositional approach to improvising."
Radic The Myth about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"If producion gets a lot more easy, it's gonna take the fun out of it."
Marta Finkelštein about Interpretation
"You have to live a very full life to channel something meaningful to the audience."
Jan Blomqvist about Production, Technology, and Creativity
From Blomqvist Sound to Blomqvist Archives
Aleksander Kostopoulos about the Magic of Sound
"I’m often moved by sounds where the organic meets the digital."
Lei Liang about Directions in Contemporary Composition
“I always test my music with my young son.“
Sound Can Change the World: Nubya Garcia
"Music gives us the strength to stand together against anyone who’s trying to destroy inclusivity and freedoms."
Jules Reidy about the Magic of Sound(s)
"I live right by the S-Bahn and listen to that for hours. It’s kind of irritating and comforting at the same time."
Javier Rojo about Improvisation
"Reacting in the moment is like meeting someone for coffee—you’re not going to recite memorized stories."
Noémi Büchi about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"I only believe in variations on what already exists. But the range of variation is infinite."
Sound can Change the World: Xin Lie
"My own voice isn't loud enough to be heard. So I'll let the music speak through big speakers."
Fthmlss about the Magic of Sound(s)
"We tend to use our imaginations so much more when receiving information through sound."
The Delines about Lyrics
"A lot of my characters are doomed, sometimes by self-inflicted wounds."
Matthias Lindermayr about Collaboration
"I am drawn to collaborating with people who inspire me."
Masako Ohta about Collaboration
"How did we resolve disagreements? Just talk and play again."
Eiko Ishibashi Shares her Creative Process
"Each album has a different theme. On this album, the word “graveyard” was the theme.”
Close Counters about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"We like to bring technology to the forefront and play with it."
COLLIGNON about the Magic of Sound(s)
"A lot of architects overlook how their buildings sound."
Black Flower about Directions in Jazz
"Jazz has lost its meaning as a specific style. It’s a way of making music."
Topher Horn about Scoring for Film
"I like when the score is a little removed from what’s happening on screen."
Moses Yoofee Trio about Improvisation
"Ego is not about being the best. It just gives me a lot of self-awareness and self-confidence to be able to express myself."
Dardust about Minimalism
"Some of my music could be played by a child in their first year of piano study. There are so few notes, yet they say so much to me."
Anané about her Voice and Singing
"To sing is to convey a message from the soul - in any way the song calls for."
Øystein Skar about Directions in Contemporary Composition
“This album has been a quiet form of personal activism—a subtle response to the outside world.“
Sound can Change the World: United Freedom Collective
"We can’t just hide from it and hope it all works out."
AWKWARD i Shares his Creative Process
“Maybe I’m just trying to fill a void, an emptiness. It’s addictive magic.“
Terri Lyne Carrington about Drumming
“Drummers are natural leaders. They lead bands they play in even when it is not official.”
KALI Trio about Directions in Jazz
"In a time when developments tend to draw people apart, creating something as a democratic collective is, in itself, a political act."
Yaron Herman about Improvisation
“My daily work consists of expanding my toolbox - so I can move from any given idea to any other given idea.“
Michele Ducci about his Voice and Singing
"There is something in singing that makes humans similar to the wind, to birds, to the flow of water, to the falling of rain."
Ela Minus about DIA, Taste and Instinct
"I want to make anthems for the place I am from for the people that share my background."
Damon Locks about Lyrics
"I am always asking why things are so messed up? That topic is unfortunately always relevant."
A.M. Architect about Directions in Electronic Music
“Reimagining our songs in a nonlinear environment and creating a two-way interaction between ourselves and the audience is very exciting for us.“
Michael Jaeger about Directions in Jazz
"The owner of a jazz club told me that I should be careful that people still understood our music. But isn't the jazz club the right place for unbiased listening?"
Angelina Luzi about her Voice and Singing
"Singing should be accessible to everyone - not only ‘allowed’ to a few."
Evgeny Grinko about Minimalism
"I wanted to record the lids of 20-30 coffins slamming shut. The label and sound engineer refused to help me."
Frum about Lyrics
"Writing feels like a bridge between the seen and unseen, between what we feel and what we want to understand."
Sara Persico about the Magic of Sound(s)
"Once you start recognizing the physicality and spatiality of sound, it transforms the way you approach making music."
Helen Anahita Wilson and Merlyn Driver about Animal Music and Interspecies Communication
"The evolution of human music may go back to sex. This would bring the music of other species further inside our radius of understanding."
Sound can Change the World: Andrey Sirotkin
"I try to sublimate negative feelings via music. When I come to my family, my friends, my tribe, I won’t put these things on them."
Rosa Bordallo about Lyrics
"Poetry is like an incantation. Music is more like being possessed."
Thomas Lemmer about Dreamscapes, Acoustic Health, and the perfect Reverb
“My goal was to compose loop-based music that is calming and meditative but never dull.“
Cari Lekebusch about Directions in Electronic Music
“Maybe new developments will happen in the area of how to perform this type of music.“
Adam F about Colours, Career, and Re-Creating a Classic
"It’s incredible to think that something I created nearly three decades ago still resonates with people."
JESHI about Directions in Hip Hop
"Punk and Hip Hop stand for the same thing: breaking the rules and doing things your way."
The Necks about Bleed, Improvisation, and Recording
"I enjoy every single aspect of making a record. Except for actually doing a take!"
Joshua Idehen: The Barista Interview
"A great cup of coffee? Good beans, good grind, a summer day, a window, your new favourite song, and something to read."
Bernhard Living about Silence and Negative Space in Music
"My intentions for using silence are very different from those of John Cage."
François X about Directions in Electronic Music
“Avoiding trends and focusing on authenticity is key to taking electronic music into the future.“
W4RP Trio about Interpretation
"I’m still trying to figure out how to play things I learned as a child!"
TIKHET about Directions in Hip Hop
“Hip Hop is the largest and most comprehensive subculture that has ever existed.“
Tools of Creation: The Kora
For Seckou Keita, the Kora is a simple instrument channeling ancestry, secret techniques and storytelling.
Kenji Herbert about Directions in Jazz
"Being innovative and having a personal voice is part of the tradition. It isn't opposed to it."
Brunson about Minimalism
“If you only have 3 or 4 elements, but they are used deliberately, you can unravel the flavor layers the longer you play the track.“
Jakob Dinesen about Improvisation
“I don’t mind being a fool. Sometimes that's what allows real music to happen.“
Silvan Strauss about Drumming
“The conception that 4/4 is kind of the “normal“ thing is super unrealistic.”
Airod about Directions in Electronic Music
“Being an artist means offering a more or less unique experience that truly reflects who you are.“
Joshu about the Magic of Sound(s)
"Hands rubbing on a balloon is probably my worst sound in the world. Should be illegal."
Juanita Stein about Lyrics
"I’m obsessed with what it all means. Trying to understand and find deep appreciation in our total existence."
Joachim Spieth about Minimalism
"There is only one rule: does the music have an effect on me? Anything that doesn't fulfil this rule can go."
Vincent Dombrowski of Nordsnø Ensemble about Improvisation
“I normally am not loud and extreme. But I sometimes love to be that way whilst playing.“
David Allred about the Magic of Sound(s)
"I prefer a song that is poorly written, even intentionally bad, rather than a song that is trying to be good but is mediocre."
Tunng Share their Creative Process
“I consider myself lucky to have been part of it. Then I get the washing up done.“
Leonardo Pavkovic of MoonJune about Directions in Jazz
"I do not miss the past. I miss the future."
Daniel Blumberg about The Brutalist and Scoring for Film
"Scoring The Brutalist was a delicate dance between the dialogue, score and sound."
Slavek Kwi about Animal Sounds and Interspecies Communication
“All soundlifeforms are welcome! No tonal racism!“
Philip Samartzis about the Sounds of Antarctica and the Role of Art in Environmental Protection
"These are more than mere recordings. They are a narrative of a rapidly changing landscape."
Reinier Zonneveld about Directions in Electronic Music
“In Brazil I make my beats way more percussive. In China, the clap is the most important part in the groove rather than the kick.“
Martin Kohlstedt about Improvisation
“For my live album, I had to listen to 400 improvisations of myself.“
Kasiva Mutua and Christian Mohr Levisen about Intercultural Collaboration
"Christian's hurdy gurdy rhythm reminded me of the Agikuyu tribe from Central Kenya."
Fie Eike about the Magic of Sound(s)
"Some people live a whole life without ever really listening."
Éric Normand about Directions in Jazz
"I'd prefer a vision of diversity rather than merely showcasing the culture of rich civilizations."
Callum Smart about Violin Chatbots and the State of Classical Music
“I owe much of my ability to be caring toward others to learning the violin.“
Alec Orea about Directions in Jazz
"Barriers are an illusion. Audiences are ready for true art."
Sun Sone Shares his Creative Process
"You are not a machine which needs to endlessly churn out a ‘product.’ If you’ve only got one album in you that’s fine."
Ossi Raippalinna and Anna McLuckie about Intercultural Collaboration
"Intercultural collaborations push me to reinvent my role as a musician every single time."
Madison Margot about Lyrics
"I can feel thrown off if a random love song appears in the middle of a breakup album."
SYREETA about DJing
“I have never played the same set twice. I even used to never play the same track twice.“
Mattias De Craene about the Magic of Sound(s)
"One day, maybe soon, silence will become a luxury product."
Jérôme Sabbagh about Directions in Jazz
"Playing improvised music with honesty and integrity is an act of defiance in a society that values shallow things and encourages our worst instincts."
Félix Blume about Animal Sounds and Interspecies Communication
“The rustling of wind through trees, birdsong, and human voices are not separate elements. They're part of a cohesive soundscape.“
Damian Lazarus about Directions in Electronic Music
“My love of this music never subsides. I just have to wade through a lot of shit in order to find it.“
Yazz Ahmed about Heritage, Identity, and A Paradise In The Hold
"This album is a record of how my identity has been evolving."
Sula Bassana about Kraut & Krautrock
"People think that Krautrock must have a motorik beat. But there was so much more new and fresh stuff in Krautrock."
Denis Blackham about Mastering Kraftwerk, Mike Oldfield, and Vangelis
“Autobahn is still special to me.“
Bastien Keb about Directions in Hip Hop
“I respect artists who use their craft for the betterment of society. But my music is an escape, like a dream.“
Gregor Tresher about Production, Technology, and Creativity
"Controlling technology just with your mind sounds like the future. I guess we’re not so far away from that."
zzzahara about their Lyrics
"Most of the feedback I get is, “this song helped me with a breakup.” Sounds right to me."
Mark Wingfield about Directions in Jazz
"A lot of the things I hear in my head are unplayable."
Nikki Sheth about Animal Sounds and Interspecies Communication
“I have to go in without any expectations - I always seem to find something unexpected.“
Utopia Union about Kraut & Krautrock
"The motorik beat is not just a rhythm - it's a way of getting lost in the music."
Lauri Järvilehto about Lyrics
"Music is a form of communication. Sometimes you even communicate with yourself."
MM WORKS about Directions in Jazz
"The core idea of MM Works is the dynamic we get when playing together. That is hard to get online."
A. Blomqvist about the Magic of Sound(s)
"When my second daughter was born, I created all kinds of compositions to the rhythm of a heart beat monitor!"
Brunson about Intimacy Between Friends
"I have tables full of machines. I had so much stuff Tresor was kind of annoyed."
Cosimo Fiaschi about his Creative Process and Directions in Contemporary Composition
“I thrive and offer only sounds; nothing more, nothing less”.
Hiroshi Watanabe about the Magic of Sound(s)
"Music remains an irreplaceable and singular trance for me—a gateway to the fifth dimension."
