"There’s something about a rich, deep and rolling bassline that feels grounding."
“My neighbors mentioned they could hear me recording and that it sounded like an airplane was landing. That made me really happy.“
“I can't make music that seems like I'm living someone else's life.“
"I have a great faith in my adrenaline to help me when I need it."
"Through music, we express the parts of ourselves that words or daily tasks can’t reach."
“We can communicate with animals and may think they are interacting creatively with us. But I don’t believe that is their intention.“
"Plugins are more intuitive. You don’t have to read a manual before you start producing."
“Imagining a new world based on healing and care will require an endless capacity for improvisation.“
“There is a strange sense of being unfocussed in relation to everyday life. A phone call would be quite startling.“
“I’m most interested in the things I can’t do.“
“There's something irreplaceable that comes from live music.“
“Hooking up random wires to organisms is not convincing to me.“
“Writing can be very cathartic. But it forces you to deal with your feelings.“
“As a kid, listening to music through headphones was almost like a drug in the way it transported me from regular life.“
"As soon as I need to think hard about how to say this or what to do there, the magic for me is gone."
"I was fascinated by the idea of music where there was so much less happening."
"Key to me in improvising is toying with music’s affective simulacra to create impressions of a life of feeling."
“Jazz is a personal way of life - authentic and deeply rooted, yet free from the usual clichés.“
“I am excited to see boundaries becoming increasingly blurry.“
“I aim to project and propel the tradition. It's a lifelong pursuit.“
"There’s something irresistible about experimenting with dials and buttons. It’s not just play. It's how we learn."
“Drum brands mean nothing to me. But the quality of the sounds determines everything.”
"Part of the deal of being together in a band is actually being together."
"The beauty of DJing is in the live creation – it’s like painting with sound in real-time."
"It’s always important to acknowledge the roots of this music. It’s Black American Music."
“The control and precision you have in software and the endless possibilities with automation – they fuel my creativity.“
“My least favorite sound as a child was the banging of pots and pans in the kitchen. It used to send me into a fury.“
"I like to dig deeper into my own practice and find undiscovered territories."
"I use a lot of imagery to create situations that can be understood differently depending on what the listener wants to hear."
“There are many ways of defining what improvisation is. I don't think one definition is enough for me.“
“ I try to use all of my feelings and emotions while making music.“
“The most important moments are when I move from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence.”
"We don’t try to hold on to the music with a clenched fist, but rather in an open palm."
"I was interested in the parallels of making music and making pots."
"I often view my music as sculptures—frozen in time, capturing the essence of a specific moment."
"To some, if you can’t play a standard, you’re not in the club.“
“You can’t be liked by everyone. So I just focus on the people who do!”
"I couldn’t speak because it was too painful. So I put it all to music."
“Jazz is both about group communication and cultivating one’s unique individuality. That seems like a good philosophy for life.“
"No instrument can express who we truly are as authentically as the human voice."
"I’d rather work with my neighbors than famous strangers. This sentiment is something we all share in Scions."
“At a time when you can have control over every aspect of production, the human factor and the space in between make music stand out.”
“Timekeeping is not about following the right bpm. It’s about how it feels in your body.”
"I'm a kind of dreamer. I don’t like to express myself concretely and clearly all the time."
“The line between sound and music should be blurred. If there is a clear line, the possibilities become extremely limited.”
"There is no influence of technology on our performance. That's our signature."
“I don’t discard ideas. I revisit them years later with more appreciation and knowledge.“
"People would communicate and understand each other more if we listened. But that’s not humans' first reaction."
"Technology is pushing us towards new rhythmic possibilities we never dreamed of."
"The sound of refrigerators has always comforted me. When the fridge comes on, I have a real sense of home."
"You could call my entire process a preset."
“Being able to hear the silence in a room while hundreds of people share in that space is very powerful.“
"There were some dark and stressful things happening. But I kept on and things got lighter.”
"I’ve encountered profound bodily experiences through music. It’s a complex and undefined realm that goes beyond description."
"Words have their own melodies and weight. When we form sentences it gets heavier."
"Music is a gift that allows us to distill our emotions into sound. I need to use it daily."
"Taking a sound-focused approach to improvisation allows for unlimited growth."
"Most artists don't want to say anything. They just think: fuck, I need three more lyrics for our new songs."
"We often think of something being created as not having existed before. But we have infinite ingredients out there."
"Everything that happens in life is an inspiration to compose music."
"Some words fight the song. It's like the furniture won't fit through the door and you have to shave off a corner."
"If music has a certain amount of noise in it, I like listening to it more."
"I don’t want to travel where most composers go."
"Technology can become a supermarket. It gives you music made by statistics and formulas."
“As a DJ you can make people step out of their boundaries - how sexy is that for a job description?“
"We tune out the drone and humdrum of everyday life. But the sounds are still there."
“Music is about emotions, a narrative, a beginning and an end. Sound deals with what is there, what occupies the space.”
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"A lot of the records we love have little imperfections. They are not any less amazing for it."
"Making Art for Art's sake is becoming less important than building bridges."
"The matrix is coming. It's great and weird."
"My voice is an essential part of how I express myself and connect with others."
"What artists are trying to sell as spiritual performances is full of shit. But in a cute way."
"I do not regard my music to be an expression of emotions or feelings - but as an expression of musical ideas and of the unfolding of time."
"The voice manifests the body. The life pulse. The blood and the spirit. The here and now."
"There are many aspects of my new album that a professional producer would handle differently."
"Is there a pathway to interspecies communication? Maybe - I’m just not quite sure animals would have anything nice to say about people!"
"Sight without sound or the other way round would not be the full experience for me."
"Sometimes it feels like walking into a pub. Other times like stepping into a church."
"Listening means paying close attention. Hearing is more of a passive action. I feel some people mistake the two."
"As long as there are ideas that excite us we can keep doing it."
"Children in schools are told to keep quiet most of the day. From a healthy voice point of view this is not helpful."
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"Music can't be touched or seen. It's important to deal with that."
“I believe that my new club Surreal is a unique experience in club culture."
"Many of us take our senses for granted. Seeing and hearing - what a gift we have been given!"
"When performing, I always lead myself into “trouble” at least once."
"Music is a place where I am fully there. Everything should be possible."
“When a group of people listen and search together, it creates that fluid place.”
"When I make my sounds, I always remember that they should take me to experiencing truth."
"I like the feel and smell of vintage instruments. It seems they have old spirits living in them."
"Hong Kong's discotheques in the 70s and 80s were the epitome of desire."
"I hate to stay in the same place for too long."
“Once the music is out in the world, you have to let it be and live its own life.”
"I abhor fireworks. I can’t understand why people willingly want to be in a sonic equivalent to a warzone."
“I used to be able to write ANYWHERE. Now I need a completely empty desk and three uninterrupted hours.”
"Connecting with tradition, but also forging your own path - it's a beautiful balance."
“DJing is the only time I feel fully switched off from the noise of the outside world.“
"Playing with plants amazes me every time. It's an entirely new genre of music."
"If original is something that’s never been done before, I don’t think anyone would enjoy it."
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"I have a lot of respect for machines and the sounds around us. I try to use them with my heart."
"There’s a tremendous structural freedom in electronic music - if you choose to take advantage of it."
"Since I started playing free improvised music, I have become more accepting of myself."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Bach eventually told me: Nah, sorry, not my cup of tea."
"At some point, equipment stops being inspiring and becomes a limitation."
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"In an improvisation, every participant is putting a musical offering into the mix. All the others are called to respond to it."
"It’s really important to be curious about different sound languages to explore our own, and the common soul."
"I grew up with the whir of machinery in nearby factories. It never bothered me."
"Electronic music is escapism, it’s a dream, it’s fantasy, it’s the unknown."
“If we don't take steps outside our comfort zone, we will never discover the beauty of uncertainty."
“In architecture school I was creating stories of people who’d experience the building. It’s a very similar thing the DJ does."
“The main part of the ritual is the deadline."
"It's essential to dominate the technology, not let it dominate you."
“I don’t feel very spiritual. This gives me a bit of imposter syndrome.”
"I seriously cannot care about the current state of electronic music. It's absolute garbage."
"There are certain things I can’t express properly if I don’t sing them."
“You can only give a piece a certain length of time. You just have to take a chance."
"Having plants as co-creators is a new development in my creativity."
“We bring some fully fleshed, half fleshed and some bare-boned skeletons!"
“It’s an artist’s responsibility to turn their ideas into things that can impact and make change.“
“Music isn’t language. That’s crucial to its fundamental cultural function."
"Who wants to spend time in an environment that does not sound good?"
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"I knew that whatever was brought to the table would enhance the project, presenting ideas and perspectives I would never have thought of."
"The trumpet is always with me. It’s in my bed right now, next to me."
“There's a song of mine that I've recorded four different versions of. I still don’t feel I've captured it."
"Sometimes, interpretation consists in removing yourself from the performance."
"Sound, for me, is all reaction and feeling. I lose sense of what my body is physically doing."
"Every day you play a note, it's a totally different sound, a totally different universe."
“One of the things that attracted me to England was the rain!“
“Singing is very physical. Music making is very physical. Just watch us and you'll see the sweat!”
“Writing a song is a journey of many steps."
“An idea waits for me, almost in a patient way, to be discovered."
"Incorporating African fabric is more than the aesthetic. It is pride for my country of origin, it is celebrating the uniqueness and vibrancy of Africa."
"Some view the drum set as a collection of many instruments. That's a weird way to view it. To me, the drum set is one instrument."
"Our job is to connect all the dots. The output is the input."
“My process is too unpredictable for me to have any structure or routine that would help me."
"We share the same enemy. We are fighting the same enemy. So my heart was open to write about this topic."
"The sound of the melting Morteratsch Glacier deeply moved me. There is so much history in every drop."
"Your personal limitations are your identity, not the gear or instruments."
"There's a balance between embracing the vast potential of electronic music and using constraints to drive innovation."
"A machine can't truly be a collaborator because the basis of collaboration is in relationships."
"In electronic music, we are still pioneers."
"Human recommendations are central to the music discovery experience."
"You don't need infinite sounds. You need the right ones."
"I didn’t set out to be a musician. It felt inevitable."
"Sometimes, technology is seen as a new God. That’s a dangerous path to follow."
"Do I remember things? Of course I do. Do I repeat myself? Of course I do. There is nothing wrong with that."
"It would be interesting to play Bob Marley on buses, and see how that changes the experience."
"There is probably no music without some layer of improvisation. At least when it is played by humans."
"Me delivering a vocal is me giving back to life unconditional love."
"Some chords are always true, no matter what the lyrics say."
"Are we perfectionist? Yes. Do we explore different options? Yes."
"Writing your own music leads to the deepest exploration of improvisation."
"To regard instruments as non-percussive would close off a world of sonic possibilities."
"Singing is very compulsive – like hunger or some kind of physical addiction."
"There’s never a starting or stopping … it’s a never ending process."
"An architect creates works that occupy a space. I create sculptures that fit in the flow of time and perception."
"The term jazz is losing more meaning by the second."
"Every city has its own vibe. Berlin feels very raw and fresh."
"I like to use all my possibilities to offer music that is transformative."
"Recording this album was a liberating journey - akin to exposure therapy for a habitual worrier like myself."
"Being able to experiment with my voice without a microphone has been really interesting."
"I’ve had 40% of my tongue removed. I’ve had to learn to sing a different way."
"Misunderstanding is one of human beings’ most profound features."
"After the first record, I had no plans to ever record as Ceiling Spirits again."
"Singing has always been a mystery for me. It still is!"
"In the best moments, I am really transported somewhere else."
"Sounds will always carry a watermark of the place they came from or the creature who made them."
"When improvising, it’s almost impossible to be non-authentic."
"Songs as we create them in the western world are in effect mathematical equations."
"The trick is to let yourself be led astray in the right places."
"A great voice can sound good on a bad microphone. But a bad voice can’t sound good on a great microphone."
"Reading makes me want to write. Strong writers make me want to be a better writer. There’s not one without the other."
"It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. I like to destroy it from time to time and put it together in a new way."
"The way we organize ourselves as a band has had to change to keep moving our music forward."
"The voice is such an exciting medium to work with. All at once it has so much power and flexibility as well as fragility and precarity."
"In electronic music, we are gods creating our own universe. It's total freedom."
“We need to express who we are to each other. Music does a good job of that.“
"Music in school shouldn’t be optional. It’s a part of our being."
"People crave human connection even more in this age of hyper-connectivity. I want to make sure I’m always present in my work."
"Live, people can really surrender to the music."
“Jean D’Arc armed herself to fulfil her mission. Sometimes music feels that way.”
"When someone feels something and they can convey it authentically - I’m so with them."
"The purpose of being an artist is to show what's inside you. But it's always good not to get stuck there."
"To live life is to collaborate."
“We try to keep that little light of mutiny burning.“
“DJing used to be very mechanical. So I decided to do the opposite: to give my audience everything.“
“The process of showing up fully to whatever it is, and bringing it all to that moment, creates something.“
“I find something magical in not knowing too much.”
"Turning to improvisation for me was a process of decolonizing myself."
“I actually think I am rescuing a song from death. I am tasked with its life.“
"Everyone’s personal history and ideas about what it means to be part of the diaspora are and should be very different."
“I love the initial burst when you get an idea. That's the best time to record it.“
"I am in dialogue with all living things in some shape or form."
"The idea was to invite a group of friends and retreat to this desert house for two weeks. In the end, Franz was the only one to commit."
"Singing is the most primal, fundamental, soul-expressive thing a human can do."
"The performance doesn’t really matter for me. I don’t even know how to perform most of the parts."
"If air makes us breathe, then the music that lives inside this air is also alive."
"If I’m not focused and putting my whole body into it, it doesn’t come out right."
"The music follows its own course. We don’t try to divert it."
"I once picked up Kraftwerk with my car and tooted the horn twice - a cover version of the introduction to 'Autobahn'. Nobody noticed."
“My first serious song was about my guinea pig that I had to give away. That was a very sad time for me.“
“I can do many other things than music. But it is what I get the most life from.“
“I see the end result, draw a path in my mind and start walking towards it.“
"If we'd shift our focus from sight to listening, our world would undergo profound transformations."
"I don't try to be different as a drummer. But I don't stop it either."
"We could never recreate this again."
"We’ve never had a drummer. Maybe that's why I put emphasis on percussive phrasing."
"There is something cathartic about beating the hell out of something."
"I can't say for certain. But we probably didn't get everything wrong."
"If you had told a Renaissance artist they were original they would’ve thought it was insulting."
"Being in the creative flow is the most tangible experience of what we don’t understand."
"Mixing up a negative world view with “realism“ can result in the reversal of progress."
"Fuck what the people want! Our music isn’t supposed to be comfortable."
"The human voice is deeply influential. We hear it even when we don’t."
"Songwriting, to me, is just letting yourself be led in new directions."