Name: Gianclaudio Hashem Moniri aka Plaster
Nationality: Italian
Occupation: Producer, sound artist, sound designer, label owner at Textvra
Current release: The new Plaster album Obscura is out via Textvra.
Recommendations: Cretto Nero (Alberto Burri – Painter); "Peace Piece" (Bill Evans)

If you enjoyed this Plaster interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and Facebook.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I started to produce music at the age of 16, when the first computer arrived at my house (early 2000). At that time I was into recording my electric guitar and learning the softwares and sequencers like Cubase vst 32.

My influences at that age where mostly related to psychedelic music, space guitar sounds and all about instruments or plugins to produce noises stuff.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

I like the way you perceive the music, it’s not very different from mine.

Basically I like music which makes me feel in another dimension and I always think about a new track like a blank canvas to fill with colors and elements.

I do appreciate paintings over electronic music and most of the time abstract or metaphysical art are very influent in my compositions.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

I have to say that since I’ve started to produce electronic music, my aim was to find a personal language rather than be a copycat of a trend or a specific artist. This has been the most challenging thing till the album Obscura.

My past albums were Ok but the “outside influences” were too much in my opinion. I believe that with this album I’ve finally break my personal rules and started to write music freely with a renewed language, probably my personal one.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

This a nice question. I lived the early 2000 electronica stuff (click and cuts, glitch music) but also the heritage of great bands like The Future Sound Of London, Autechre, Boards Of Canada and other iconic bands from the 90’s. This combination formed my vision of music and the way to produce an album.



Let’s imagine now a masterpiece like Dead Cities which was a commercial success in the late 90s. Probably it wouldn't exist in this digital / liquid era because it is too complicated or not easily playable on playlists. But its value is undeniable after more than 25 years.

So my preference always goes to what makes the difference and it’s not part of a fashion trend.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

The answer to this question depends on the period that I’m writing and the life situation that I’m living.

I don’t have the same approach every time, I love to experiment finding new ways rather than repeating previous approaches.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

This is a nice question but I think that innovation can also be timelessness and perfection can be just a matter of technical skills that can be boring after the second listening and in my opinion perfection is relative and unnecessary.

Between “Music Of The Future” or “Continuing A Tradition” I do honestly prefer the first choice, I like to think that sounds possibilities are still in development and that technology will help us to make new things or at least to enjoy the sounds in new perspectives. On the other hands we always have to figure out our audience and their listening experience, which is at the moment, on cheap headphones or boomboxes.

So your question can be translated to the classic “It is a matter of compromise.” But the future has always amazed me.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

At the beginning it was just computer music and my guitar with few effects. Then I started to collect vintage synthesizers, desktop synthesizers, modular and semi modular synths that I bought and sold over the years. But my key tool is undeniably Ableton Live.

If you start to use that software as a modular environment rather than a sequencer where to put midi notes, everything starts to shine. After the introduction of Max4Live the software made a big step forward.

Furthermore the iPad is an essential tool for my compositions because at the moment I don’t have a regular studio. So it helps me write ideas on the go.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

I work as sound engineer for a company which makes dubbing for movies, tv series and cartoons.

I usually get up very early because I like to take breakfast at home with my wife. Then we “try” to get up our children and if we’re successful, my wife goes to school with the kids and I go to work with my bike. I do my morning duties and at lunchtime I go to the gym for 45 mins or 1H if I have enough time. Then I’m back to work till 6 or 7 pm.

After I finish I take my bike and come back home, where I spend dinner with my family. If I have enough energy and will, I record some sounds.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

I love to remember the period when my music mate Giuseppe Carlini and myself were writing the first album as Plaster, Platforms, released on Kvitnu 2011.



At that time we were a duo and we spent more than 3 months almost isolated in a country house near Rome. We brought all our instruments there and started to record music in this unusual atmosphere, no influences, no compromises. I have a very special memory of that period.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

I believe that listening in the right environment with the right people and the music you love, can be a life changer. Sharing those moments can be a very intense experience that is hard to replicate when listening to music alone. On the other hand, some intimate albums need a self consciousness that is possible only when listening alone, mostly with headphones.

My collaborative experiences have always been a step forward into my way of making music. Learning different methods can be useful when writing, but at the moment I love to immerse into myself when making music.

An example of great improvement on my workflow is after having spent 2 days in the studio with Retina.it



How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

I believe that the power of electronic music is to reflect what is happening around you and the world as well, into sounds. We are constantly influenced by the energies around us, even if we don’t notice it.

Music, as most of other arts, can be selfish or an exercise of style. But if you care about the world around you, it can be a tool to get people to think out of the box, even if it’s instrumental music.

I love complex concept albums, because you can immerse yourself into the waves and maybe getting a new personal experience.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

I’m sure that I’m still learning, so I can’t give you a full answer, but this question led me to the music of Nirvana.

When they turned into a worldwide band I was 6 years old and I still remember when the radio or TV was transmitting their music. I don’t know why but I was very attracted by the voice of Kurt Cobain, there was something unusual about this voice. After all these years I came up with an answer to that: Pain. I was attracted by his pain.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?  

A perfect match, especially for studying the brain connections and neural activities.

Sincerely I think that music is related more to technology, rather than science, but technology is also influenced by science, so it’s a kind of a closed loop (maybe?)

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think that making a great cup of coffee is way more important than writing a piece of music …

Jokes aside, a good friend of mine once told me that everything which is made with passion and love, is art. Even cleaning the house.

Maybe the differences that I achieve while making music over the other stuff, is that I’m more creative and that I can build my own language.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

I guess that this is the magical mystery of music, unconsciously there’s a connection with sounds as the same that we have with colors, when everything matches, melody, harmony and sounds.

There’s that kind of magic which puts you on a different level.