Part 2

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?

Over the years I have experimented a lot to either work completely digitally or completely with hardware. I found that the hardware sometimes limits me a little too much in what I want to do. Then again, working digital sometimes overwhelmes me because the possibilities are endless.

I have found my balance in these three tools that help me: I sometimes take sounds from external elements (limited hardware or self-recorded sounds) or from the digital world and rework those sound pieces into my own sound. I do that through a lot of experimentation with plug-ins.

During that experimentation, I work up to a type of foundation from which I can build on. With that foundation I start building 16 bars, which is still a very basic draft. I try not to dwell too long on these 16 bars and just follow the creative flow from that point.

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

Every day is different in my schedule, so it depends from day to day. Two days a week I am an assistant sound engineer at a mastering and mixing studio. Those days tend to be a little busier, and all my attention goes to this work. On other days I get up more quietly, have breakfast and write down what I want to do that day. That can be varied; from household chores to steps going forward in my music, or plans for my new label (Plasma Sources).

As much as I can, I take the time to go to the production studio on these days. When I come back, I do some yoga to clear my mind. Following this, I like to prepare a good meal and have time with my partner in the evening. I end the evening by taking time for myself by taking a bath, watching a series / movie or reading a book.

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

My most recent work that came out with J-Shadow, is very dear to me. It is not easy to find the right people to collaborate with, especially from a distance. Our collaboration is almost magical to me, because we were very inspired by each other.

I sent my own work to him and I made it very clear that there are no compromises. At the end, we both really have to be completely happy with each track. That means he's equally allowed to remove a lot of elements from the track if it's not completely right for him. Then you get another completely different track back from him and you revisit that with your own elements.

That's how we built those pieces together over a long period of time until we really came to a fusion of our two styles and we really both completely stand behind the music.

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 enjoy doing both. On the one hand, it is a lot of fun to explore new ideas on your own, ideas that you cannot necessarily take forward with a collaboration. When working with others, you always have to check in with the other to see if the ideas are aligned. On the other hand, it is a tremendously inspiring to be collaborating with other artists on concepts, atmospheres and arrangement.

Definitely in cases of writer's block, collaborating with others is a really good tool to break through the blockage.

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

My music and creativity are mostly linked to the experiences I go through in my life, such as encounters and snapshots of moments. For me, music is something intimate, something healing. It is a channel for emotions.

It used to be more of a communal medium for me, but that has diminished more and more. The whole covid-19 period made a change in that manner, since it caused me being more involved with music at home rather than in club settings.

Even when I get into a collaborative creative process with another artist, it is often a 1-on-1 relationship. We build from the emotions the other person and I feel in the music, until we end up with a shared story.

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 experience a connection between these topics and music all the time. It is not always easy for me to get in touch with emotions and trauma, but it is exactly by being involved with music that my feelings are stimulated. Especially if I take the time to listen to music by myself, in peace.

Sometimes types of emotions are provoked of which I didn't know I could even feel those. What I have noticed, is that I mostly have these emotional experiences, listening to other people's music. Although the process of making your own music and building toward a piece of music also provides a healing process. In that case, you build something from emotions.

Producing is building from emotions, listening to music is triggering emotions.

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

I think I rarely dwell on the connection between the two, because somehow these domains seem too separated, yet at the same time their connection is too obvious.

Science is historically grounded in philosophy, in reasoning and learning from the world around us. Music has a much earlier origin, as in prehistoric times small instruments and movements like strumming or chanting already existed. This naturally grew along with human kind, because rhythm and melody are inherent in the sounds of nature: flapping wings, singing birds, blowing branches, galloping animals ... Because those origins of science and music seem so different, it feels like they are separate human domains.

However, this is absolutely not the case. Because technological advances have grown from science, instruments have also grown along with that technology and knowledge from science. I could not produce without my computer developed from science; without the computer programs, plug-ins and sounds online; without the machines in the studio.

Without science, I would not be a music producer. Though without science, music would continue to exist.

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?

Making a good, delicious meal is very similar to producing. I do not only feel this connection because cooking is really important to me, but more so I believe the process is very similar.

First, I throw a whole bunch of ingredients together. Then, sometimes you have to put more work into it, like a stew you have to let it steep for a long time and be patient until it gets the right shape. You also add elements to bring out flavors more and season it. That feels very similar to making music.

Other day-to-day tasks like putting away the dishes are often executed on autopilot. With music, working on autopilot rarely occurs.

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?

In terms of physics, it is true that music is transmitted by vibrations which our ears pick up, but I often don't look at music that way. I see it almost as an invisible communicative energy that does all kinds of things to our bodies and hearts. When two people have contact, it can transmit these types of energies.

For example, imagine someone suddenly holds my hand without saying anything, but somehow without the words I know and feel why this person is doing that and feel the emotion. It is an unspoken connection. This, to me, is the same with music. You receive the message from the musician or producer and translate it into feelings.

If music is just a vibration in the air, basically one piece of music should be translated by most people into the body in a similar way. However, this is not the case, people experience music in completely different ways, because of different types of emotions and personal experiences.

Thus, music is a form of communication rather than just a vibration, that can be interpreted by people.