Name: Irakli Kiziria aka Irakli
Nationality: Georgian
Occupation: Producer, DJ
Current release: Irakli's Mechanical Moon is out October 13th via Live At Robert Johnson.
Recommendations: Sofia Gubaidulina - De profundis;
“Demittere” from Requiem For Robots by Schloss Mirabell

If you enjoyed this Irakli interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.  



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I don't always see shapes, objects and colours. It happens only sometimes. I always tried to analyze when and why it happens, if some special (sound, element or anything else) influences this process, but I could not find the answer yet.

Closing or keeping my eyes open depends on the music I am listening to. I don't have rules for this. Ultimately I like to keep it more mystical, without trying to analyze what process goes on in my brain.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I started playing piano as a child and was visiting music school. It was always a big part of my life, but I only started producing and DJing later on.

Making art (doesn't matter if it's music, poetry, painting you name it), there is some kind of transcendental dedication to it, a sort of addiction.

One can train/learn to be better and master skills, but if you are not an artist, I don't think you can train yourself to be one.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

I can't recall any particular deep and incisive experience in that period of my life. I had this fascination with music all the time. I feel like I travel all the time within music. I listen to so many different things and it's probably not even a tiny small part of the universe of amazing music, which was made throughout history.

Thanks to technology, we all now can discover new music fast if we are curious.

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

These things are too blurry for me to put into words.

Sometimes ideas motivate you to create and sometimes motivation leads you to ideas. It is some kind of magical dialog between the two.  

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I believe in the power of creating, I find joy in this process.

I know it's not exactly the answer to this complex question but this is my personal perspective: discovering is great but creating is even better.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

Every element is very important. But most important is the feeling you want to convey with the whole thing.

I think I always try to create some kind of sonic spaces, similar to a sculpture. I like to think this way about music, this probably defines my craft.  

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I really like music based on field recordings. It's fascinating to listen to some ambient music masterpieces using field recordings of all kinds.

What makes these sounds and noise musical/magical is placing them in context playing with a perception of the listeners.

Water has a very rich sonic universe.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

All of them, that's the beauty of it.

But if I have to choose my favorite, probably something more  minimal, simple, hypnotic, trippy. Listening to Philipp Glass makes me feel like I'm drowning into something very beautiful.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

I like the process when it's intuitive: when you feel these sounds, notes or structures are made for each other, when it feels so “logical” but still very personal and different.  

Sometimes you go a very long way and enjoy the journey and sometimes it's right in front of you.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

I think I do both. I generally don't like randomness, but I do like the surprises and mistakes humans and machines will sometimes make.

There is some kind of  poetry in it all and that can inspire me to create something new.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I think we don't understand so many things in life that it's very difficult to have a clear point on this one. Understanding art and how it's done on a deeper level for sure brings us very interesting insights in general. But I have so many questions about life itself in the first place.

I also like the idea of finding the qualities of haziness (Unschärfe is I guess a better word for it in German) in art itself and in its creating process.

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?

As much as I love a great cup of coffee I can not really think about this in the same category of emotional fascination as in the case of a great piece of music.

Before making music I was an architect and a designer. I had joy working on different projects, but never felt as free as I feel making music.

Maybe because I don't see it as a profession or a job. It's a passion and a very good one.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I don't recall in recent memory having that unexplainable effect while listening to music. I cried listening to some of my favorite music many times.

Probably the best example is Giya Kancheli, also Chikiss - baby bye. Listening to it, you feel warmth and cold at the same time, a very strange feeling.



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I want to be surprised now and in the future, that's it. I don't care how, when and who (humans, machines, robots, aliens) made the music.