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Name: Senses of Mind
Members: Kynan Cosma, Miles Vanderlooven

Nationality: Belgian, Jamaican
Occupation: Producers
Current Release: Senses of Mind's "Spoetnik" is out via Untold Stories.
Recommendations: The Human Cosmos: A Secret History of the Stars / Hans Zimmer – "Time" / The self-aware universe - Amit Goswami

If you enjoyed this interview with Senses of Mind and would like to know more about the duo, visit them on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.

Untold Stories · US005 - Senses Of Mind - Spoetnik


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?

Kynan: As a young little guy I loved nothing more than playing vinyl records together with my Dad. He had some really cool tracks, ones that I will never forget - like a bowling ball rolling from one speaker to another and lots of other cool effect sounds.

Miles: I started producing when I was 11-12. My older brother was into DJing and producing and that’s how I caught the bug.

I was always intrigued about how the music I listened to came to life, thus having access to Ableton and Logic at an early age was a godsend

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?

Kynan: I mostly feel vibrations, like I'm at one with the universe. Also, a kind of harmonious feeling of happiness. According to my peace of mind, the song also takes shape from happiness to very dark realms

Miles: Music has always been an integral part of life. I’m from Jamaican descent so music and rhythm were always present in life. My parents always used to play music at home. Music to me is a ‘feeling’.

We sometimes forgot how music can change our state of mind, how it can make us happy or sad, how it’s also loaded with ‘experience’. A particular song can remind you of a certain moment in time.

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

Art has many forms. With us, it is mainly a developmental process, transforming a basic sound into something unique. Still, it is important to keep the fundamental elements, but we like to build new things around them.

By following our feelings and not trying to force anything, we always arrive at something new, which is already a challenge for us.

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.

In our opinion ‘identity’ or the quest for it is a journey. You are not the same person as you were 5 or 10 years ago. It is not rigid, but fluid.

The same logic can apply to our creativity and music making process. We always try to obtain an open mind and let creativity flow. This can also be felt in our music.

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

Follow your own path. That is what makes you unique. Look for new things that trigger you. Even the smallest things bring out much more than you think. Push your own limits and listen to yourself.

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”?

As we mentioned earlier, it is always nice to expand into something new, which is what everyone is looking for right? But a base is always important to know what type of musical behaviour is involved.

We try especially this time to work towards less is more and so you create a kind of timelessness anyway

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?

We alternate a lot between VSTs, analog synths, drum machines and recordings we make in nature or at home to keep the process interesting.

Nature, science fiction do play a very big role for us in our adventure around making music. Any sound can trigger our creative process.

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

Health plays a big role for us. We get up, make a homemade fruit juice, briefly go over the schedule for both studio work and upcoming gigs. Shooting some hoops or go jogging or to the gym, listen to songs we are working on or have been working on.

A fresh head gives us the best feeling of happiness to get started in the studio. Sometimes we fly right in or listen to some fun songs - the genres vary - first.

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

An edifying story from our fingertips.

Starting with a dark yet peaceful sound from the Korg Minilogue, building up to something bigger. Continually trying to create extension by quietly adding new sounds. Here we used Eventide H9, cinematic sounds from fx to brasses for the final plot

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?

This surely also applies to our process of ‘creation’.

The basic lay out of track can start out as being produced by ourselves, but we always decide on whether we feel an ‘idea’ is worth ‘cultivating’.

In my opinion the best music we’ve created is when we vibe off each other.

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

As we’ve already stated. Music is an integral part of the human condition. Influencing feeling, the senses and the mind (no pun intended :-) ). Our creative process can best be seen as collaborative, using technology to share our feelings with the world.

There’s a kind of duality here though. While technology makes it easier than ever in history to connect, people have never felt this alone and misunderstood.

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?

How we deal with life is just as important as how we deal with death. This duality is also present in music. The experiences we have with music is something we carry with us for the rest of our life. It’s up to you in which ‘connotation’ music has to a certain experience.

While dealing with death can make us sad, music has the power to find happiness with the feeling of loss. Celebrating what have had opposed to what we have lost.

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

Music is frequency, music is vibration. Music is perception.

We were always intrigued by physics and how energy and the mind have influence on our state of being and reality itself.

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?

We want to energize people to keep believing in themselves and that every day is a new one that creates opportunities. Make connections with each other and above all enjoy living.

I think nobody has the right to define the notions ‘creativity or ‘art’. Or what those entails. Something we do far too much in society.  What is art, what is creativity?

I think every form of expression can be seen as art and non-better than the other. It’s just a matter of preference.

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?

This is something we ourselves believe very strongly in; everything is connected. Every sound, hertz, tone has a message. And it enters everybody's body differently. We are all connected.