Name: Kirk Degiorgio aka As One
Occupation: Producer, DJ
Nationality: British
Recent release: Kirk Degiorgio's All About U EP Vinyl is available at Juno Records.

If you enjoyed this Kirk Degiorgio interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, 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?

If I listen to familiar music I get transported back in time. I can even feel the seasons I originally heard the music in or recall the book I was reading at that time.

With new music I see the chord changes or modal shifts. The physical result is usually goosebumps.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

I can’t listen to music on headphones anymore due to having a pacemaker fitted (the magnets create a magnetic field that can interfere with the functioning of the pacemaker).

Even before this I was never a fan of headphones as it alters my perception of pitch.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

Even though I’m a very technical producer I can’t separate the musical content from the sonics. They have to work together as a whole.

I can appreciate both a sonically perfect production such as Steely Dan’s Aja and a crusty, distorted mono funk track full of raw grit from a garage in early seventies Texas.



Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Yes, I’m a sucker for certain chord changes. Give me some minor 9ths and major 7ths all day long. I love shifts from melancholy to joy. Certain genres like samba, jazz-funk and the best melodic techno have these elements.

No idea why I respond this way but I think it’s the emotional shifts.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

Yes, repeating gated stabs such as those in trance music or EDM are tiring to my ears almost immediately. Minor 7th Dub Techno chords subtly filter modulated however can keep me fixated for hours.

Aggressive hi-mid range snares are tiring, ghost note snare playing in funk tracks are divine.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

The randomness of morning bird-song, rain on leaves and the sound of occasional traffic on a wet road. All soothing in a way.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

In my own studios where I’m familiar with the environment, the quirks of the room, its reflections.

I don’t like to listen to music load unless I’m DJing at a club. Loud music at home makes me anxious.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

I use a technique called ‘subtracting arranging’ with my own tracks.

I put as many elements as I feel will work and then strip parts away piece by piece to create a journey. It can sometimes lead to a traditional Intro / Verse / Chorus / Middle-Eight / Chorus / Outro type arrangement or a more linear trance-like arrangement with the best elements continuing throughout with subtle variations.

It feels like sculpting by chipping away elements or woodworking by stripping down elements that are unnecessary.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

It’s a cliché but empirically proven that music is universally healing both on a personal level and a macro society-changing scale.

Music is vibration and fundamental to the fabric of our universe.

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?

There is nothing more uplifting and rewarding than the sound of a loved one quietly snoring whilst you are awake reading.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?  

I’ve lived with cats throughout my entire life and have always communicated with them with vocalised pitched sounds that mimic the way they express themselves.

Only creative in the sense you need to do a decent attempt at the mimicry.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

I’ve lived with tinnitus since a young teenager – probably more related to anxiety than any hearing damage. My hearing is actually above normal for my age.

Maybe due to my tinnitus I’ve always taken more care of my hearing – wearing decent ear-plugs for decades now in clubs and I generally monitor at low volumes hen working in the studio until the final mixdown when I need to feel it as well as hear it.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I need silence to read. I can’t have music playing whilst reading – music for me is too important to be used as background. I feel I’m disrespecting the music if I’m not focussed on it. I get intensely irritated by piped music in supermarkets or lobbies, etc. Even hospitals seem to pump pop radio out 24/7.

Silence can be music too. I learnt that when Radio 4 finally aired John Cage’s 4’33. I was driving through countryside at the time and it was one of the most enjoyable experiences to focus in on the surrounding sounds of the engine, the tyres on the road, the wind outside.

Driving whilst listening to music I can manage by the way. ;-)