Name: Radhapriya Gupta aka Noni-Mouse
Nationality: Indian
Occupation: Producer, composer, sound artist
Current release: Noni-Mouse's Kismet EP is out via Meld.
Recommendation for Mumbai, India: The Kala Ghoda Wine Bar in Mumbai has some of the best drinks and DJs/ selectors coming in, playing all night long. Its intimate, moody, has great sound, and makes for a great listening experience.
Things that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: ASMR! I love watching+listening to ASMR. The focus on the tiniest of sounds, creating these unintentional textured soundscapes, and playing with ordinary objects, inspired me to rediscover the most mundane sound sources.

If you enjoyed this Noni-Mouse interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her on Instagram, Soundcloud, and bandcamp.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Noni-Mouse interview. 



The path to becoming a producer is a process - but from many interviews, I am under the impression that there are nonetheless one or a few defining moments. If this was the case for you – what were they and why were they so incisive?

I learnt a lot from singing in a choir. Especifically performing The Universe by Sir Karl Jenkins with the Living Voices Choir, accompanying the Royal Symphony Orchestra of India.

Everything I know about performance, arrangement and musicality has come from participating in different music ensembles, sharing spaces with musicians, and observing them.

In how far, would you say, was your evolution as an artist connected to the evolution of your music set-up and studio? Were there shared stepping stones?

I have always worked with minimal equipment. Ableton, a midi keyboard, a soundcard, monitors, and a table.

I believe in maximising what I have, and allowing this self-imposed ‘restriction’ dictate my process.

There are artists who can realise their ideas best with a traditional – or modified – piano interface, others with a keyboard and a mouse, yet others by turning knobs or touching screens. What's your preferred and most intuitive/natural way of making music and why?

I am fan of manipulating samples, layering them (along with stretching and squeezing them) to create new sounds.

I like to process a group of sounds as one, making sure they sit just right, on top of each other, coming together to create different parts of the final waveform.

Tell me about the space of your current studio/workplace and how you've set it up to optimise creativity.

My current studio setup lives in my bedroom, thanks to the London rental market (lol).

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the production process for the Kismet EP, please.

The entire EP is based on a Burial-type beat I found on Splice, which I further edited to create different patterns, combining them with these genre-specific drum grooves to create this disjointed take on some popular dance music styles.

Once the drums and the baseline were in place, the melodic elements came in very easily. I think these tracks are my attempts at creating off-kilter tools.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

I started my music journey in the classical, performance-based side of the industry, and always felt like there weren’t tools there to support my creative vision.

Electronic music allows you to try, experiment and play with different perspectives within music. And in a very efficient way. These digital tools allow me to be a different kind of composer each day.

As a creative musician, I need that flexibility to be able to do this regularly.

Tell me about your aesthetic preferences for picking effects like reverb, delay, compression, chorus etc … - what was the role of these effects in the production of the EP?

Long attack, short release on compression. Surgical EQ on everything. Buttery saturation with some shine. Soft mixes, loud masters.

The current production process allows for fast and infinite variations. Can you tell me about how you deal with this potential for the infinite and what ultimately decides on how many iterations to create and which version to release?

Personally, I think intuition plays a big role on when to stop working on a track, when to share it with a label, and what feedback to incorporate.

I am fortunate to have worked with labels (especially like Meld) that have supported my vision, and have also shared great feedback, which helped elevate the compositions.

Production, as opposed to live performance, can be a lonely process and feedback from listeners isn't always tangible. What is it about it that gives you satisfaction?

Personally, I really enjoy the solo working process. Collaborations are great, but music making gives me so much joy and euphoria, and doing it on my own, I have never felt alone, bored or lonely.

I feel like I am carrying so many ideas in my mind, and constantly struggling to find time to execute all of them.

We can watch videos on production, take producer courses, and exchange deep insights on gear forums. Amidst these options to improve one's chops/ skills, how do you keep things playful?

Teaching!

I have rediscovered so many insights and tools that can make a big difference in productions but are often overlooked or forgotten.

AI is already capable of making something most people would recognise as music. I am curious, though, and will keep this question somewhat broad on purpose: What do you think that means?

AI can only look in the past, but human musicians can look into the future.

AI is making things based on what has happened. Experiencing real life, we have the advantage of predicting more nuanced sonic creative directions.