Name: Senaerya Mar
Occupation: Composer, producer, DJ
Nationality: American
Recent release: Senaerya's Love Dream EP is out via Tabula Rasa.
Recommendations on the topic of sound: I love reading articles on the National Library Of Medicine database and going through anything related to the psychology behind music, relationships, and psychedelics. I think that has really helped me understand things on a deeper level and contributes to how I interact in these spaces and how I create.

If you enjoyed this Senaerya interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Soundcloud.



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

As someone who is a visual learner and has worked as a photographer for the past six years, I have always valued the visual component to listening to music — whether it is through a music video or just closing my eyes and seeing abstract shapes and colors that I associate with the sound. Music is another medium to tell a story so it only makes sense to me to associate it with imagery.

If I’m connected to a piece of music, I tend to listen with my eyes closed and imagine either memories in my life or patterns and colors that give the same feeling of what I am hearing.

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

For most of my life I have only listened to music on headphones, mainly because I didn’t grow up having the means to afford a high quality sound system but also because it was my way of escaping life. As a teenager I often fell asleep with my earbuds in and that was a peaceful place for me to be. I think because of that association with headphones, the choice to listen on headphones is because it is an escape and I can just exist with the music.

Listening to music on a proper stereo system was only introduced to me as I discovered music festivals and could share music with others, which has created a different listening environment for me because it was now more than about my own experience and about what others experience too.

This made me really appreciate going to nightclubs to see my favorite artists because through seeing how other people reacted to the same thing I was hearing has formed so many deep connections, and that is what music is really about.

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

This is no surprise to anyone who has talked to me, even if just for a second, that I am a huge Four Tet fan. His music was first introduced to me in 2017, I was 21 and just getting into electronic music at the time. My friend showed me Pink and I immediately fell in love, especially with “Pinnacles”.



The electronic music I knew prior to that was lacking depth and story that I was searching for, and I’m so grateful to have been shown this so early on into my journey with electronic music. Four Tet has always put so much care into what he makes and his ability to constantly surprise you is something I really admire about him. You can tell through his music that it was made with heart and curiosity.

I think the ability to make people feel and cry while listening to a song with no vocals is so magical because you know that it is truly the sound being created that is moving you. Whether or not Four Tet or other artists I admire intend to make a particular song ‘happy’ or ‘sad’, if you can move people to where they need to be without a single word is powerful.

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?

Certainly! I grew up with a strong desire to learn how to play instruments, but it was something my family couldn’t afford so I had to find a way to learn on my own.

I would attend my cousin’s piano classes as a kid and learn as a bystander and eventually taught myself. I attended drum circles in my early 20s and bought myself a doumbek and watched every YouTube tutorial I could. I think because of my desire to learn and feel connected to piano and hand drums, it has always been a sound that I feel most at peace with.

As I discovered electronic music, I realized how I could incorporate the love of keys and drums into something else.

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?

Understanding the production of music and mixing sounds together, I understand the necessity of the higher frequencies in the song, but my hearing is quite sensitive so those higher frequencies tend to just make me feel uncomfortable.

I guess it would just depend on the sound itself because pianos, vocals and marimbas all have a higher frequency but I absolutely love those sounds, where trumpets and clarinets it would really depend on how it is being played.

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

I’m going to sound like a crazy cat lady for this but honestly my cats’ sound intrigue me the most. I always record voice memos of them chirping and meowing and often mimic them. There’s something so silly and sweet about the sounds they make and I’ve used their sound in the past in tracks as a background texture.


Photo by Senaerya

I’m also intrigued by the sound of outdoor music spaces. If I am at a festival or show, I will often escape my friends to just listen to the mix of music in the distance, with people talking around me, and birds chirping. That sound just feels so lively to me, there is so much going on but it all works together and makes me appreciate life as a whole.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

The most prolific sound experience I have had has been Four Tet’s Squid Soup shows. The 360 sound really allowed you to hear as it came to you and allowed the music to take its proper journey to your ears rather than you hearing it all at once.

Especially with artists like him who have really complex sound, a lot of it can get lost just hearing it on a regular sound system or headphones, but the work put in for the Squid Soup shows really made me appreciate how we hear music.

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

My favorite place to play my music is at home on my stereo system, with friends. Just being able to share my music with a close group and have the sun shining on us is something I will always cherish.

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

I feel like music and sound are material in the sense of being something that you want to be able to touch and feel. Although it is unlike paintings and sculptures in the way you can actually touch and see the art, music is still that but requires a bit more awareness and understanding.

For me, I make music that I need to make because of something going on in my life. So, I can “sculpt” my piece to be a certain way but it is always up to the viewer to interpret it as they need.


Senaerya Interview Image (c) the artist

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?

Music is my first love. I grew up in a European/Hispanic household where dancing to salsa music as a kid with my mom until 1am was normal.

I have been a dancer for as long as I could walk, and it has always been my form of therapy. I’ve gone through a lot of traumatic things in the past few years and music has always been my go to place. I am so grateful to music for helping me through things and process emotions.

All I hope to do with my music is help others have a safe place to feel whatever they need to feel.

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?

As I mentioned before, I think cats have an incredible sound to them. I love how much it varies and though I cannot possibly understand exactly what they are trying to communicate, I can sort of guess and it is just for interpretation.

Also, I love the sound of life as it is, even in the most chaotic places like a city on Saturday night at 1am — I will go out onto my roof and just absorb the people yelling in the distance, the birds, the ambulances, the music being blasted from cars on the street — it’s just so full of life.

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?

As someone who is very connected to animals and music, I definitely believe there is an interspecies communication possible with humans and animals.

I used to play Franz Schubert to my cat, Zeus, all the time and I’d often sing him lullabies and really felt this deep connection with this cat because of the music I chose to share. Also understanding that animals are sensitive to certain frequencies, I would always be mindful of what music I played loudly around my cats.

Same goes to other animals, I have sung to and played music for horses, hummingbirds, and bumble bees and I have always seen a little sparkle in their eye because of it.

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 have been wearing ear plugs since I started going to shows but only recently got a pair of custom earplugs from 1 of 1 (highly recommend). These earplugs have enhanced my life, I can’t even imagine going without them.

Having been to a show where I forgot my ear plugs, it’s something you can’t do again. I have left venues because I couldn’t find my ear plugs and know there is nothing worth sticking around to hear if my ears aren’t protected.

My ability to hear is the thing that gives me the most joy so I’d be silly to not treasure and protect 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 agree! What we choose to hear, whether it a song or what someone is saying, influences our mood and headspace in that moment. I can be in the best place in my life and happiest day but if I put on “Creep” by Radiohead, I will instantly be sad and cry.

If I choose to talk to someone who I know doesn’t really care or love me, I will be sad and cry. So, the choice of what we listen to and who we are surrounded by is just that ... it is a choice.

It’s a powerful thing to understand though, that we are that sensitive to sound and all we have to do is choose what we really need and want.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasized that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

The world would benefit so much from paying more attention to what you hear before what you see. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to look at someone and have a whole perception of them built in your head, but taking the time to listen to who they are is just that; a matter of time.

Not to be cliche but “don’t judge a book by its cover” is so real, and even I and a lot of artists tend to judge first but you just have to remember that people are complex beings and no one chooses to look how they’re born, but what they have to say and believe is their choice.