Name: Luc Kheradmand aka Voiski

Nationality: French
Occupation: Producer, DJ
Current release: Voiski's Hanging In The Stars Pt. 1 is out via Funnuvojere.
Recommendations: Steve Reich - Piano phase; Every painting by Ed Ruscha (!!)

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



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in production and technology?

Yes, definitely! My earliest musical experiences form a strange blend between the mystical and ritualistic Kurdish music to which I was exposed at a very young age thanks to my family. And Euro-dance from the supermarket mixed with childish experiments of mishandling my parents' vinyl records.

All of these elements are part of me, and I still feel their influences on my work today

What were your very first active steps with music technology and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

As a young person, I did odd jobs to afford Technics turntables and a bad mixer, with which I experimented with blending things together. At the same time, like many others, I started installing cracked software on my old PC—Reason, then Ableton 4. Initially, it was more of a game; I created in a haphazard and intuitive manner, without really knowing what I was doing or seeking.

With experience, what has changed mainly is that today I know how to execute what I have in mind. But I still greatly value this beginner's approach; I find something magical in not knowing too much. I continue today to implement strategies to regain this attitude.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches, and musical forms you may be very familiar with?

I try to change tools regularly. As soon as I acquire too much expertise or too many marked automatisms, I try to shake up my entire system and confront myself with new tools I know nothing about.

For example, by selling or exchanging machines or installing a new plug-in. This helps maintain a certain creative discomfort :)

For your own creativity, what is the balance and relative importance between what you learned from teachers, tutorials and other producers on the one hand – and what you discovered, understood, and achieved yourself? What are examples for both of these?

What I learn from tutorials or my fellow producers is essentially a technical input that allows me to adjust or compare my creations to industry standards.

But as for pure creativity, it rarely comes through colleagues but rather through experimentation and confrontation with machines in addition to external influences, which can be either in music or in art in general, or simply in contemplation of the world around me.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

My setup often evolves for the same reasons mentioned earlier: the desire not to get too accustomed and to keep a fun and discovery element in the work. And simply also out of boredom.

I try as much as possible to replace or exchange an instrument that I haven't used for several months, even if sometimes certain instruments hold sentimental attachment that is a bit hard to overcome :)

Among the things I use a lot today and never get tired of, I would say:

* The Norand Mono, an incredible monophonic synthesizer that is super inspiring and quite easy to approach despite the immense range of its capabilities.
* The DSI Prophet 6, I never tire of it. It must have been 10 years, it's always there when we're out of ideas.
* Analog filters like the Electrix Filter Factory or Erica Acid Box, very practical for adding movement and an analog touch to computer plugins. It was one of my tricks in the beginning when I really couldn't afford a synth. Sending VSTs through an analog filter and modulating its LFO on top of it has a satisfying DIY aspect to it. Right now, I use it a lot with Vital, a free wavetable synth plugin that I really appreciate.
* I'm a big fan of sequencers, and among my favorites are the Arturia Keystep and also the Future Retro Zillion!

Already as a little kid, I was drawn to all aspects of electronic/electric music but I've never quite been able to put a finger on why this is. What's your own relationship to electronic sounds, rhythms, productions like – what, if any, are fundamental differences with “acoustic“ music and tools?

Personally, electronic sounds resonate with different universes that marked my childhood, such as science fiction movies and video games.

I was exposed to screens a lot (too much) at a very young age, and this created in me a sort of disconnection from reality, a kind of distance or disembodiment which today gives me a particular attraction for synthetic sounds and robotic grooves in contrast to the physicality of acoustic music.

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 and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

I think frameworks are important, and a tool that has no limits represents something anxiety-inducing for me. That's why I stay away from the world of modular synthesizers.

I like constraints, I like work protocols, I like tools that do few things with which one must work. It helps creativity to express itself in one direction and maximizes the chances of completing what one undertakes.

A system with no limits is a guarantee of getting lost indefinitely, which is counterproductive.

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. How does your own way of working with sound look like? Do you find using presets lazy?

I have nothing against presets! On the contrary, I think they are bases that allow progress and invite us to reshape them in our own way. Truthfully, I'm quite tolerant in my approach to sound, and I'm not too picky, as long as it serves my harmonic goal and the texture is reasonably acceptable, I prefer to move forward with it.

There is a French expression that says: le mieux et l’ennemi du bien which translates to 'the best is the enemy of the good,' and I think it’s true. I prefer to move forward with my track rather than spend 6 hours on one particular sound. I can do it for very specific projects, but I'm generally forgiving.

What, to you, are the respective benefits of solo work and collaborations and do you often feel lonely in the studio? Can machines act as collaborators to you?

I have a real collaborative relationship with machines, and it's really crucial for me. Therefore I sometimes feel only partially responsible for my creations because I introduce a lot of chance into my production and I have learned to surround myself with machines that can have a life of their own or others that can make proposals to me that I am free to accept or reject.

I sometimes see myself more as a conductor of electronic elements with independent wills than a solitary composer with a very precise idea in his head seeking to execute it perfectly.

Beyond that, collaborations with other artists are one of my favorite exercises. I have done a lot of them, and I always enjoy doing them simply for the pleasure of seeing works emerge that fuse different styles and skills unexpectedly.



To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regards?

As an electronic musician who doesn't play instruments in the traditional sense, I can only enthusiastically embrace new technological advances, whatever they may be. I'm not afraid of artificial intelligence; in fact, I've even been assisted by it for the translation of this interview. And who knows if I actually answered these questions myself?? :)

I can quite imagine a future where AI will be capable of producing hits and imitating any style of any artist. And that these hits will be so popular that they end up being played on the radio. I simply hope that listeners will still see a particular quality in the human artist that will give them a special status in the future musical world.

Maybe in the future music industry people will have to create a sort of quality 'Organic Music' label which would indicates that the author of a work is a living being!

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instruments you would like to see and hear?  

I dream that Norand could develop a proper drum machine that would work and sound like their Mono synthesizer!! That would be the ultimate game changer for techno artists really :)