Hiya folks thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today, grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
I’m not good at most anything and Music always had been my refuge and so I decided to make some of that music I couldn’t find anywhere but was stuck in my head.
Introduce us you / all to the members and your musical history?
I’m very shy, I have ADHD so I find hard to make friends because I can’t keep a conversation as every word triggers a different chain of thoughts and ideas; I’m not geeky so all conversations with people I meet sound like foreign language, I managed to have two University degrees, first in Geology and 10 years ago I graduated in Inside Music one of the many specialities in Music; I started very young with Classical guitar and then, played a large range of genres until I finally got interest in Electronic Music, almost as default from my Prog Rock experiences that demanded some technologies to help me with recording my multi-instrumentalist work.
What’s one question you’re sick of being asked when interviewed?
“ What’s your writing/composing process?”
We set up RGM USA and many other countries in the world to share music with America and the UK, good idea?
I suppose so, just because it involves the USA doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad idea, they might have their faults over there, but also great musicians and music creators.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories?
Oh yes, a few, but I won’t tell you because sadly nowadays people get offended very easily and it’s not good for someone like myself who gets on stage in front of many people….
Did you buy anything you don’t need in the pandemic?
When it comes to purchases I always ask myself: ”Do I need it or do I simply want it?”, so no I never buy anything I don’t need, not during nor before or after the pandemic. My trainers and jeans cost 12 quid, I get personalised t-shirts for the same price, so I think I have enough money left for food and utilities. Oh except books, I buy and read lots of books, mostly non-fiction but also the classics.
What useless party trick do you have?
I don’t go to many parties, I get fed up very quickly ( ADHD remember?) and even when I do go, I don’t interact much, so I don’t have any party tricks. Except perhaps disappearing without being noticed.
What was the most fun you have had on stage?
Can’t really remember, to be honest, I am always worried about technical details in the hope nothing goes wrong, and it might at any time, but I do enjoy it when the audience engages in my music; but the best part is afterwards when I have the feedback from the audience.
What was the worst experience on stage?
It might have happened, and it most surely did, but bad experiences tend to be sent into oblivion, it is something one doesn’t want to think about, so I don’t have any I can tell you right away.
Tell us something about you / each member that you think people would be surprised about.
Apart from being straight and having the same gender, I was born? Maybe I like to be alone, and do things on my own like travel, cooking; I don’t feel the need to belong to any kind of group, I like to paint though I’m rubbish at it and I hate to get dirty, I wash my hands more than 50 times a day and it has nothing to do with pandemics, I’ve always been like this.
If you had to describe your band/music to an alien how would you describe it?
I would simply play it, Brahms once said: “If we could describe Music in words we wouldn’t bother to compose it.”
What makes you stand out as a band/artist?
I really don’t know if I stand out, I try to be different, not denying influences, but make my own “cocktail” with those influences, I would love to stand out, but I don’t know if I ever will.
Right now, what’s pissing you off the most?
Politics in general and the Tory “drama” in particular.
What’s your favourite song to play live and why?
I don’t have a favourite, it would mean that in my own view all the rest is rubbish, I like to experiment and come up with new compositional ideas, so I use live performances to see the reaction from the audience and rectify what didn’t go so well later back in my studio. All music should be favourites of the musician who composed them, they are like our children, we created them (and it’s not an easy process) so why have preferences?
I hear you have new music, what can you tell us about it?
It’s a new album, made of old music, I don’t mean it was already published, it wasn’t until now and when I say old I mean not only music I left behind but also the style and way of composition, I did some housekeeping and I decided to clear some material before I move into a different concept, this new album also contains material recently made and it’s titled simply √2, as a reference to some irrationality that might be found as the listener goes through all the tracks, after this album I decided to move to smoother and more relaxing and introspective ambiences.
Talk me through the thought process of the single/album/ep?
I play a random chord sequence and then improvise on it until something sounds cool to me. Sometimes something I heard the night before when watching a movie or documentary, a thought or a sentence, can also be influential in the thought process it will be the catalyst for the mood of the music.
What was the recording process like?
If I’m not in the mood I don’t record, if I feel motivated I go for it with all my energies, it is very exciting and stimulating, but for the outsider might seem dull, in fact recording is very much routine for a multi-instrumentalist, starting with the main harmony and then move to other instruments, applying bass lines and countermelodies, several other instruments and sound effects, each one of them in a separated track. Fascinating for those doing it, sometimes a bit exhausting, but maybe not very entertaining for that only watching.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the single/album/ep?
The latest music software have a steep learning curve, moving from the traditional instruments recorded in traditional multitrack recorders to the use of computers to refine the whole recording process and even gaining access to sound banks that are not available in the analogue synthesizers I believe that is really the biggest learning curve in writing.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I do that sometimes, in this new album there is a track already published in another album, but I felt something needed a change and something else added, so I did it and republished it.
What are your plans for the year ahead?
Keep pushing on, keep trying to get gigs and attract some attention, my Music is my legacy to the world, I really would not like to end up my days thinking that I lived in vain.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
That would be going back to the conspiracy theories, but I’ll make it simple:
My Music is my expression to tell the world that things can be as anyone wishes them to be, but above all, live and let live, don’t be fussy, no one has the monopoly of wisdom and none of us will live forever but through works of art, beauty and love a memory of our passage in this world will remain.