#stalker va

03. Are you an electronic purist?

Not at all. And that is connected with another fascination of mine. Since I got my first audio recorder (it was actually an old cassette player with the record function), I started recording the sounds of the world, surrounding me. In fact, I still have some of those cassettes somewhere, but I think most of them are already demagnetized. You can experience even the familiar sounds in a new way if you learn to listen to them in a new way or process them. Sometimes known sounds can be perceived in a very different manner, if they are presented without their visual counterpart. But most of all I like to collect sounds which are unusual, unfamiliar. That’s why, acoustic sounds of the real world has also become an important part of my music, especially when they have some unique qualities to them. Of course, now I use a professional portable recorder for gathering those field recordings. I also record acoustic instruments, but usually I transform them in some way. That’s why I usually refer to my music as electroacoustic rather than electronic.

04. What is your current favorite piece of hardware? Software?

My music is mostly based on software – I don’t use real hardware synths, but VST instruments, controlled by MIDI keyboards instead – it gives much more flexibility. Of course, I have some “physical” equipment in my home studio, but it’s a bunch of necessary things, I can’t say that some of them are “favorite”, though I might have some special feelings towards my first pieces of equipment. Talking about software, I traditionally use Steinberg Cubase for most part of the music production process, as well as Ableton Live for live sets. Among the VST instruments my favorite are Spectrasonics Omnisphere, reFX Nexus, NI Reaktor, NI Absynth, Steinberg the Grand. For working with samples I use NI Kontakt and Izotope Iris and for sound processing I like to use SoundHack, Paulstretch, Pure Data and some other tools.

05. Do you use canned loops or samples? Why/Why not?

Well, I don’t. Because, as I said, I usually record them myself. A couple of times I really had to use samples from open-source sound libraries like freesound.org – usually when I need some “exotic” sound, which I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere near. But I don’t think that they can be classified as “canned”.

06. Do you use iPad/iPhone or other mobile computing devices in your music making?

Yes, occasionally I use iPad in my music making. Initially I used it only to record some musical ideas when I am on the way or somewhere far from my home studio.  Besides I like to play with some emulations of analog synths – they get really fun with iPad’s touchscreen. But recently I also started using it as a controller during live performances.

07. Was there a moment of inspiration… a certain track or artist, that ignited your passion for electronic music? 

I can’t say that there was a certain track or artist, which started all that, but rather different factors, some of which I’ve already mentioned before.

08. How does visual art/photography inform your music making?

I’m really fond of taking pictures, particularly landscape and abstract photography. And I think it influences my music in a way, because people often describe it as “visual”, “graphic”, “landscape-like” etc. Sometimes I approach composing music as painting with sound, creating some kind of impressionist picture. Another interesting aspect is that photography and field recording have a lot in common – both are connected with “capturing” the “real” world, which is done from some unique perspective of the author, often later to be transformed in an artistic way. Also my music is predominantly timbral, and timbres are like colors to me. Some of them are “painted”, some are “photographed”.

09. Has the internet/Social Media changed the way you make music?

I don’t thinks they changed the way I make music, but they become really helpful in sharing it with people and getting to know the wonderful music of other artists at the same time. Some particular musical SMs have become really important for me – Soundcloud, for example. Actually, it won’t be an overstatement to say, that it was Soundcloud that encouraged me to share my music. Before that I was writing it just “for myself”, so to say, only because I had a need to create, to express something.

10. What is your favorite artist or track of all time?

I can’t distinguish one artist or one track that is my all-time favorite. Well, maybe it’s natural. Human mind is not something stationary, it’s a process, a constant flow of change. For me different artists, tracks or albums often represent some particular periods in my life, they become strongly associated and connected with them. Sometimes even with particular places, or dreams. For instance, often when I listen to some track, with my “internal vision” I see myself in a particular spot in space and time and it’s almost impossible to get it out of my head and to re-associate that music with something else. So it gives me a possibility to use different music for travelling through space and time, evoking nostalgic feelings or even trying to remember how I viewed the world in particular periods of my life. That’s why I like to return to some tracks or albums over and over, while some are discarded completely over time. I always like to discover something new, some fresh ideas and inspirations.