Sonomancer is from Melbourne, Australia. His main influences are Future Sound of London, Orbital, CoLD SToRAGE, Chemical Brothers, Boards of Canada, Leftfield, Prodigy. Regarding his latest song 'Dreamscapes' he spent about six hours trying to decide between two guitar takes - they were that good! This represents a surreal journey that is common to so many and yet so different for each of us.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I'd have to say the thing I personally love the most about music, which is composing music itself and trying to come up with something new that hasn't been heard before - even above the production process.
Who inspired you to make music?
In a very roundabout way, CoLD SToRAGE. He may be the single biggest influence on my passion for music. His music itself is a big reason why, but the main inspiration was his involvement in the first piece of music software I first used.
Your latest track is 'Dreamscapes'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
Certainly. I have very vivid dreams from time to time. The craziest are always the ones that are lucid and when I'm able to control what happens in the dream. So I set about creating a surreal piece of music to try and capture something that is common to many but a very different, unique experience for each of us. In terms of unusual things... this started out as a very electronic-heavy sounding track, but the creation process was very organic and by the end it had become much more of a rock-oriented song, and I think it sounds much better for it. But the direction was as unexpected as it was welcome!
What is your creative process like?
Varies from track to track. It usually starts with playing with melodies, then building the harmonies, percussion and bass on top. Then I usually name it based on how it sounds to me. Then there are those tracks that I explore the theme of an idea for first. More recently I've been working with more live instrumentalists, which I am absolutely loving, because it adds this whole other inspiring dimension to your work.
What is the most surprising fact you’ve learnt about yourself?
Hmm... I think recently getting to grips with the management side of this. I had no interest in it when I first started, but handling all of your own business is very empowering.
Do you think that education is important?
In general? Yes - massively so. Today's students are tomorrow's teachers. But I do think we need to update things from pre-1900 thinking. The focus on the 'core' subjects such as Maths, English and Science... not everyone has an aptitude for those but it absolutely does not mean those people should be casually and silently cast aside. It would be much better to focus on a child's strengths, in my opinion. On a personal note, in school, I was top of the class in music, but there was no way for the teachers to nurture that in the curriculum they were teaching in, so I didn't really develop that skill at all there. A very valuable side-effect of the kind of personal focus that I am talking about, is that the child would naturally enjoy what they are learning more. That is enrichment for them as well as the wider society, which gets a certified expert in whichever field the child chooses. Also, there are some life-skills we really should be teaching that we just aren't. How to handle household finances, for example, would be a much better application of mathematics than what we generally see in schools, meanwhile we have no social skills training whatsoever. Simply letting kids out into the playground and letting them figure it out? I personally think that is insane. Maybe we wouldn't have so many kids committing suicide over being bullied if they weren't just thrown into the mix and left to figure it out amongst themselves.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
A massive, genuine thank you - the fact that you listen to and like what I do is the reason I put my music out there.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
To say it changed the whole game is a huge understatement. It's even been such a seismic shift that, for me, more modern impacts via the Internet actually make prior ones unrecognisable. I'd say that the first time I read about what an mp3 was, I genuinely thought the industry was in for a massive shock, and people in the industry I was in contact with back when the impact hadn't really started yet were all saying that it was the way things were destined to go through the Internet. The tricky bit was trying to see how everything would land, and personally I think that a lot of the impact was very negative at first. I personally hated downloads! The lower-quality... I couldn't stand it. I am so glad that format has basically died a death! Streaming is just awesome. I love the fact that just by someone listening to your music, you can make a living. Plus, vinyl is back, for that warm analog sound. I could go on for ages about this so I'll just sum up how quickly things continue to move: to be an artist, even as little as fifteen years ago, by and large you needed some record label to take you seriously; to be an artist now, you just need to be serious about yourself. If I could use just one word to describe the impact today of the Internet on the music industry, that word would be 'liberating'.
What do you think is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen or experienced?
Far too many to mention. My life hasn't always been sunshine and lollipops, but there have been a lot of beautiful moments that I am extremely grateful for. Actually... I'll mention one to do with music - back when I first started, putting a certain harmony together, and getting goosebumps. I was hooked from there.
What are your plans for the future?
I am planning to keep on with creating and releasing music regularly. Ultimately, I plan to release an album later this year.