With his debut album release ‘Blind’ on Cosmic Society and his ‘Frozen’ EP on Diynamic, Blindsmyth has already begun to make his mark on the scene. Now, his newest release “Gryllidae” is out on Connaisseur Recordings. This track is truly a warm musical and artistic gem. With ultimate ease it bottles the warm summer days to be enjoyed anytime and anywhere. We talked to him about his process, his live set, ideas and summer plans. You can listen to his new track here, while reading this interview.
WWD: First of all, congratulations on your new track ‘Gryllidae’ out on Connaisseur Recordings! How has this release been different to your others?
Thank you very much! In comparison to my debut album, I went for a more direct and minimalistic language that translates well to the dancefloor in this release. It also consolidates my use of the more natural “Just Intonation” system that is common in many non european music cultures. This gives my synthesizers a very special sound colour that you cannot achieve with the regular tunings in most music programs or instruments like the piano or the guitar.
WWD: Can you tell us more about the process behind ‘Gryllidae’?
The initial idea of the track comes from climbing the hill behind my friend’s place in Salo, Italy. He has this very old pittoresque house from the 16th century. It was a warm summer afternoon and while going up through the almost jungle like wilderness, I recorded many sounds and started to have the main riff and conception of the track. Back home I started to arrange the track with the field recordings from this trip: The grills were making a shaker at almost exactly 118bpm, the wine barrels in my friend’s mansion became the toms and the riff I heard in my head that day became the lead synthesizer.
WWD: You’re a relatively new artist, but judging from your previous releases it would be fair to say that you already have a strong personal style. What would you say is your influence and inspiration in your music?
I love emotional and atmospheric music. I also like groovy music. I also like experimental music. My influences range from avant-garde to world music up to modern songwriters like James Blake and Bon Iver. Many electronic artists from England like Four Tet, Burial and Floating Point also had a huge impact on me. Last but not least the festival culture around Berlin introduced me to many great Live Acts and DJs in the house and techno world and inspired me to make this kind of music myself.
WWD: On that note, what drew you to the electronic scene and particularly the live stage?
I started to have guitar lessons when I was 7. As a teenager I played in different (post) rock and metal bands. I have always been the songwriter in these projects. Recording and arranging the songs I started to use the computer more and more to also mess with the sounds, kind of remixing myself. At this point I started this study of Composition, Music- and Studio Production in Groningen, the Netherlands. Since I have this band background it always seemed more natural to use recordings for making beats. When I bought my first field recorder in 2012 it was like a little revolution: I loved hunting for both very daily and very unique sounds to make drums, pads, and even synth-like sounds in my program. After 4 Years of studying my urge to play more live again became so strong that Blindsmyth came to life in 2015.
WWD: You had some big festival plans this summer…
Yes, I’ve already had some very nice international live dates… What I usually do when I have gigs abroad and time, is to stay a couple of days. For example, I was already planning to stay a bit in Turkey doing field recordings and meeting instrument builders and musicians. I guess I have to do all of that in 2021. Good luck to all promoters out there and stay strong during these times!
WWD: And now that you can’t perform – how do you spend your time?
Not being able to play gigs anymore is a hard cut. For me playing live and sharing my music with the people directly is a vital feedback for my artistic process. However, I took the chance to work on my live setup. Much of the hardware I use is self built and programmed. I just finished a new guitar pedal in a nice wooden enclosure. I also took the time to work out my next studio album. Although I cannot play live I still try to work on this project.
WWD: What do we have to look forward to in the future from Blindsmyth? Any new exciting future project coming our way soon?
As I mentioned before I am working on a new studio album and a new live setup. Concretely what this means is that I built my own hardware that allows me to have big parts of my creative process outsourced from the computer. So expect a new album with an even more live and organic feeling while at the same time having more synthesizers and strange vocoded vocals.
WWD: Finally, tell us about your latest highlight.
Sharing the stage with Max Cooper in Kiev: I’ve loved his sound since years. So being on this massive stage with this warehouse full of people that are completely into the kind of music me and Max make was a beautiful experience. Hope to have these situations soon, again. I am ready!
Make sure to check out Blindsmyth’s live sessions We certainly look forward to seeing whatever he will bring next!