Cutting the Commercial - RBCN interview SEPH

written by Paranoid, for Relevant BCN
Source: Cutting the Commercial - RBCN interview SEPH - rbcn - Be Creative Now!
Hello Seph, please tell us where you are now and how the vibe is over there.
Hi! I’m in Buenos Aires right now, and all is great over here. I´m preparing my next european tour for July and August.

So this year you’re finally playing Europe in summer season!
Yea, I haven’t been over there during the summer in quite some time now, and I’m looking forward to it a lot.

Is there a club that you’re looking forward to play at?
I am looking forward a lot to Raumrausch, a small party in Switzerland. I played there once at the same outdoor location they are using this time. It´s up near the mountains, green everywhere, a beautiful place. I had one of my best gigs ever there, even though it was only for around 100 people I received such a strong and positive feedback from them. I felt really comfortable and I think I delivered really well. The atmosphere at this party was really nice and I can’t wait to be there again. In terms of clubs, Harry Klein in Munich is always fun, always great gigs, and so is City Fox in Zurich.


You touched a high note on Dumb Unit with the release of your debut album last year, which would you say were the highlights in your career since you first started in the label?
Well my first release on the label was pretty cool, as it was something I worked with Jorge Savoretti as Geoph Serge and the output was two epic techno tracks. I think it was around this moment that I started to mature my sound a little and I was lucky to have been picked up by Jeremy P. Caulfield. The Vodkrens EP was also cool. But aside from all of this, what really became fun was touring with Jeremy, we have a laugh together (he is hilarious) and our showcases have always been great. It was thanks to Dumb Unit that I got to play in really respected clubs such as Fabric (London) and D-Edge (Sao Paolo).

So what's the future now, have you thought in how would your next release be like?
Well I’m working on lots of stuff right now, and not only for Dumb-Unit. As always, I am aiming to expand Techno-wise, maybe to push deeper vibes, more noise and less sequence. I’m also getting more into dub-techno. For Dumb Unit I think I will do something more “techy” and funky, but you never know, anything can come out of the oven. I am also trying to finish my never-ending noise and glitch project; its concept is constantly morphing and I’m just wishing I´d stop demanding so much from myself and get it done soon as it is something that I enjoy working on, but need to finish it!

For how long have you been working on this noise glitch project?
I’ve been on it for quite some time now. It started with two weird tracks I made with Pablo Denegri around two years ago and then I started to develop the idea into different beats and tempos and shaped everything as a whole. The problem right now is that the project has become too eclectic, so now I’m back at the designing phase. Trying to pick and separate some tracks into different combos.

With concepts constantly morphing it seems really hard to finish a definite project and to release it, right? Is this going to be an album?
It’s a bit hard if you’re demanding a lot from yourself, which is my biggest problem! Yes, I’m planning on releasing it sometime as an album.

Talking about albums, now that you've launched Alquimia, which took you more than 2 years of work, how do you feel regarding this format compared to EP's?
Well both formats are quite similar, the big difference is that in an album you have more freedom to install your vision of the music you make, and not only on the grounds of "ideas" but also in terms of length; its like comparing a one hour set to a four hour set. Of course the other obvious difference is that on an EP, in techno, the artist tends to release dancefloor aimed tunes (although thats not always the case) and in an album one can expand ideas and not think so much about the commercial aspect of the game.

With all this shuffle trend and digital releases it seems that albums kind of lost their concept until a few years ago...
That’s what I’m saying; The "invisible hand" of the market has reached so far that now albums are just a collection of tracks with no soul or no direction whatsoever. It’s just a commercial punch line. Again, this is not always the case; take Marcel Dettmann’s, Frank Bretschneider's or Lucy's cool albums for instance.

I know you like expanding ideas, not to thinking so much in the commercial aspect of the game, as you said. How do you see the scenario regarding live gigs? Do you always need to look for a dancefloor vibe to be on tour?
Well its techno music right? So the dancefloor vibe is always there. The thing is, I’m not going to sell myself like many people have to the commercial sounds. There’s been a shift to a very commercial scene which I think is bringing down the quality of music. To be honest, there is great music out there but there´s also lots of recycled, refried bullshit that has regressive consequences. I mean this in the sense that even if they don’t realize it, lots of labels are contributing to the stupidization of the music industry. Less critical minds equals more control to those in power and we all know what that means. I’m sorry but I just can’t keep my mouth shut with these things and its something that bothers me a lot, especially because money and gigs are being given to those who make silly, preset music (or that which is finished in one hour) while hard working artists (or those that are searching, expanding ideas) are being left aside.
Again, this is not always the case, but its something to keep in mind. On the other hand, there is the contrary effect: there is amazing forward-thinking music being made here and there and the underground is blossoming in contrast to the opposing scene.

I saw some interesting new charts from yours, can you name the latest great tracks that you heard?
Return to the Center, the V.A compilation that the label Time to Express released a few weeks ago has really good tracks, like Sendai's System Policy Variant. Then there's Dadub's Metropolis on Stroboscopic Artefacts, The Second Emotion by Not From Earth (Prologue)...

Can you tell us about the gig you had with Alva Noto and Mouse on Mars in Russia, I guess you had the opportunity to develop ideas on a more experimental live set, right?
Well my techno live set has always had weird and experimental material. The great thing in that event was that the crowd (which was pretty big) was already open to hearing something different and actually it's something that happens a lot in Russia. I have never really warmed to the theorization of music, I feel that it just has to blow your mind and that’s it. And that’s what happened with Alva Noto's set. An incredible work of in-your-face glitch/noise beats that seemed from another planet. This gave me enough confidence (I played after him) to take my set into weirder places, and that’s when I enjoy playing music most.

You were raised in England, and then moved back to Argentina, which would you say are the main things that you took back home from the UK?
Basically, my love for beats. I got into hip-hop, UK garage and usual radio dance stuff. I arrived in England when I was eleven years old and left as a fifteen year old DJ-wannabe! Another major thing I took home was the english language, which is very helpful in any business. Above all, the most important influence was a love for all music and art and a respect for all cultures.

I've heard lots of times that some of your tracks have this "tango feeling", would you say there is a Latin or Argentinian influence in your sound?
You could say that, but I don’t intend it. It might be a bit tango-ish in relation to melodies but if this is the case then it happens automatically.

Do you have any role model? Why?
I guess you could say Alva Noto is a role model. The same with Autechre, Aphex Twin. There isn’t a very special reason, its just that they make electronic music that is amazing, experimenting with new sounds and moving music forward in new directions. I know, I’m a boring and obsessive futuristic person! Another major role model I will always have is John Cage, thanks to him I learnt that music or sounds don’t need to be anything, they don’t need to say something. They should just be sounds, not mean anything, and that’s the position from where we should enjoy or love them, period.

So before meeting Cages´ music you were intrigued about what you were trying to say or express with music?
Not really. It has never occurred to me what I should express or try to say with music. This might contradict the fact that I´m still hoping or looking for new music, but I believe that this contradiction sits on a superficial surface. You and me and everyone, we are all looking for new music. The thing is, I just dont think that music itself, or sound itself has to express anything. It shouldn´t be political, it shouldn´t say anything, it shouldn´t try to be something it is not. If we perceive music as something, then that's a different matter. But sound itself, especially in electronic or experimental acoustic music, doesnt say anything, and that is the beauty of it.

As a last question: What are your plans for the future.
I will be touring from mid July to the end of August in Europe, then back to South America, hopefully with some gigs over there. Then in October and November there’s a chance I might go and do a few shows in Dubai and India, but nothing is confirmed just yet. I’ll probably be around Europe again in the summertime. New year's eve I will be playing in Brazil's top electronic music festival, Universo Paralelo, and that’s something I’m looking forward to a lot! Music-wise, I’ll be releasing a few remixes on labels from Spain (Raised Music), Switzerland (Numbolic) and Holland (Wit Recordings). Right now I’m working a remix for Mathias Schaffhauser that will be released on Noice Records from USA. On my own tracks, I will be appearing on other labels (news about that soon) but also on Dumb Unit's Dynasty releases.

Source: Cutting the Commercial - RBCN interview SEPH - rbcn - Be Creative Now!

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