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Anoesis returns to Cyphon Recordings with 'Metacognition'
Thanks for talking to us. Where are you this moment and how are you spending the day?
I’m at home at the moment, I’ve just come back from taking my daughter to see the Taylor Swift costume exhibition at the V&A
Where were you born? Where are you based now?
I was born and brought up in Hove, East Sussex, am now based in Hertfordshire, but I’ve always loved heading home to Brighton for the vibe and nightlife
What do you love most about where you are living? What keeps you where you are today?
Being on the edge of the countryside is wonderful, I love being able to stand in field within 5 mins. Add to that living in a small town that has an independent cinema and record shop, it’s a great combo.
You’ve been making music a long time. What was your first step as a musician?
I guess starting to learn the piano when I was about 7 (although I gave up pretty soon after 😊). I also remember listening to the inside of a metal slinky dangled over the stairs and thinking it sounded like a space battle. My dad helped me record it and build up a soundscape. After that it was borrowing the school 4 track recorder aged 14 and starting to make my first electronic tracks with Casio organs and a homebuilt drum machine
What kind of artists, DJs, genres were you into growing up?
It was a lot of the classics, early Human League, Kraftwerk, DAF, Devo, Joy Division, John Foxx, Numan, Sparks, New Order, Hard Corps, Grace Jones + I got to hear some cool stuff early on like Severed Heads and The Residents. Later on Gilles Peterson, James Lavelle, Grooverider, Aphex and Photek were really big for me
What was your first ever release?
It was Doc Bozique, a self released 4 tracker through Mo’s Music Machine distribution in Walthamstow,1993. It sold just over 100 copies so I had to ditch quite a few units when I next moved. A copy later surfaced on Discogs for about £100! Mind you a few more have surfaced now
Which of your records do you think had the greatest impact?
Probably Heavy Water from the first Anoesis EP. Someone once asked me what drugs I was on when I recorded it, but it was literally done at home with a clear head in the daytime, mostly as a response to what I was hearing on Kiss FM and down at clubs like SW3s at the time, combined with the sort of music what I wanted to hear
Is there a record that went under the radar that we should check?
I think Shatter on Octopus Records, it was my 2nd drum and bass release and my first release to make it onto CD, and was a lovely piece of music. Fabio played it a fair bit at the time but it could do with some latter day focus!
You took sometime out from producing. What were you up to in that time? What made you want to get back to it?
I got a job, got married, raised a family and got some stability back in to my life. It really enabled me to become a huge music fan again. But I’ve always made music, that’s what I like doing the most. It was the burgeoning modular synth movement that got me back in and also listening to artists like Lone, Flying Lotus, Madliband Dorian Concept
Who are the artists that inspire you right now?
Farsight is great. Love his off kilter take on dubstep. Also Chihei Hatakayama for ambient –fantastic the way he can control such minimal movement in his music
What is the most recent record you purchased ?
Digital – I Think You Know by Machine Made Man, lovely tune with electro tinged choppy beats. Vinyl -Espaces Baroques by Frederic Galliano – I used to love falling asleep to this album, its so beautiful. Getting hold of it again recently and having to flip the sides has meant I’ve final heard it through to the end
How did you first connect with Cyphon?
Cyphon reached out to me, I think he was aware of my first releases. He asked if I had any new unreleased tracks, which happened just at a time when I’d stock piled quite a few
This is your second release on Cyphon. Have you been keeping up with the labels output?
Yes, I love the feel of the releases and it’s incredibly cool being on the same label as people like Kirk Degiorgio. There’s a distinct 80’s sound to the music, a little like Steve Roach, very dreamy. The Yuu Udagawa, Ben Sun and Ewan Jansen releases are great
Talk to us about the new EP Metacognition and the initial idea.
I wanted to tap into a more house, 4/4 sound and have some lead lines and themes in there, plus a bit of experimentation. Metacognition means being aware of the fact that you’re thinking and thinking about your thinking. The title came from the graphic book Two Heads, which investigates the psychology of human interactions
What was most important for you to convey through these tracks?
I always start with an intention to bring in influences from outside the dance music scene and break the rules a bit. But sometimes you just get a good beat and you have to roll with it
Do you feel that you were able to accomplish all of your intentions?
I think so – it’s difficult to tell so close to a release as you need some distance. But it’s been great to see Polybius do well on Traxsource, plus Do Don’t Don’t Do and New Style of Life getting plays on 6 Music and Rinse FM. Vision Off started off as an Instagram collab with Roland, that gave me the impetus to develop the track
What are you most proud of with this release?
I think Voxelle – I’d not heard it for months until last week and found I wanted to listen to the track all the way and tick off all the decisions I’d made. I like the dreamy/spacey sound to it combined with the busy off beat house drums. The title comes from the word ‘Voxel’, the smallest unit of observation when scanning the brain
What was the most challenging part of bringing it together?
It’s always the last 5%, getting to the point with a track where you can accept it’s finished and you need to commit it to file
What drives you to create music these days?
It’s the most fun part of being an electronic music artist, just sitting down and creating, it feels like the ultimate freedom
Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music?
It’s odd, sometimes it can be by listening to music, sometimes it can be through not listening to music. Sometimes you listen to a track, get blown away and want to create something similar, and just end up with something totally different. Making IG videos and getting instant feedback is also really cool
What can we hope to see next from Anoesis?
Live gigs and DJing. I just came back from playing Globus/Tresor in Berlin with Paper-Cuts last week. It was the first time live in a while but I put a lot of work in and it was a great night. Hopefully more to come. I’ve also got a track coming out on a UK breakbeat compilation for Deadbeat Records. Plus – 2nd release on my own label Kranq, and maybe a few more early Anoesis re-issues.
METACOGNITION IS OUT ON CYPHON RECORDINGS 20TH SEPTEMBER.
GRAB IT HERE: ANOESIS - Metacognition EP Vinyl at Juno Records.