Slow Magic is killing it at the moment. The masked producer is preparing to follow up 2012’s Triangle, and has release three excellent tracks (“Girls,” “Hold Still,” and “Waited 4 U“) to build anticipation, each of which demonstrate his growth as an artist, and his unique, organic feeling electronic sound.
Check out the mix Slow Magic made for Pigeons & Planes alongside a short interview below. His new album How To Run Away will be released September 9, pre-order here.
This is a mix I made while on tour in Europe for the past few months. It is a challenge to be moving around from country to country with just a laptop trying to make music and mixes, but it can be fun to see what happens. I made this in a hotel room in Austria mix. The songs have all been a soundtrack to my travels.
How did you get into producing music?
I used to play around with drums and Casio keyboards that were in my house growing up. I slowly began realizing my love for making weird music and when I was a teenager I got FL studio on my computer. I really loved listening to music by bands like múm and wondering how they made it sound so good.
Your music is hard to categorize—what would you say has influenced your sound the most?
I like so many types of music and I think any genre could influence the way I sound. A lot of my music is me trying to capture something beautiful or something crazy and translating that into a sound.
There’s a very playful vibe to your music, almost video game-y. If you had the opportunity to score a video game would you take it? And if so, what video game series would be your dream composer gig?
I really love the new Animal Crossing game and the music in that is so nice. Every hour the songs change but they all fit together. I would love the challenge of making music that can loop and change depending on the time or what the player does in the game. I’ve thought of maybe remixing a song in the game.
You’ve mentioned before that you like to use old keyboards and other instruments when recording music, have there been many challenges when working with older equipment and analog equipment?
I like to use old keyboards like a Rhodes piano or an old Moog Synth. It can be challenging to record them well but sometimes that adds to the feeling of the recording. I also enjoy trying to recreate those imperfections with computer software and usually I end up with something completely different.
What challenges have you encountered translating your music to a live setting?
I enjoy making the live show a lot different to what you might hear on the record. Drums are definitely more of a focus on the stage and things get more chaotic. Often, I will get on stage with a new song that I have never played live and it either goes well or it’s a weird disaster.
You have a strong visual image to back up your sound, do you think that your vivid aesthetic is just as important as your music?
I really enjoy working on the visual side of everything. I have a lot of talented friends who also help and I couldn’t do it without them (Luca Venter, Mariel Bennett, Sneakyboy), I definitely think that the music and the artwork are very connected. Some people can make them separately, but for me they are a perfect companion.
Is the anonymity in your music still important to you? And if so, why?
The anonymity is still important to me as I still want the focus to be on the music instead of a person or a location. I think it helps when people are first presented with the art itself rather than who I am, and I don’t ever plan to take off my mask.
You’ve remixed quite a few artists, is there someone in particular you’d like to remix in the future?
I always would love to remix so many artists. What comes to mind at the moment is Rhye, Caribou, Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, and Drake.
