TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM
-- Hi this is DiipSilence, my new album is called the Reticent Path, a 6-song EP. It's a collection of acoustic instrumental tracks that I've written in the past few years, and that's why it's reticent. I always dreamt about a place that people don't need language to talk with each other, all information can be expressed and received by our conscious. This is the start point of this album and then expands with different elements, an isle, the sea, the mist, and the forest only existed in my imagery.
HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THE SONGWRITING PROCESS?
-- I started my songs usually with field recordings that I've made during trips. I edit these sounds in my DAW and process them to the extent that I can't easily recognize the source, that's the moment where I can forget about sound design and start to write. I often will have a photo with me too for that location, and it'll bring up my memories of the trip. I want to use the sounds in that location to set the tone of the song and started sound design there. I believe everything can be music. In my songwriting process, there are not many lyrics, I try to use the sound on location to describe the memory in my head. Hopefully, I can say something without saying it.
WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM?
-- The placed I've travelled through last two years definitely are my inspirations. Most of the songs are a piece of memory of a place. For example, the air in the forest, the waves in the sea, and the raindrops outside my backyard, etc. The tranquil emotion from these scenes inspired me to write the tunes without lyrics.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TRACK?
-- Silent Eave is my favorite track in this album. I played both guitar and piano in this piece, this piece reminds me of a raining afternoon, which is not often happening in LA.
WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?
-- Among so many brilliant artists in the world, Coco Rosie, Massive Attack, Bjork gave me the most prominent influences. I'm a big fan of trip-hop music, the ambiance, and the mystery vibe is what I'm trying to create in my music as well.
WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE?
-- Coco Rosie - "Grey Oceans''. The songs in this album are full of interesting sound effects like toys, I love how creative they are to put the unexpected sounds in the songs. After listening to this album, I started to put sound effects in my music too.
WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE MUSIC?
-- Before jumping to the music industry, I was learning math for 6 years to get a master's degree of science in financial math. So maybe I was about to work in a bank if I didn't make music. But I love making music, and there's no way back. And here I am!
WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECORD ONE OF YOUR SONGS, AND WHICH ONE?
-- Just in my imagination, lol, I'd like to record Sainkho Namtchylak on my song "One Life." When I hear her singing, I can always feel the transcendent moment, her music sounds from another world, and it's an authentic connection with nature. Also, I admire her courage to be one of the most unique artists in the world.
HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND? -- I'm a one-man-band (here's a small cover video):
For me, it's kinda going backwards to form my artistry, because I didn't start my career as a singer or songwriter. On the other hand, I came from the technical side, began my career as a mixing engineer and producer for other artists. I started to learn songwriting and write my own pieces four years ago. Now I feel like an independent producer-artist, but still learning every day about production, song-writing, music business, and other aspects of the music industry.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE STARTING OUT?
-- Don't overthink, just do it.
WHAT IS NEXT?
-- My next album is under production, this one will include all the songs with lyrics that I've written in the past two years. This new album will use lots of field recordings like my previous productions as well, stay tuned!
-- All of my music can be found here: http://smarturl.com/diipsilence
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