Your new single ‘After Dark’ is out on the 13th of September. Please tell us a bit about how it came about. Where did your inspiration come from and how was it collaborating with Taylah?
After Dark was one of those demos that didn’t change too much throughout the process! I had sent the rough bones through to Taylah and what she sent back ended up being the final structure of the song. I had been playing around with a lot of old garage and house melodies and After Dark is what I liked best.
Creating ‘After Dark’, did you use a similar process to your previous work or was it different in any way?
In a lot of ways it’s how I usually work. I made the song in my own time sort of cooped away in my room, and then reached out to Taylah and shaped it from an idea to an actual song around that.
You’ve previously mentioned that you were exploring house jungle / drum & bass and EDM music on Youtube as a teenager. Can you tell us about any particular artists that influenced you at this time and what they have meant to you and your music?
At that age it was a huge melting pot of artists. I first discovered Daft Punk and French electronic artists like Fred Falke, Madeon, Justice & Cassius and slowly made my way up to David Guetta, Deadmau5, Skrillex and drum and bass artists like Netsky, Chase & Status, Noisia and more. It was just such a huge explosion of music and I was fully enveloped. In a way I took a little bit of everything from everyone I liked. It was too hard to choose just one thing, especially at that age.
You also talked about how you had your first music program downloaded on a Nintendo 3DS. Do you remember what that was like, and how old were you when you started using it? The program was called Rytmik! I was about 12 when I started using it. It was sort of an 8BIT version of a DAW but it had regular sounds too. It was built the same way alot of music programs are so that was my first genuine intro to music production. I used that more than any game I had on there.
Your parents left Pakistan just after you were born, to find a new home in New Zealand. Is your music inspired in any way from their stories, and their lives in general before you were born?
I’d say they definitely are, especially lately. I wanted to wait a while before introducing eastern elements into my music properly so I had the appropriate skill to go about it in a genuine way. I think their experiences and stories inspire me to try my best with everything I do, especially in music. Even being able to make music is an extreme luxury when compared to what they had back home in Kurdistan.
What does your creative process look like when creating music, and has it changed over the years? If so, how?
I’d say it has largely remained the same in that it is a chaotic process. I always create in my own time and then figure out a plan around demos and ideas I have built up. It sort of changes with every song.
You have previously worked on some really exciting collaborations with artists like Church & AP Deadforest, Fable Pollyhill and Nauti, as well as working with Taylah on your upcoming single. What’s next? Can you let us in on any secrets regarding future collaborations?
The sights are aiming beyond New Zealand at the moment, lips sealed!
Do you have a dream collaboration? Skrillex is definitely a dream collab. Would love Skepta too. Daft Punk has always been up there too.
You’re blending different genres in your music, and have for example worked a lot with both hip hop and R&B influenced sounds. Is there any other genre that you would like to blend into your future sound? I’ve been playing with jungle and breakbeat for a while now and figuring out ways to incorporate Kurdish music overtop modern sounds! Can’t wait to release that stuff.
