Exclusive Interview with AVIS VOX

The new EP “Feel It” by independent musician Avis Vox has already achieved tremendous notice, with over 2 million YouTube views as part of Miss Monique’s live performance on the Cercle YouTube channel. “Feel It” casts a spell with its magnificently lament-laced vocals, which call to mind artists as diverse as Faithless and FKA twigs, and a production that sometimes recalls Anyma, Cristoph, ARTBAT, and others. Avis Vox intentionally obfuscates the meaning of the lyrics, leaving the interpretation of “Feel It” up to each listener regardless of the context (whether cultural, political, or personal). Sincere, non-linear ebbs and flows of optimism give “Run From Me” its sincerity and charm. Avis Vox’s music is drenched in ambience from head to toe, achieved by carefully sculpted synthesizers and consciously progressive shadings. By increasing the vocal’s harmonic shimmer and extending the reverb’s tail, the song’s moving lyrics are given more depth and dimension. Check out the song ‘Feel It’ and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

AVIS VOX: I was born in Russia and since 2008 I started to participate in an EDM project as a vocalist. We performed in many countries of the world: Japan, France, Germany, Ukraine, China, India etc. And since 2012 I have released some solo downtempo albums as a producer – it was the Loolacoma project. But all the same the period of unhurried music for me ended, and in 2020 I decided to return to club music under the old name Avis Vox, but already in a genre close to my real mood – Melodic Techno.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

AVIS VOX: When I write tracks, of course, I face difficulties due to the lack of academic musical education, but at the same time it doesn’t limit me and gives me a lot of freedom for experiments. I learned to play the cello as a child, but only my love for the low and penetrating sound of this instrument remains from that knowledge.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘AVIS VOX’?

AVIS VOX: In the beginning, my first musical influence was Miss Kittin. I was crazy about her album “I Com” and even now those tracks are still my favourites: “Professional Distortion,” “Requiem for a Hit,” and “Dub About Me.” Around the same time, I listened to the album “Fatherfucker” by producer Peaches. Much later, I became a fan of FKA Twigs and I still am. If you look at it this way, the strong female prototypes attracted me the most, as well as the combination of soft vocals and complicated electronics.

When I was thinking about the name of my solo project back in 2008, I accidentally came across a dictionary of Latin words. In Latin, “Avis Vox” means the voice of a bird, the Blackbird.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

AVIS VOX: The main thing music does is that it lets you live some moments in your life in a special way. Whether it’s sad or happy episodes. And I think that my music has the ability to be reflective and energizing at the same time. If you analyze the sound, there are a lot of industrial elements in my music, as well as the sounds of classic techno vst instruments. Since the voice is a very important part of me, each track I complete with a vocal, which depending on the message and theme, can be either very minimalistic or melodic and song-like.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as EDM?

AVIS VOX:

I don’t think imitation is the best way for an artist to go. But at the same time, it’s very difficult to start hearing yourself, not the echoes of the social unconscious in your head, not the quotes from the publishers or your best friend’s thoughts. It’s important to be able to sort it all out from what’s really born of your own feelings and experiences. This can be a long road. And, as I mentioned earlier, I really like the combination of just the distortion sound with the female vocals-it’s a combination I easily express myself in. And it took me quite a long time to realize that and to change my style of music.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

AVIS VOX:

Any music has the right to be a form of manifestation if the person behind it wants it to be. Another question is how much the political or any other topic concerns you and how it will be expressed in your work. What is happening now in Ukraine directly affects my family. My relatives on my mother’s side were in occupied Mariupol. They are now safe in Europe. And despite the fact that I was born in Russia, I was very emotionally affected by that period. These experiences were transformed into lyrics, because it comes out from inside. This is what the track «FEEL IT» is about. The lyrics “How can I save the world?” are about how helpless I felt.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

AVIS VOX:

I relaunched Avis Vox in a new style for me, and so far everything is going according to plan. There are some expectations, but they are realistic and achievable. Writing music as a form of interaction with the world is quite enjoyable, and it does bring me a lot of fulfillment.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

AVIS VOX:

The process of creating music looks like this: first I listen to the Beatport chart of the melodic techno genre to understand what I was hooked and what, on the contrary, repulsed me in the pitch, sounds and mood. Then I sit down for Logic and try to feel the groove – it’s a rhythmic part in which it is important to feel the sense of dance.

Then I go to the bass part and harmony, even if the harmony itself will be heard only in the pit, but it is important for me to build the vocal part already at this stage. And in the third part of the process I go to the studio, where me and the sound engineer (he happens to be my husband) finalize the details of the track and do the final mastering.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

AVIS VOX: Honestly? Going back to music after having a baby. When you have a lot of ideas in your head and a huge desire to start writing again, but someone needs you more than anything else. And up to a certain point these two things can’t be combined. Then bits and pieces of free time start to appear, then they get bigger and bigger.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

AVIS VOX: I’m still waiting for a highlight for Avis Vox, but I am proud of my another work on the 2018 feature film “Involution.” I wrote the screenplay and worked on the sound design for the film, which was released globally on Amazon Prime after being screened at the major international festival SITGES in Spain. I hope to combine my two passions – creating music and telling interesting stories through film – in the future.