Exclusive Interview with DISTORISE

Composer and producer of electronic music, Distorise. Drum and Bass/Neurofunk is the main genre, which is covered by an ominous and discordant ambient. The three main ingredients in this artist’s recipe book are cyberpunk vibe, digital glitch, and neuro reese. This music is for those who find beauty in the already-present darkness of the future.

He has been working on a catalog of songs for the past ten years and have chosen to release them one at a time.
He is trying to figure out how to be heard and grow an audience. Although his music doesn’t belong on every playlist for dancing, some people might find it intriguing. Check out the exclusive interview below:

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

DISTORISE: I am Ukrainian, born in Odesa, one of the biggest cities. This is where I got familiar with rave culture and started producing music. Back then, I had a different scenic name. I was a member of an electronic duo and did mastering for a few rock bands. Tried to release music on random music labels. Later moved to Lviv, one of Ukraine’s most beautiful cities.

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

DISTORISE: I didn’t know music theory when I started and only played the forte-piano several times as a kid. But during my journey, I learned some things. Right now, I can say knowing a theory can paralyze in the beginning. It’s hard to start when you know too much but don’t practice it.

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

DISTORISE: Silent Witness & Break album `Hard Times`. Songs from this album were meditative and repetitive, but the sound design was so good that set me in a trance state and allowed me to do a lot of boring stuff. I wasn’t in the best shape then. I studied in university, had strict deadlines, worked in front of a computer for nights, and got to do a lot of code in a brief time. This music pulled me out of a hard time where I was. This was the first time I recognized how powerful the impact of music can be on your life.

4. 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?

DISTORISE: Yeah, I am mainly making `Drum and Bass`, which is a sub-genre of EDM. I had one of these mp3 players with 256 MB memory as a teenager. I remember several songs uploaded there: Daft Punk – `Around the World`, PAIN – `Shut You Mouth`, and several pieces from some video games soundtrack, as appeared one of them was Unreal Tournament. Influenced by these, I tried to make music at school. My taste changed when I was in university. I have listened to dark side drum and bass: Current Value, Counterstrike, Cooh, Spor, and others. My music changed as well. Many drums and synthetic midline bass became core elements. The transition happened when I added analog synthesizers to my sound and started producing music not as a programmer but as a musician.

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

DISTORISE:

I create every sound in a way I love to hear it. My songs work only as a whole and usually contain a lot of layers that might not be obvious after many times listening. I also love to add some high contrasts in music, for example, using a piano or a violin with a completely synthetic ambient.

6. 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?

DISTORISE: Certainly, I put into music much more than I ever can get from it. Every song inherits part of me. And this is fine, art lives much longer than we do, and a piece of a soul you put into it stays there forever, even if this is a piece of music covered in dust and placed in a deeper depth of the internet.

7. 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?

DISTORISE: I start with a question: “What am I trying to say?”. I’m looking for a powerful thought, then trying to convert it into a chord progression. The rest are technical things: choose a rhythm and, depending on it, shape a bass part, make pads, and ambient, mixing and mastering. Sometimes I do collaborate with others. Most of the time, it’s a remote process. When someone produces an idea, he sends it to another who makes changes and sends it back.

8. 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?

DISTORISE: Music is certainly the sword. The question is, who is the one holding this sword, and how will it be used? As with every piece of art, music can bring people together. All that is happening in the world, in my country, is impacting me and translating into my music. But as an artist, I’m just telling a story in a way I can tell.

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

DISTORISE: I never treated music as a career, it always was a hobby, but like many artists, I wanted to be heard, which is tricky nowadays. But one morning, I woke up and realized the most challenging thing in my life was happening right now. We are having a full-scale war with a nuclear country. A lot of terrible things are happening, which are hard to comprehend. Making music today is a way to keep my mind busy.

10. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

DISTORISE: I think it is not essential to understand the real story of my songs. But knowing their background certainly can add some value to listeners’ ears.