Producer and multi-instrumentalist a.d. founded Our Sense of Time Is Failing in 2020 during the lockdown as a way to deal with internal struggles and channel feelings of frustration and helplessness in the face of a callous and uncaring world. The project quickly developed into a tool for discovering new sources of sound, exploring our surroundings, and ultimately creating beautiful noise.
The UK band โOur Sense of Time is Failingโ released the expansive Experimental Post-Rock track โInto the Anomalyโ. โChronosuppressionโ is the second installment of a concept trilogy that explores how frail humanity is in the face of unchecked development and unbridled hubris. This song is taken from the albumโs upcoming second installment. Instead of the usual song structure, Into the Anomaly is presented in three acts. โMoving Forward, Ever Slowlyโ, a dense section in 3/4, has been compared to early Cureโs textures. ii: โDead Reckoningโ develops into a powerful Post-Rock chorus in the second half, switching to a 4/4 time signature while retaining some Act I motif-based rhythms, creating an upbeat polymeter. โPseudomorph; The Huntโ switches to a style more akin to noise music, still retaining some of the early Mogwai bass and guitarโs sinister swelling. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
A.D.: Our Sense of Time is Failing (osotif) was conceived in 2020 during the covid pandemic, originally as a vehicle for me to vent my frustrations by making noise music, something really harsh and dissonant to represent the frustration and loneliness I felt living alone during those times. Also to get out of a creative rut I had been in for several years not making or playing any music. Arguably I failed in the first endeavour, I found I am terrible at making noise music because I canโt stop tweaking it until it ends up sounding nice. Thatโs when the idea of combining field recordings and soundscapes with my love of Post-Rock started to emerge.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
A.D.: Self taught on instruments with the odd bit of help here and there. But there is no training that will cover going out and sampling and manipulating sounds which I do a lot of. People often say to me โI liked the synth part in that songโ; I actually use very little synth in my music, its almost always some field recording that Iโve made and manipulated, run it through effects pedals or recorded it onto tape and messed with it. I take it as a compliment that I can take something recorded on my phone and make it sound like it came from a ยฃ500 piece of kit.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name Our Sense of Time is Failing?
A.D.: I believe that we are all a collection of influences and experiences built up over years. You could pitch me any artist that Iโve ever listened to and there would be a reason why, for better or worse, they have contributed to who I am now and subsequently have had an influence on osotifโs music. I suspect thatโs not the answer you are looking for though; I usually cite a few major influences on what I make now, the first of which is Hainbach, an experimental German musician without whom I never would have started exploring experimental music. William Basinski taught me the immense value of looping something until repetition causes it to take on a life of its own and Merzbow taught me to love noise. Brian Eno of course is the master of ambient and has had a profound influence on me. Guitar and bass wise I look to a variety of Post-Rock bands including Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Maybeshewill. The name represents my profound frustration with the inability of humanity to learn from past mistakes and use that knowledge to make any corrections to actually make things easier for ourselves. At a systemic level there are so many things that could be done differently to allow a huge amount of peopleโs lives to be easier and better but we just donโt becauseโฆ thatโs the way its always been.
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?
A.D: I usually describe osotif as Experimental Post-Rock although I have no idea if that really covers it. A Fusion of noise music, ambient, drone and Post-Rock is a difficult thing to pitch with a snappy genre tag. Post-Rock adjacent is also a description thatโs been used. Ultimately itโs a vehicle for me to explore new and interesting ways of making sound and thereโs a roughness to a lot of the sounds I use. The guitars clang and samples fall in and out of time, sometimes thereโs entire minutes where the only things going on are the swirling sounds of a noise loop or a drone where Iโve set my guitar resonating, hit record and gone off to make a cup of tea. A lot of these things Iโm trying for the first time. Iโd like people to take away the message that you can make art with anything, it doesnโt matter if you are good at it or know how to play an instrument. Its the willingness to give something a go that matters.
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 the process of discovering your own style?
A.D.: I spent many years worrying that as a self taught guitarist I didnโt practice enough, that I donโt know many scales or complex chords and that I didnโt necessarily have the skill to recreate the Virtuoso guitarists of the world. It took me a long time to realise that experimentation, not emulation is the key to unlocking something. You look at someone like Ed OโBrien from Radiohead who is more often than not trying to make a guitar not sound like a guitar and getting absolutely stunning results. When it clicked that โHang on I can use this for textural and drone stuffโ it really opened up possibilities that I hadnโt considered. Around the same time the revelation came of โWaitโฆ people make music thatโs not made using traditional instruments? I could give that a go.โ Combining those two things, a non traditional sound source with layered or ambient guitar pretty much got me to where I am.ย ย
6. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
A.D.: Just the action of creation itself is more than enough fulfilment and I truly believe that if you donโt get enough happiness from just making it, then you arenโt making the right thing. Anything that comes after that is secondary by definition. Ask yourself โIf I was the last person alive would I still be making this musicโ if the answer is no then ask yourself why. The world needs far more people making things, putting their personality out into the world, it keeps the world endlessly interesting.
7. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A.D.: I definitely subscribe to the theory that songs are just kind of out there in the universe and we are just trying to catch and document them before they move on by. To cast as wide a net as possible I like to make small, 30 second to 2 minute experimental pieces I call sound sculptures. I find short blasts of creativity much easier to achieve than sitting down and trying to work on something from start to finish before it has taken shape. These sound sculptures consist of anything from blasts of noise and distortion to field recordings, say birdsong or running water or loops of various processed samples. Once I have a bunch of those Iโll sit down with a guitar or whatever other instrument or piece of gear I have to hand until I stumble on something else that works with it. In fact every November I do a project where I make one of these sculptures every day of the month, they can be found on Our Sense of Time is Failingโs YouTube channel or Instagram.
8. What would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A.D.: Osotif was featured on the album โTake Me Somewhere Nice: A Tribute to Mogwaiโ (https://mogwaitribute.bandcamp.com/album/take-me-somewhere-nice-a-tribute-to-mogwai) last year, covering the track โLike Herod.โ The album raised money for the UK charity The Wildlife Trusts who were chosen by Mogwai themselves. That was an amazing project to be involved in, with with a bunch of fantastic artists and a great team behind it and it raised money for a great cause.
9. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
A.D.: Osotif is currently a studio only project, but I donโt make a huge amount of distinction between home and studio environments. First of all my studio is in my home so that helps, but I also try and spend as much time creating outside of my studio space as possible. Not only do I think that location can change your results, even something as small as taking an instrument next door so you can look out a different window, or playing outside, but there are many opportunities to capture new and exciting samples in different rooms. I once sampled every fan I could find in my house, a surprising amount, and made a piece just out of the resulting sounds. I am working on putting together ideas for how I might transfer my music to a live environment but it can be tricky as Our Sense of Time is Failingโs material can vary quite a lot; some of its full band, some of itโs completely electronic so it can be difficult to not stray too close to pressing play on a tape machine โ something Iโd want to avoid at all costs.ย
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?
A.D.: I think I am almost entirely irrelevant to the question of what someone gets out of the music of osotif. Once something is out in the world its meaning ceases to be under the control of the artist and passes into the domain of the listener. 2021โs Chronodepression EP and the upcoming release Chronosupression are intended to be parts one and two of a concept trilogy, but when making instrumental music it can be nigh on impossible to get across any sense of story except through song titles. So while I have a storyline in my head when writing I donโt feel itโs on me to ascribe too much meaning to anything. I just hope to take people on a journey.
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