Sometimes I forget to know where I am
Sometimes I forget to see what’s in front of me
Darkstates teams up with Clara Pople on Rest My Hands, weaving together rich percussion layers, ethereal synth arpeggios, and Pople’s hypnotic, dreamlike vocals. Read our discussion below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
Atmospheric, Textural, Introspective
Tell us a few things about Rest My Hands. What is the main idea behind it and how did you meet Clara Pople?
Clara got in touch with me late last year after our tracks were played back-to-back on BBC 6Music. We had a mutual love of what each other was doing and thought it had the potential to work together. This was the first collaboration I’d done so it was a bit of an experiment figuring out the process.
After digging through my hard drive, I sent Clara 5 or 6 little snippets of ideas that I’d either forgotten about or didn’t know what to do with next. One of them was this crackly, little drum loop with a long, ambient synth line. Clara looped it and started free styling some of her lyrics over the top, experimenting with melody. The first time I heard that demo of hers this one part immediately jumped out at me. It was a fully formed chorus already, super hooky, and very obviously what the track should be built around. We did several other vocal takes in the studio but the finished track uses a lot of that original demo, it just had an energy about it that I liked.
How do you balance the experimental nature of electronic music with the more structured aspects of traditional songwriting?
I love the aesthetic of electronic music, the infinite scope of different sounds it can achieve and its experimental nature. It still amazes me how much emotion its possible to evoke with what are just essentially digital waveforms. I think there’s much more opportunity to be creative in that world than there is with traditional instruments alone. But a lot of the music I grew up on was songwriters, or bands, and no matter how deep I delve into electronic music, I’m still an absolute sucker for a good, old song.
I’ll often start out with a vague intention of making purely instrumental, electronic music but when I get further into a track it’ll often feel like there’s something missing that I can’t seem to fill with instrument melodies alone. I’ve never really got into vocal samples and so the natural thing for me to do is start singing. I then start to consider the track on different terms and usually have to go back and wrestle with the structure a bit.
How does living and working in North London influence your music? Do you find the environment contributes to the mood or themes of your work?
Definitely. I live in a large warehouse community with all kinds of creative people, which is great for talking about the creative process, sharing our struggles etc. Not necessarily just musicians, although there are plenty of those around too, and that’s been great with helping me get over my shyness around just jamming with other people. I find that it often opens up new ideas, new sounds or ways of thinking. I’ve also discovered so much amazing music through living with those people.
Artists and people that have influenced you?
The Erased Tapes label is a big one for me, so many of my favourite artists are on there. I think the bleakness and electronic elements from 90’s trip-hop had a big influence on me too, as well as Thom Yorke. I love reading about other’s approach to creativity song-writing and production, people like David Byrne, Brian Eno, Nigel Goodrich. More recently I’ve been really into Young Fathers, Alabaster DePlume and a lot of the new UK jazz scene that’s emerged. There’s also a local DJ called Cedric Woo who’s incredible. In the last few years his sets have expanded my musical world hugely.
If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
Probably people talking at gigs. I’ve been to gigs where some people just talk the whole way through. It’s so disrespectful to whoever’s on stage and the other people in the audience who are there to listen.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I think I’d just try and encourage myself to stay focussed on the things that are important to me. Don’t get distracted or make decisions based on feelings of obligation.
What is the story behind your name?
I’ve always thought my given name was a little bit anonymous sounding so I knew I wanted to call the project something else. The initial idea came from the name of a Louis Theroux documentary I think. Then it started to take on another meaning for me, conveying the kind of mood I was in, or atmosphere in the studio, when I was writing.
Thank you!
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