I still remember Vâyu’s album Polarized Reflection (released by Annulled in 2017) was an impressive album … We recently had a chat about his music project, life in France and a few other things. And this autumn his first 12″ will appear on Affin …
It’s not much known about your project yet. When did you start producing music? Do you play live (and DJ sets) ?
I started with daws very early when i was 11 years old but it was just for creating backing tracks for playing guitar and piano on top of it. I really started being interested in electronics music at 17 and i started to spend lot of time on Ableton since this period eager to discover new techniques and inpirations. I play both live and dj sets but this is some very different approaches. I tend to prefer making dj sets for my friends or in small groups and prefer live in concert because I think that it reflects more my universe and my personality.
How would you describe the process of working on your music? Are there any procedures according to which your work is based or is a track created mostly spontaneously and unplanned?
I am mostly spontaneous when i’m working on a new track even if i always have the first idea which can be a field recording, a rythm, a melody or an ambiance on which i based my track on. I also like to impose me some restrictions like never using samples. What i like the most in ambient techno is the sound design so i prefer to never use things who come from others.
Do you have one special component you’re always working with ? How’s your setup looking like?
I mainly use instrument rack presets created by myself with the ableton’s operator but also Reaktor and Rack and most of my effects come from Max for live. I also record my own atmospheres a lot in the nature around me and often use them with granular synthesis. I am also very interested by self generating music so most of my elements are always modulated by lot of random LFOs. For a little less than a year, I have also been using the Neutron on a regular basis, which I find very versatile thanks to its enormous patch possibilities as well as a Tascam Portastudio to process my ambiences and synths on tapes to add grain and random movements and modulations to my sounds.
Why did you choose the Vâyu to name your project?
Vâyu is the name of an Indian wind deity which is the element I love the most and who surrounds me where I live. The sounds being vibrations of the air, I also found this pseudonym very related to sound and music. According to mythology, he is also the guardian of the north west, the geographical area where I live in France.
Is there an overall feeling you want to express with your music?
I want people who listen to my music to have a free interpretation of it but I like to bring out calm and serenity. I want to make songs that people can both listen to in a club party or a festival but also listen to my music during the day, in a quiet place, to relax. It is for this reason that I find ambient techno so interesting in the sense that the rhythmic parts will be able to create a trance and make the listener want to dance and everything that will be related to atmospheres, pads, melodies, textures will allow the mind to escape or refocus according to the listening conditions.
To what extent does your life in France (your surroundings) influence the creation of your music?
My life in French Brittany has a lot of influence on my music. Being surrounded by the sometimes raging ocean or windswept moors, this region is very conducive to field recording and very inspiring artistically.
Joachim Spieth 