Our Tomorrow
Curated by Madelyn Byrd, aka, Slowfoam.
Every Third Tuesday
10am PST | 7pm CET
on Internet Public Radio
The monthly mix series, Our Tomorrow, is a sonic exploration of utopia and dystopia, cooperative transformation, and soft revolution via deep-listening, all-genre mixes from visionary artists and collectives around the globe.
︎︎︎ Internet Public Radio
︎︎︎ Soundcloud
10am PST | 7pm CET
on Internet Public Radio
The monthly mix series, Our Tomorrow, is a sonic exploration of utopia and dystopia, cooperative transformation, and soft revolution via deep-listening, all-genre mixes from visionary artists and collectives around the globe.
︎︎︎ Internet Public Radio
︎︎︎ Soundcloud
Slowfoam
September 2022
Tracklist:
Sun An - A NEW WAVE
Alexi Baris - CHLOROPHYLL
CEP - Window Seat
Rhucle - Sui
ごん三 - ≧[ﾟ ﾟ]≦ (feat. Kutabile太郎)
Ulla - Stunned Suddenly
sv1 - regenerator
J - a healing tear (Laila Sakini version)
Erik Truffaz - Un souffle qui passe
Maggi Payne - Back to Forth
Roberto Musci - Water Music
Masayoshi Fujita & Jan Jelinek - Cin
clearing - my first casio
Ben Vida + Lea Bertucci - A Flared Margin
one-four - zen for tv
Gi Gi - Plantings
Sarah Davachi - Alas, Departing
Masahiro Takahashi - Dive Deeply
pam3 - mixed signals
Lyra Pramuk - Cradle (Patience Rework)
Infant - Pulling a Piece (TIBSLC Pain Drift Ease Remix)
Roberto Cacciapaglia (The Ann Steel Album) - Sparkling World
Nexcyia (London)
August 2022
@nexcyia is an African-American sound artist and experimental ambient musician based between London and Paris. Working with found sound, Nexcyia weaves together harsh sound design and swooping soundscapes into works that bridge many moods, emotions and places through noise, granular synthesis, textures and rhythms.
◍ What is the inspiration and vision behind your work as Nexcyia?
✹ The Nexcyia project has always been focused on experimental/ambient music. I think the inspiration and vision changes seasonally! I have moments where I focus on themes of alienation, loneliness and vulnerability and then I have points in time where my compositions are bit more free-flowing and minimal almost with a more illbient / dubby side. I’ve been adding more beats recently but currently feel like recording relaxed soundscapes for reading, walking, chilling and cooking.
◍ Describe some of your utopian dreams for us *･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ
✹ Well this is an interesting question because between 2015-2017 I had an obsession with “Astral Projections” and/or “Outer Body Experiences, (OBE)” I did some crazy research and was able to initiate these experiences! I think the most intense one was of me flying around my room and trying to break-out of my window! lol
◍ Any exciting things coming up that you’d like to share?
✹ Couple cool things coming up! I’m starting 3-month Residency at Noods Radio end of August - in September got 4 shows! 3 in London and one in Oslo, Norway. I’ve never been to Norway so i’m super excited.
◍ What is the inspiration and vision behind your work as Nexcyia?
✹ The Nexcyia project has always been focused on experimental/ambient music. I think the inspiration and vision changes seasonally! I have moments where I focus on themes of alienation, loneliness and vulnerability and then I have points in time where my compositions are bit more free-flowing and minimal almost with a more illbient / dubby side. I’ve been adding more beats recently but currently feel like recording relaxed soundscapes for reading, walking, chilling and cooking.
◍ Describe some of your utopian dreams for us *･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ
✹ Well this is an interesting question because between 2015-2017 I had an obsession with “Astral Projections” and/or “Outer Body Experiences, (OBE)” I did some crazy research and was able to initiate these experiences! I think the most intense one was of me flying around my room and trying to break-out of my window! lol
◍ Any exciting things coming up that you’d like to share?
✹ Couple cool things coming up! I’m starting 3-month Residency at Noods Radio end of August - in September got 4 shows! 3 in London and one in Oslo, Norway. I’ve never been to Norway so i’m super excited.
Ecology141 / Kiiberborea (Ukraine)
July 2022
Please donate to citizens of Ukraine if you can
❤ PayPal: kiiberborea@gmail.com ❤
“The situation in Ukraine is very difficult. Some people have lost access to food and drinking water, some people have lost their homes and jobs, some children have lost their parents. So we have come together for a series of music streams on YouTube to help people affected by the war. All funds raised will be used to purchase essential goods for civilians. Income and cost reports will be provided.”
❤ PayPal: kiiberborea@gmail.com ❤
“The situation in Ukraine is very difficult. Some people have lost access to food and drinking water, some people have lost their homes and jobs, some children have lost their parents. So we have come together for a series of music streams on YouTube to help people affected by the war. All funds raised will be used to purchase essential goods for civilians. Income and cost reports will be provided.”
Slowfoam & Friends (Worldwide)
June 2022
This was a special mix put together by Slowfoam with entirely community-gathered material. Creatives in their network were invited to submit unreleased sounds, regardless of their state, and something was included by each person who submitted something.
Mim/Mitamine Lab (Mexico City)
May 2022
@mimilk - an art historian and culture curator currently working and living in Mexico City.
▸ mitaminelab.org
▸ mitaminelab.org
◍ What is the inspiration and vision behind your work as Mim and Mitamine Lab?
▹ Inspiration comes from culture in general and different forms of representations in the artistic field, contemplating music as the intersections of culture, politics, and economics, but also as an empowering composition that can be translated to colors, forms and different kinds of emotions.
◍ What are some of your utopian dreams?
▹ Would be lovely to imagine a world where the creative labor is a main source of income, yeah, we know that art has a lot of interests involved, in specific the art market with problems related to shady businesses, tax shelters, scams and money laundering —between other more polemic situations—, but we also know that art has the power to change the world as an independent structure that operates focused on the expression of human creativity. One of my utopian dreams of course is to live in a world where society is guided by romantic impulses, consciousness and community building, as Rudolf Steiner says, as thinkers ready to explore experiences of the inner, psychic and soul life; a dream of liberation.
◍ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
▹ As a selector I always enjoy to mix different types of music to create a very specific soundscape, going from folk and sweet ambient music to the most saturated avant garde noise. This is an ode to the amazing existing potential in human knowledge and the processes of transformation we are starting to experience. I’m starting with some 70’s krautrock and some contemporary ambient gems by producers like Zeitgeist & Tucceri, Nikolaienko, Lynn Avery & Cole Pulice. You will also listen to one of my favorite genres of all time, opera, including a track called ‘Nezahuacoyotl’ by Melesio Morales (1838-1908) father of Latin America Opera. This mix also includes Ariel Kalma, Ground, HERBARIUM, Gaël Segalen, Mira Calix, and more. Hope you like :)
◍ Any exciting things in the near future for yourself and Mitamine Lab?
▹ I’m not really sure, I was working on an EP but I have been busy being adult and the inspiration has gone, I’m starting a collaborative second hand store (just digital for the moment)… the main idea is to reflect about recycling and processes of material exchange.
This year I've been exploring materials cause I’m planning to produce some artworks by myself and other talented artists (currently working in the funding and resources to make that happen, hope so).
▹ Inspiration comes from culture in general and different forms of representations in the artistic field, contemplating music as the intersections of culture, politics, and economics, but also as an empowering composition that can be translated to colors, forms and different kinds of emotions.
◍ What are some of your utopian dreams?
▹ Would be lovely to imagine a world where the creative labor is a main source of income, yeah, we know that art has a lot of interests involved, in specific the art market with problems related to shady businesses, tax shelters, scams and money laundering —between other more polemic situations—, but we also know that art has the power to change the world as an independent structure that operates focused on the expression of human creativity. One of my utopian dreams of course is to live in a world where society is guided by romantic impulses, consciousness and community building, as Rudolf Steiner says, as thinkers ready to explore experiences of the inner, psychic and soul life; a dream of liberation.
◍ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
▹ As a selector I always enjoy to mix different types of music to create a very specific soundscape, going from folk and sweet ambient music to the most saturated avant garde noise. This is an ode to the amazing existing potential in human knowledge and the processes of transformation we are starting to experience. I’m starting with some 70’s krautrock and some contemporary ambient gems by producers like Zeitgeist & Tucceri, Nikolaienko, Lynn Avery & Cole Pulice. You will also listen to one of my favorite genres of all time, opera, including a track called ‘Nezahuacoyotl’ by Melesio Morales (1838-1908) father of Latin America Opera. This mix also includes Ariel Kalma, Ground, HERBARIUM, Gaël Segalen, Mira Calix, and more. Hope you like :)
◍ Any exciting things in the near future for yourself and Mitamine Lab?
▹ I’m not really sure, I was working on an EP but I have been busy being adult and the inspiration has gone, I’m starting a collaborative second hand store (just digital for the moment)… the main idea is to reflect about recycling and processes of material exchange.
This year I've been exploring materials cause I’m planning to produce some artworks by myself and other talented artists (currently working in the funding and resources to make that happen, hope so).
Living Room (Lisbon)
April 2022
Living Room is a monthly event in Lisbon & bi-weekly mix series collectively run by @eneko_zarazua @asiootus @ca_rolf @usofusofusofusof
◍ What is the inspiration and vision behind Living Room?
* Bringing people together, giving people space to communicate through music and around music, cultivating a sense of community in Lisbon, and a feeling of connectedness with artists we love nearby and faraway.
* One of the biggest inspirations to start was probably Cosmos as a venue. The homey and friendly atmosphere fit naturally with the music we were sharing with each other at the time, and it gave us a place to share that with others too. During the pandemic, it also become one of the few places where people felt safe to come enjoy music, and that also informed the kind of music we played, and the artists we've been inviting to perform. We're also growing and learning together. They're like our little plot of soil.
◍ What are some of your collective utopian dreams?
* To keep sustainably being able to bring artists we hold so dearly to Lisbon in the fluid DIY manner we’ve been doing so far, and continue to grow the local Living Room community which includes a lot of our friends and people of the local ambient scene. It’s something not only for us as a collective but also for those around us.
* It feels really special to be able to create this space for people to come together and enjoy music that you might not normally find when going out to a gig or to a night. People know they can come and just hang out, get comfy, and sink into some lovely sounds. It feels rare, and we're grateful to be able to keep doing it. Maybe our utopian dreams are already here?
* If all goes well we’ll soon have friendship bracelets available for all the lovely people around us:)
◍ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
* We tried to include a lot of artists that are inspiring for Living Room and for us individually, and also recent finds that we want to keep exploring.
◍ Any exciting things in the near future for Living Room?
* We’re bringing some artists from the 3XL crew next month and doing our first club night, besides the monthly cosmos event. It will be our most busy month yet and we are crazy excited!
◍ What is the inspiration and vision behind Living Room?
* Bringing people together, giving people space to communicate through music and around music, cultivating a sense of community in Lisbon, and a feeling of connectedness with artists we love nearby and faraway.
* One of the biggest inspirations to start was probably Cosmos as a venue. The homey and friendly atmosphere fit naturally with the music we were sharing with each other at the time, and it gave us a place to share that with others too. During the pandemic, it also become one of the few places where people felt safe to come enjoy music, and that also informed the kind of music we played, and the artists we've been inviting to perform. We're also growing and learning together. They're like our little plot of soil.
◍ What are some of your collective utopian dreams?
* To keep sustainably being able to bring artists we hold so dearly to Lisbon in the fluid DIY manner we’ve been doing so far, and continue to grow the local Living Room community which includes a lot of our friends and people of the local ambient scene. It’s something not only for us as a collective but also for those around us.
* It feels really special to be able to create this space for people to come together and enjoy music that you might not normally find when going out to a gig or to a night. People know they can come and just hang out, get comfy, and sink into some lovely sounds. It feels rare, and we're grateful to be able to keep doing it. Maybe our utopian dreams are already here?
* If all goes well we’ll soon have friendship bracelets available for all the lovely people around us:)
◍ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
* We tried to include a lot of artists that are inspiring for Living Room and for us individually, and also recent finds that we want to keep exploring.
◍ Any exciting things in the near future for Living Room?
* We’re bringing some artists from the 3XL crew next month and doing our first club night, besides the monthly cosmos event. It will be our most busy month yet and we are crazy excited!
Neilll (Los Angeles)
March 2022
Neilll is the experimental music moniker of LA-based saxaphonist and multi-instrumentalist Tim Bomberg.
● What is the inspiration and vision behind Neilll?
◍ Neilll is an outlet for me to experiment with and appreciate the otherwise unnoticed sounds in my life. Neilll is a place for me to be free and formless with my expression, exempt from expectation.
●What are some of your utopian dreams?
◍ I think my utopian dreams have to do with being able to exist without the constant dread of making money or trying to prove my capital worth to people. I think utopia is a hard concept for me because I am deeply cynical, but at the very least I have a dream of one day not worrying about healthcare or rent… I guess just something better than the present.
●Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
◍ This mix is full of what I’ve been listening to a lot in 2022! Some older stuff and some new stuff.
●Any exciting things we can look forward to from Neilll in 2022?
◍ I have an album coming out with Slowfoam hopefully sometime in 2022! I also have a few concepts in mind for other Neilll projects, so stay on the lookout!
● What is the inspiration and vision behind Neilll?
◍ Neilll is an outlet for me to experiment with and appreciate the otherwise unnoticed sounds in my life. Neilll is a place for me to be free and formless with my expression, exempt from expectation.
●What are some of your utopian dreams?
◍ I think my utopian dreams have to do with being able to exist without the constant dread of making money or trying to prove my capital worth to people. I think utopia is a hard concept for me because I am deeply cynical, but at the very least I have a dream of one day not worrying about healthcare or rent… I guess just something better than the present.
●Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
◍ This mix is full of what I’ve been listening to a lot in 2022! Some older stuff and some new stuff.
●Any exciting things we can look forward to from Neilll in 2022?
◍ I have an album coming out with Slowfoam hopefully sometime in 2022! I also have a few concepts in mind for other Neilll projects, so stay on the lookout!
Pablo Diserens (Berlin)
February 2022
Pablo Diserens (@pablodiserens) is an artist, field recordist, composer, filmmaker and photographer based in Berlin (Germany) who engages with various topo- and phonographies with a wide range of visual and sonic recording techniques.
︎What is the inspiration and vision behind your music as Pablo Diserens?
︎My work is sparked by the world’s biomes and the non-human manifestations they shelter. With attentive and deep listening at the forefront of my practice, I navigate through environments mainly all ears and collect sounds through a plethora of recording techniques. I work with and share these sonic encounters with the aim of shifting people’s perspective and relationship with their surroundings and their neighbouring bio— and geologies. In other words, my work is an attempt at questioning and rethinking our place and caring for the globe’s habitats and communities.
︎What are some of your utopian dreams & musings?
︎My ideal utopia is one where interspecies kinship, caring and understanding are honoured. One where language isn’t only thought of as articulated speech, but instead understood as the numerous forms of communication, expression, and knowledge sharing that exist in the world’s ecologies. One where we listen to what moss, mollusks, insects, ice, and stones have to say. One where we pay attention. One where this language is punctuated and vitalized by possible hums.
︎Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
︎In response to the dreamed utopia mentioned above, I’ve intertwined various animal, plant, and geological sonic manifestations with dronesque and electroacoustic gestures. Human speech makes a few appearances but either in honour of the stones or as purely deconstructed acoustic matter. It is animals, plants, and water that talk the most in this mix.
︎Any forthcoming happenings for you in 2022 you'd like to share?
︎There are some exciting projects coming up this year. Some of them involve releases of electroacoustic pieces on A.V.A. and my label forms of minutiae, warm collaborations with loved ones, and if everything goes well the finalisation of my first short film since 2016.
︎What is the inspiration and vision behind your music as Pablo Diserens?
︎My work is sparked by the world’s biomes and the non-human manifestations they shelter. With attentive and deep listening at the forefront of my practice, I navigate through environments mainly all ears and collect sounds through a plethora of recording techniques. I work with and share these sonic encounters with the aim of shifting people’s perspective and relationship with their surroundings and their neighbouring bio— and geologies. In other words, my work is an attempt at questioning and rethinking our place and caring for the globe’s habitats and communities.
︎What are some of your utopian dreams & musings?
︎My ideal utopia is one where interspecies kinship, caring and understanding are honoured. One where language isn’t only thought of as articulated speech, but instead understood as the numerous forms of communication, expression, and knowledge sharing that exist in the world’s ecologies. One where we listen to what moss, mollusks, insects, ice, and stones have to say. One where we pay attention. One where this language is punctuated and vitalized by possible hums.
︎Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
︎In response to the dreamed utopia mentioned above, I’ve intertwined various animal, plant, and geological sonic manifestations with dronesque and electroacoustic gestures. Human speech makes a few appearances but either in honour of the stones or as purely deconstructed acoustic matter. It is animals, plants, and water that talk the most in this mix.
︎Any forthcoming happenings for you in 2022 you'd like to share?
︎There are some exciting projects coming up this year. Some of them involve releases of electroacoustic pieces on A.V.A. and my label forms of minutiae, warm collaborations with loved ones, and if everything goes well the finalisation of my first short film since 2016.
RAN PARK (Seattle) & Slowfoam
(Berlin)
January 2022
(Berlin)
January 2022
RAN PARK (@ranparkmusic) is a brilliant friend, activist, and pianist/multi-instrumentalist based in Seattle, WA.
︎What is the inspiration and vision behind RAN PARK?
︎ RAN PARK as a project is my way of saying yes to the child in us. I'm interested in the healing properties of music -- specifically, how it grants us access into the hidden parts of our being, and how it encourages us to embody fuller expressions of the many identities we carry, even/especially the parts of ourselves that may seem contradicting. I see this sort of acknowledgment of our complexities as an important step towards healing generational trauma. Sonically, it means I welcome musical influences of all kinds. I'm exploring how those sounds intermingle with my personal history, and I'm finding delight in creating new contexts for them.
︎Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
︎ RAN PARK: I've included old and new experiments in composition and rhythm. Thankfully this project could house vast explorations! You'll hear passages ranging from symphonic to classical, jazz, electronic, and some trance-inducing meditations. Two composers that I'm deeply indebted to are Ennio Morricone and Ryuichi Sakamoto. There are some tracks in this mix that are unabashedly aspirational and attempt to follow the shadows of these maestros.
︎Slowfoam: I've also included some unreleased Slowfoam tracks and some songs off a forthcoming EP by myself and Neilll ~ an incredible ambient/experimental multi-instrumentalist based in LA. The mix evolved into a slightly dystopic soundscape that encourages wanderings away from clamoring cities and back into the stillness of the natural world.
︎What are some of your utopian dreams?
︎ RAN PARK: My personal understanding of utopia is a world and existence in which our differences, shadow parts, and discomforts can be acknowledged without fear.
︎ Slowfoam: Mine exist tangentially to this world, but we're more closely connected to the ecosystems we take part in, as well as ourselves and each other. Similar to RAN PARK's, vulnerability, imperfection, and growth are innate and supported equitably.
︎Any exciting things we can look forward to from RAN PARK in 2022?
︎ Several fruitful collaborations, including this one! With regards to my own work, expect more music beyond solo piano.
︎What is the inspiration and vision behind RAN PARK?
︎ RAN PARK as a project is my way of saying yes to the child in us. I'm interested in the healing properties of music -- specifically, how it grants us access into the hidden parts of our being, and how it encourages us to embody fuller expressions of the many identities we carry, even/especially the parts of ourselves that may seem contradicting. I see this sort of acknowledgment of our complexities as an important step towards healing generational trauma. Sonically, it means I welcome musical influences of all kinds. I'm exploring how those sounds intermingle with my personal history, and I'm finding delight in creating new contexts for them.
︎Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix?
︎ RAN PARK: I've included old and new experiments in composition and rhythm. Thankfully this project could house vast explorations! You'll hear passages ranging from symphonic to classical, jazz, electronic, and some trance-inducing meditations. Two composers that I'm deeply indebted to are Ennio Morricone and Ryuichi Sakamoto. There are some tracks in this mix that are unabashedly aspirational and attempt to follow the shadows of these maestros.
︎Slowfoam: I've also included some unreleased Slowfoam tracks and some songs off a forthcoming EP by myself and Neilll ~ an incredible ambient/experimental multi-instrumentalist based in LA. The mix evolved into a slightly dystopic soundscape that encourages wanderings away from clamoring cities and back into the stillness of the natural world.
︎What are some of your utopian dreams?
︎ RAN PARK: My personal understanding of utopia is a world and existence in which our differences, shadow parts, and discomforts can be acknowledged without fear.
︎ Slowfoam: Mine exist tangentially to this world, but we're more closely connected to the ecosystems we take part in, as well as ourselves and each other. Similar to RAN PARK's, vulnerability, imperfection, and growth are innate and supported equitably.
︎Any exciting things we can look forward to from RAN PARK in 2022?
︎ Several fruitful collaborations, including this one! With regards to my own work, expect more music beyond solo piano.
Salamanda (Seoul)
January 2022
@8salamanda8 is a Seoul-based Leftfield Ambient music producer/DJ duo of @umantherma (Sala) and @yetsuby (Manda).
Salamanda believes every sound has beauty, and loves to collect and create music from field recordings of the world around them.
✱ What is the inspiration and vision behind Salamanda?
✴ We started Salamanda with a shared love for ambient, classical & leftfield music, and ever since, it has always been an outlet where we can be free from any rules or restrictions, and just have fun making most of our imaginations. Having fun is key to Salamanda, and we always look for things that make us captivated by fun and silly thoughts.
✱ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix and/or your process?
✳ A story of hopes and dreams... and a sense of emptiness. We're delivering this story with some of our unreleased tracks, a track from our friend Joyul's recent release, and a gorgeous theremin piece called Oraison by our music guru O. Messiaen.
✱ What are some of your individual and collective utopian dreams?
✴ Sala: No border, no gender, no ethnicity, one love!
✴ Manda: A world where the strong give their full support for the weak.
Salamanda believes every sound has beauty, and loves to collect and create music from field recordings of the world around them.
✱ What is the inspiration and vision behind Salamanda?
✴ We started Salamanda with a shared love for ambient, classical & leftfield music, and ever since, it has always been an outlet where we can be free from any rules or restrictions, and just have fun making most of our imaginations. Having fun is key to Salamanda, and we always look for things that make us captivated by fun and silly thoughts.
✱ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix and/or your process?
✳ A story of hopes and dreams... and a sense of emptiness. We're delivering this story with some of our unreleased tracks, a track from our friend Joyul's recent release, and a gorgeous theremin piece called Oraison by our music guru O. Messiaen.
✱ What are some of your individual and collective utopian dreams?
✴ Sala: No border, no gender, no ethnicity, one love!
✴ Manda: A world where the strong give their full support for the weak.
Mold Collective (Berlin)
November 2022
Mold Collective is Louise Croff Blake (@dj_bricks), Magdalena Jadwiga Härtelova (@mjhartelova), Diane Barbé (@dianeisadorabarbe), and Madelyn Byrd (@slowfoam)
▣ What is the inspiration and vision behind Mold Collective?
︎ MOLD grew from our mutual needs to talk about art - our own and others' - in the context of our dysphoria with late capitalism. As earth-lovers, we share a deep motivation to leave things a little better than we found them. We seek to address the intuition that something is greatly amiss in our reality, while, at the same time, we cultivate a sense of wonder at our planet, our communities, and the complex relationships between ancient and future knowledges.
If it sounds esoteric, then that's because we're just that type of people. In each of us is a dynamic range between practical reasoning and amorphous dreamworlds. We've realized that in harnessing this range together, we find the tools we need to process this very messy paradigm we share as contemporary arts practitioners.
▣ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix and your process?
︎ We tried to pick tracks and sound bits by people that we believe already work towards, which also means inhabit, utopia. These utopias are far from ideal places and that is the point, because as we know, utopia is nowhere, it is a destination that will never be reached. Maybe it is what will be left when Earth will be eaten by the Sun one day...
The songs we chose use poetry, mood, and nostalgic reference to capture the bittersweetness of our utopia. We also make a point to center BIPOC, queer&trans, and women artists. Needless to say, our utopia is post-heteropatriarchal, anti-capitalist, and anti-colonial.
As we pooled our music together, we noticed common threads of dissonance as well as resonance; we each found songs to help express the fear and grief surrounding our idealisms.
▣ Can you share some of your individual and collective utopian dreams?
︎ Unsurprisingly, MOLD's shared vision of utopia is tinged with anxiety. Rather than focus on an escapist fantasy land, we all realize that this idea of 'paradise' will still contain darkness. Our utopia just isn't flat. This three-dimensionality is in part due to our understanding that utopia cannot be achieved alone; and in the collective forging process, compromise is necessary. Conflict is something to neither fear nor avoid. The difficulty and the dedicated work behind building a better future is part of its beauty and richness. Eden is boring; MOLD's utopia is complex and lush, where the false barrier between 'human' and 'nature' is dissolved. We collaborate as a part of a global ecosystem, marrying the weirdness of digital futurism with a return to biophilia.
Today, we dream of the end of the nation-state, of not having to worry about how to pay our health insurance, of a friend who wants to be a mom feeling like she can do it without the fear of being disregarded and stretched too thin, we dream of the return of Native land, of a world without millionaires (let alone billionaires), of forests, and of public toilets being free.
▣ What is the inspiration and vision behind Mold Collective?
︎ MOLD grew from our mutual needs to talk about art - our own and others' - in the context of our dysphoria with late capitalism. As earth-lovers, we share a deep motivation to leave things a little better than we found them. We seek to address the intuition that something is greatly amiss in our reality, while, at the same time, we cultivate a sense of wonder at our planet, our communities, and the complex relationships between ancient and future knowledges.
If it sounds esoteric, then that's because we're just that type of people. In each of us is a dynamic range between practical reasoning and amorphous dreamworlds. We've realized that in harnessing this range together, we find the tools we need to process this very messy paradigm we share as contemporary arts practitioners.
▣ Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix and your process?
︎ We tried to pick tracks and sound bits by people that we believe already work towards, which also means inhabit, utopia. These utopias are far from ideal places and that is the point, because as we know, utopia is nowhere, it is a destination that will never be reached. Maybe it is what will be left when Earth will be eaten by the Sun one day...
The songs we chose use poetry, mood, and nostalgic reference to capture the bittersweetness of our utopia. We also make a point to center BIPOC, queer&trans, and women artists. Needless to say, our utopia is post-heteropatriarchal, anti-capitalist, and anti-colonial.
As we pooled our music together, we noticed common threads of dissonance as well as resonance; we each found songs to help express the fear and grief surrounding our idealisms.
▣ Can you share some of your individual and collective utopian dreams?
︎ Unsurprisingly, MOLD's shared vision of utopia is tinged with anxiety. Rather than focus on an escapist fantasy land, we all realize that this idea of 'paradise' will still contain darkness. Our utopia just isn't flat. This three-dimensionality is in part due to our understanding that utopia cannot be achieved alone; and in the collective forging process, compromise is necessary. Conflict is something to neither fear nor avoid. The difficulty and the dedicated work behind building a better future is part of its beauty and richness. Eden is boring; MOLD's utopia is complex and lush, where the false barrier between 'human' and 'nature' is dissolved. We collaborate as a part of a global ecosystem, marrying the weirdness of digital futurism with a return to biophilia.
Today, we dream of the end of the nation-state, of not having to worry about how to pay our health insurance, of a friend who wants to be a mom feeling like she can do it without the fear of being disregarded and stretched too thin, we dream of the return of Native land, of a world without millionaires (let alone billionaires), of forests, and of public toilets being free.
Apt E (Seattle)’
November 2022
@apte is a record label, party series, and DJ duo based out of Seattle, WA.
- What is the inspiration and vision behind Apt. E?
~ Apt E has always been driven by a freewheeling sense of artistic expression beyond outlets exclusive to music. A strong friendship in which we co-enabled each other’s off kilter concepts and senses of humor catalyzed our growth through shared experiences in our community. Apt E was born as an outlet to share our visions, which manifest as conceptual pieces across sonic and environmental mediums.
- Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix and your process?
~ Color, texture, inward observation, music that moves us and grounds us, favorites old and new taken from curious corners of our collection.
It’s difficult for us to properly verbalize how these tracks come together or from where. We are constantly sharing music with one another and feeding off of each other’s energy. We both share a strong sense of what this mix is and where we wanted to take it but neither of us know how to put that down on paper. Our process is very organic and stems purely from our adoration for sounds musical and otherwise.
- If resources weren’t an issue, what is your biggest dream for Apt. E, if you could make anything happen?
~ Funding a full production (carbon neutral) vinyl plant locally would be a priority, plus a handful of loft/gallery/warehouse art spaces locked down in Seattle would help ensure the underground a future here. If our resources truly were not an issue, the entire world would be a space that shares the same strength in community, equality, and expression as we do in our dedicated underground spaces. Until then we’re starting small and taking it one step at a time.
- Any exciting things coming up Apt. E or as individuals?
~ The vinyl for our third output, Apt E Vol 3, has finally been delivered. Hear it Nov 1st at apte.bandcamp.com :)
- What is the inspiration and vision behind Apt. E?
~ Apt E has always been driven by a freewheeling sense of artistic expression beyond outlets exclusive to music. A strong friendship in which we co-enabled each other’s off kilter concepts and senses of humor catalyzed our growth through shared experiences in our community. Apt E was born as an outlet to share our visions, which manifest as conceptual pieces across sonic and environmental mediums.
- Can you share a little bit about what you’ve included in this mix and your process?
~ Color, texture, inward observation, music that moves us and grounds us, favorites old and new taken from curious corners of our collection.
It’s difficult for us to properly verbalize how these tracks come together or from where. We are constantly sharing music with one another and feeding off of each other’s energy. We both share a strong sense of what this mix is and where we wanted to take it but neither of us know how to put that down on paper. Our process is very organic and stems purely from our adoration for sounds musical and otherwise.
- If resources weren’t an issue, what is your biggest dream for Apt. E, if you could make anything happen?
~ Funding a full production (carbon neutral) vinyl plant locally would be a priority, plus a handful of loft/gallery/warehouse art spaces locked down in Seattle would help ensure the underground a future here. If our resources truly were not an issue, the entire world would be a space that shares the same strength in community, equality, and expression as we do in our dedicated underground spaces. Until then we’re starting small and taking it one step at a time.
- Any exciting things coming up Apt. E or as individuals?
~ The vinyl for our third output, Apt E Vol 3, has finally been delivered. Hear it Nov 1st at apte.bandcamp.com :)