Tagged with " Teebs"
Interview: Thrupence
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Jack Vanzet is Melbourne residing electronica producer Thrupence. With two absolutely fantastic beat-tapes under his belt, the release of his first physical EP has been eagerly anticipated by his swarms of online fans for weeks now. I asked him a few questions in the lead up to Voyages gracing our (not-so) patient ears:
Where does the name Thrupence come from?
The name Thrupence comes from nowhere. I finally got the courage to put some tracks on the Internet but realised I needed some sort of name to put them under. I didn’t want to use my real name (like a James Blake or Oliver Tank) because if everything turned pear shaped and nobody actually liked my music then my name would be tainted forever! I thought Thrupence rolled off the tongue. However, I only realised lately that my mum had a friend who owned a horse called Thrupence….maybe that’s where it’s from?
What does the term creativity mean to you?
Creativity means imagination, I think. For music, being able to find the lick or chord progression that pulls heartstrings is a creative process. It’s probably the most human thing anyone can do- sit down and write music that makes you feel good inside. What’s more human than that? Creativity means being able to pull that lick out of thin air, expand on it and hopefully connect with an audience (not saying my music does that). It’s like what Paul Keating (ex-Australian Prime Minister) wrote ‘Music is unlike other forms of art. It’s not representational. Unlike the outcome of science it was never discoverable or awaiting discovery’. That’s the thing with music. Not to sound too airy-fairy but I don’t think that creative process can be taught. You can be taught methods to try and get the lick but technical precision doesn’t equal beautiful music – it also doesn’t equally creativity. Music is witchcraft!
What inspires you to make music that isn’t music-related?
Most things. Relationships, good times, bad times, the weather, wants, needs, all things good and all things bad. My brothers and sister, parents, friends, the girl I could never talk to at school, problems and solutions. Long breaks from people I love. Trying to be an active producer of content rather than a passive consumer. There’s so much inspiration – so many good things happening everywhere. If I’m not contributing to it, I feel guilty. Everything is very exciting with the way digital media is evolving and im really trying to bring my own thing to it.
You decided to release some 12′s for this album, why do you think physical media is important?
For me personally, having the physical media isn’t important. I wish I could afford to buy records. I love the warmth of vinyl and I love watching them spin but my record collection is damn modest to say the least. I often try to get the vinyl feel in my music and hearing it on a 12 for the first time was a cool thing. I know some people love having wax and wouldn’t have it any other way, but when I can just jump on the net and get any song I want with a few clicks it weighs out the process of spending $35 on a new release. Most of my music is samples – 128k mp3s’ and even stuff ripped straight from Youtube. Maybe one day when I have some cash I’ll go back and buy vinyl from all the artists I like. The 12’s are more for the packaging and the people who love vinyl. My cousin runs the company that is cutting them. He’s a vinyl fiend. The company (Cut Record) is still very young so it’s a big process with printing and other finalities. Hopefully they’ll be ready by the end of the month.
There’s a strong sense of peacefulness and quiet reflection in your work. Without trying to box things, it’s what I would classify loosely as ‘emotional electronica’ – do you agree? Does this reflect your personality?
I’m full of love and emotions, haha! I really don’t like boxing my music. I don’t know that it’s emotional electronica – is it? I’m actually a bit of a stress-head so the music has been a release tool. When you’re making a song or experimenting with a riff that is touching you, it’s a really liberating experience. It’s just like dreaming. Making music is like that – it’s dreaming. And when I’m not experiencing that, I feel like everything is a waiting process until I get back into it again. It’s such a nice place to live in. I never want to leave it. Same thing goes for making visuals. Same feeling. People comment on the music and ask if im a relaxed, dreamy dude – but its probably the opposite.
What has your own music taught you so far?
My own music has taught me that trying to make something beautiful isn’t always easy. It’s also taught me that in the current creative environment where everyone is a ‘musician’, there needs to be a point of difference. Thrupence is also about the visuals that accompany the audio, in a Tycho/Teebs sort of a way. This is developing into Thrupence’s point of difference. The project is still growing and evolving and I’m not restricting it to anything at the moment. I’m working hard on expanding the live performances so that it’s not just a kid behind a computer. I’m also working hard to mature my visual work and hopefully take it to new mediums and levels of engagement. Aside from that, I’m just going to try and make beautiful things and hopefully people will enjoy them. That’s really the end game, to make people feel nice inside.
The digital version of Voyages is out today, with pysical copies coming later in March thanks to the new Melbourne-based company Cut Record. Download it here.
Time Wharp & DEO – “Page” & “Wash Dat”
I’m equally excited and humbled to announce the new collaborative teaming of San Francisco’s Time Wharp and Los Angeles/New York’s DEO (of SONNYMOON). The semi-mysterious project, which Time Wharp’s Patrick Loggins is calling “a secret beat-tape” (yet untitled) will likely never see the light of day, physically. Instead, both Loggins and DEO aim to finish/release a digital-only version of the tape in the coming month. But don’t expect a download link anytime soon, because they plan on gifting it to close friends, and close friends only. Fingers crossed that I can score a copy for y’all!
Here’s what Loggins had to say about the tape:
“We’re just sampling a goldmine of cassette tapes we found and putting them on a sampler to make the tracks, then bouncing them back to cassette. We’re both long-time computer users and we’re shedding our computer skin to make other sounds.”
Snag 2 fresh new cuts from the yet-unreleased beat-tape below:
P.S. Loggins is about to head out on an expansive east coast tour with L.A. beat wizard Teebs and Sonnymoon (of DEO). Peep dates and cities below:
