Firstly this probably needs a bit of context. Late last year I was involved in a crossover project between the Oscilloscope and Modulate music communities, where each effectively took over the other’s event for a night and tried to work within that genre. Out of this experiment a number of great pieces came into being and at the close of the second show it was suggested that each camp should remix the others work. This was then put to a public vote as to who should who work on which track. When the votes were counted it showed that the wisdom of the crowd suggested I should remix Julian Roberts’ Izotope.
Listening to Jules’ track it really brought to mind some of Kandinsky’s paintings. There are strong vibrant colours, arranged in blocks and wedges which seemed to fit with the ramping up and metrical jump-cuts of Izotope.
I started working on my remix of the piece, taking the idea of a remix very loosely using only the sounds from the original but manipulating them and reworking the structure to almost become a completely different track from the mix of the same constituent parts.
Initially I was creating sounds and textures from the original and trying to build a structure, but this felt a little arbitrary; an active bit here, a quiet bit there to then make a build feel more impressive and so on. It didn’t seem to have a soul or be about anything.
So, I went back to the Kandinsky I had in my head and tried to find the painting I had thought of when first listening. Eventually I found Kleine Welten I (Small Worlds I) which was the closest to what I had imagined.
I realised that not only was my work already potentially quite sci-fi in its sound, but that within the discrete textures and even the way I was composing I was indeed imagining my way between a number of different space and planets. It also gave a not particularly subtle nod to the micro/macro scale implied by Jules’ name for the original track. As a result the title for the remix Small Worlds has stuck.
“After the release of the Oscilloscope/Modulate Collab, artists were paired up and challenged to remix each others work. This [full album, not just this track!] is the epic result. Some amazing work by an amazing community. All proceeds going to C.A.L.M (The Campaign Against Living Miserably) Charity. This has been a weird/rough year. Communities of people being human is so important for well being. Thanks to everyone involved with this release, you’re all amazing!“
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