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LESS IS ALWAYS MORE

Over the last few years within my art practice, I’ve come to the conclusion that less is always more. The idea of endless possibilities within anything has always made me anxious. Through an inspiration completely unrelated to music—a friend of mine, a PhD graduate and published author—I found a parallel. His room contains only what is necessary for his practice: books, a bed, and a laptop. The idea of cutting away circuitry to clear the path ahead resonates deeply with me.

This reductionist approach has helped me hone in on concepts amidst the mess of everyday ideas. When it comes to patching and programming any form of musical gear, it can be a drowning experience—endless wires, endless possibilities, and endless questions: Which goes where? Will it fit on the table at the show?

Watching Dominick Fernow (Vatican Shadow) deliver a highlight performance in New York reaffirmed to me that less is more. With a simplified arrangement—a CDJ mixer, one launch pad, and a microphone—Fernow executed a one-hour set of brutal electronics spanning fifteen years. No fancy tactics, no tricks, no complex displays of mixing technique—just an honest delivery of cold, rhythmic industrial technoscapes.

In my own practice, the idea of using only what’s chosen has taken shape in the planning of my next album. It will be created using four pieces of analogue gear: the Sonicware Ambient Liven, the Magnetar Black Distortion Unit, and two echo and reverb pedals by Death By Audio. By allowing only the possibilities within these machines to define the sound of the album, I aim to clear the path ahead—to focus, refine, and push both the limits of the machines and my own creative mind.