For this 5th episode of the Soulquest Lab, we interviewed our very good friend Melodiesinfonie. With a very prolific discography of 7 albums and many EP's and singles, the 27 years old Swiss producer gave us a moment to talk about his process, his philosophy and what he's currently working on.
Hey man, thank you so much for your time ! We’ve been listening to your music for a very long time. Probably before we even knew you too lived in Switzerland. Your evolution has been fascinating and it’s truly a blessing to be able to do this. How are you?
Oh, thanks a lot for the kind words. I’m very relaxed at the moment, working on a lot of new music and feeling super inspired.
You recently mentioned starting collecting records at age 12. Your father also seems to have an interesting passion for music. We try to avoid the usual generic questions but they sometimes seem unavoidable. What did initially spark your passion for music and when did you start playing ?
Haha, generic questions... It was my father that planted the seed for music passion. He has the most amazing record collection and High-Fi speakers you could imagine. He taught me the value of consciously listening to music – like take time and sit down and listen carefully. Of course, like every other Swiss kid, I had to play flute for two years lol. But when I was 12 years old I also started to play the drums and totally fell in love with grooves.
As mentioned in the introduction, you’re based in Zürich, Switzerland. There seems to be quite a vibrant scene there with many artists with similar interests around you. (Unda De Sango, Miles Singleton, Okvsho and others) Can you tell us a little about what Boyoom Connective exactly is?
Boyoom Connective was founded in 2012 by Maloon The Boom and I. Back then there was not really a scene or any labels for instrumental beats in Switzerland (I’m talking for the German-speaking part of Switzerland). Maloon and I started with the vision to form and cultivate a collective/scene/label/ and platform for beatmakers so we started releasing regularly on Bandcamp. It was such an exciting time back then and through that, we met Unda, Miles, Okvsho, Dylan.Negativ, and many more artists. I’m not so much involved anymore since I’ve decided to rather focus on creating music instead of doing administrative label stuff. I’m very proud of how the label evolved and I think it really became a platform that inspired many people.
You seem to find the right balance between hip-hop beats and jazz composition. In your latest project ‘’Fragments’’ for example, the tracks often feature psych rock inspired guitar sounds and dreamy vocal atmospheres. Your style is eclectic, yet coherent. What do you attribute this variety of styles to ?
Thank you ! It all started because I decided to pick up the guitar in Summer 2019 and learn how to play this beautiful instrument I’ve always admired. Through discipline, youtube videos, and friends who taught me some stuff, I created the album “Fragments” in less than 3 months. Honestly, I was just jamming over some loops every time I learned some new chords and stuff, and the album was put together in a fragmentary way - that’s why it’s called “Fragments”. My motivation was also to create something new, something that challenges me to push my musical boundaries further but without thinking too much. Also my album from 2019 “A Journey To You” was a step out of my comfort zone of just doing “Beats”.
In terms of recording and production, what’s your creative process like ? Can you tell us a little about your workflow ? Any special tools or plugins?
What I realized in the last years is that I hardly have ideas or concepts in my mind when it comes to creating new music. I open Ableton and everything in my head is blank - everything is possible, everything could happen and so I go day by day with the flow. Also while I’m recording most of the time I have no idea what I’m doing lol... Sure I know a little music theory and I got a big backpack of experiences but in the moment of creating I lose the sense of time and space and for me this is the most beautiful state of mind. I love combining spontaneous live recordings and using all kinds of stuff like plates, pans, chopsticks, or whatever comes to my mind with sample drums. I also work on like 160 tracks at the same time and as I mentioned before I love to work fragmentary - adding just some elements on a project and then open the next one, and next one, and so on… Through that, I’m not over listening and overanalyzing my tunes and keeping everything spontaneous.
Has the current Covid situation (positively or negatively) influenced your creation?
Actually, there was not a drastic change in my situation. I just really miss playing live or Dj sets - I played my last live concert one year ago... But I’m still inspired and motivated to compose new songs daily. I just realized how lonely this bedroom producer thing is haha... Sitting all day alone in my room crying and making beats lol.
Is there anything you’d change in the Swiss music industry if you had the opportunity?
I think in general I would decentralize all music platforms. We need platforms where everyone could participate easily and get adequate pay for the streams on a blockchain for example.
Switzerland is such a small country and I think the most difficult thing is for 'non mainstream' musicians to make a living from music. We have big institutions but they have their own ideologies and images of how mainstream music has to be and they hardly changed the last years, so to go that route means to sacrifice your creativity and submit to a boring norm of how commercial pop music should sound like.
I wish that the general consumption of music becomes a central aspect instead of radio stations playing the same hits for months.
Can you tell us about Hesichia69, your alternative breakbeat/ house project/I’m not really sure how to call it project ?
Haha, I have no idea what genre it is. It also started with the urge to push my boundaries and going in a more experimental electronic direction. But the process is the same as is described earlier. I have no idea what I’m doing lol. I also don’t listen to up-tempo music that often - I guess it’s something intrinsic that I need to express with that new pseudonym. I also had a House project a few years ago called “Delakeyz” but this project is on ice now - maybe frozen forever - We’ll see !
You seem to really care about supporting humanitarian causes and fight for equality, which we really believe in. For instance, you recently gave away the profit of your last physical release to the Lebanese red cross and you’re currently selling records and giving the profit to 'BE A ROBIN', a Swiss NGO dedicated to helping refugees. Is this part of your mission and the message you’d like give to your listeners?
I think I’m privileged in so many ways - being a full-time musician is such a privilege and of course from a personal perspective a blessing I will always be thankful for. So with that being said, I want to give something back to society - especially to the marginalized communities. I know I’m not changing the world with that since all the structures and systems are fucked, but also Id’ rather donate the money instead of accumulating material wealth. My ideology has always been “Spreading Love with music” and in my opinion music has a spiritual/emotional power to transform and inspire people.
My goal is to grow my audience to have more reach to actually change things with the resources we can cultivate together. All for All.
What’s next for you? What have you been working on lately?
I’m working on four albums haha… So I’m about to finish a mini album these days, then I’m working on an album with the rapper “Buds” (known as a crew member of “La Base”) and I’m super excited about this - it’s gonna be the first album with an MC ever, then I’m also working on my next solo album which is gonna be e development of “Fragments” and “A Journey To You” and then I’m working on an album with my frends S.Fidelity and Bluestaeb - a new album with the singer Fiona Fiasco will be released in February and then I have a couple of Ep’s coming off my project Hesychia369… sooooooooo yeah ;--)
Thank you so much for your time and for answering out questions. This is our last interview of the year and you gave us some very interesting insight about your philosophy and approach. Anything special you’d like to add ?
Shoutout and love to all my supporters <3
Follow and support Melodiesinfonie on his Instagram, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Spotify.
Photos by Leila Ruru and interview by Karim Chibani.
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