Getting tangled up with Entangled Mind
Entangled Mind connects the space between us through the sound inside us. Built from a fusion of meticulous electronic production and a life long passion for live instrumentation, Marissa Barbato’s musical vision builds the wiring of their catalog and performances like circuitry through a crowd. With the recent release of the Illuminate EP on Gravitas Recordings, the project enters a new chapter, and further explores the depth of dynamic musical interplay. The Rust had an opportunity to speak with Marissa ahead of their latest performance alongside the Supersillyus Life Band and friends at Brooklyn’s Fine and Raw Chocolate Factory. We sat down to talk about creative evolution, physics, the artistic struggle and how intuition plays a role in shaping a live set. What follows is a glimpse into the larger interview and mindset behind the music.
Alyssa: “What kind of musical influences were you exposed to growing up?”
Entangled Mind: “I grew up with a super musical family, my grandfather on my Dad’s side was an incredible jazz clarinetist, and my Dad is a fantastic keyboard player, along with his many siblings and my many cousins are also musicians. On my mom’s side my uncle is also an insane drummer. So all to say, growing up I was fortunate to be surrounded by great music and many jam sessions. My cousin started teaching me guitar when I was 10, and in middle school my Dad gifted me some gear to start recording my songs.”
A: “How did that gift help you grow your sound?”
EM: “I feel like it was huge because I was able to record my own songs and understand what that looks like from very early on, and get into the songwriting aspect of producing. I feel like that's always something I've been drawn to. [Producing] I feel like a lot of other musicians learn cover songs. I actually like to record what I was writing and to keep track of it and add to it and improve on it and listen back. I enjoyed that process so much, like musically that I just started writing my own creations. Like even from when I first started writing guitar, I was way more interested in just like writing my own songs even if they were simple rather than learning cover songs.”
A: “What brought you to this specific style you embody now?”
EM: “The style I embody now is really a fusion of all my influences - wanting to combine the power and craziness of electronic sound design and production quality, with the organic-ness and beauty of live instrumentation. From the beginning of this Entangled Mind project, the expectation I had in terms of style is to just follow whatever is influencing me and wanting to be expressed. Influences and moods are constantly evolving and I have never been able to stick to one genre, but the constant for me is that I am just making what I like at the time. In recent years I have enjoyed thinking of myself as just a vessel that creative energy can run through, letting whatever come out, without questioning it.”
A: “Where did the name Entangled Mind originate from?”
EM: “So that came later. After I was making electronic music and sort of finding my sound, I knew I wanted to have an official name for my project. At that point I started brainstorming just different ideas. Quantum physics has always been like such an inspiration to me, just like the world in general and like the universe. I would take a lot of inspiration from these ideas in physics and the idea of quantum entanglement is that you can have things that are in an entangled state. They can be at a physical distance but they're still directly correlated. They can be at a physical distance but they are still directly correlated. I like to think that everything in the universe is in an entangled state of being. We're all connected in some way or another. I think at certain points in your life you sort of start to feel this idea that everything really is connected and intertwined. So I was drawn to the word ‘Entangled’ for that very reason. Then the ‘Mind’ part, sort of like my music, is my unique perspective. And this is the expression of an entangled experience. So it's sort of kind of like music is a way we can all relate to one another. And we're all entangled. We're all just trying to navigate this crazy world that we're all connected to. But we each have an individual voice and individual expression. We have our lifetime. So, that's kind of how the words came together and it just made sense to me.”
A: “We would love to hear just a little bit about your producing style?”
EM:”So I'll start with the electronic side. When I started getting into electronic music, I was blown away by the infinite possibilities with sound and how you can sculpt from scratch. Any type of sound you want. And I guess I was drawn towards the psychedelic bass music genres because I just loved the sound design. It's so weird. It's so out there so that really drew me in. I think after a little bit of time of really going deep into the sound design on the electric music side of things, I just naturally started bringing back all the instruments that I grew up with. And started introducing new instruments that I was getting inspired by along the way, like hand pans. It felt full circle for me to go back to the roots. My roots are like guitar and drawing on real instruments and I just love the organic feel.
A: “A lot of your sound lives in the space between organic and synthetic, how do you balance those elements when producing?”
EM: “It depends on the track - some tracks I start through jamming on instruments, recording some ideas and then later adding electronic sounds to enhance the production. Other tracks I start through electronic beats and sounds, and then later add organic elements to enhance certain sections to become more full or more human. For example, “Zemya” started as a jam session between Amalgamy and I, me on the handpan and him on the kora. We had about a 40min long jam session recording that I then arranged out and shaped into our track. Whereas, “Illuminate” started with electronic rhythms and soundscapes, and I later added some guitar strums and recorded some hand drums as layers. “Solar Flare” was sort of in between that where I was sort of balancing both equally throughout - started with the main electronic drum beats, 808 and pads and then soon started adding the djembe and guitar melody as the lead elements.”
A: “What has it been like traveling and touring around to different festivals these last few years?”
The Supersillyus Live Band feat. Entangled Mind +
EM: “It has been extremely cool and I am constantly feeling so much gratitude that I get to have these opportunities to travel and share my music and connect with people. One highlight has been the Ozora festival in Hungary last summer, really really wild that my music was able to bring me to a whole other continent to experience. Four years ago I left my full time job as a software engineer, which I did for 7 years, and it was so scary but also has been amazing to be able to give my full time and energy to my passions now. And this is a time of my life I will forever cherish and be glad I took the plunge to go all in. However, on the down-side, it is not ideal financially and can be hard to have consistency so I’m looking forward to getting a day job again and finding some more balance.”
A: “What draws you to work with other artists and musicians?”
EM: “It’s inspiring and it’s also just fun. Everyone has their own methods and skills and thought process when creating, so collaborating just multiplies the possibilities of what can happen. It helps me break out of my own patterns and think of things in new ways, so it really keeps things moving and interesting. And creation is so sacred, it’s awesome to share that connection with other artists.”
A: “Did you do the guitar samples for the Illuminate EP?”
EM: "Yes, you’ll hear plenty of my own recordings of me playing guitar, djembe, bass guitar, handpan, darbuka, and jaw harp on the EP. On the last track “Zemya” you’ll hear multi-instrumentalist Amalgamy playing Kanun, Kora, Kaval, and Gadulka. And on “Bonsai” it features the musician The Spy From Cairo playing oud, an ancient fretless stringed instrument. The opening guitar melody in “Brain Bath” is actually from a song I wrote in middle school, so it holds a little nostalgia there.”
A: “What inspired this EP?”
EM: “The songs on this EP feel like a followup to my last full length album Lucid Living - I wanted to explore deeper into that psychedelic, dynamic organic-electronic fusion style that I had gotten into there. But I always write each song independently without thinking of the bigger picture, until I have several tracks that naturally just feel like they belong together.”
A: “Illuminate feels very intentional in its pacing and atmosphere — how did you know when the EP was ‘complete’”?
EM: “I had known for a while I wanted to share some of the psybass tracks I had been working on, in the format of an EP. In the midst of working through those ideas last year, I was also putting together my set for Tipper & Friends, Suwannee. A set that I really put a lot of intention into. I created “Brain Bath" specifically to be the intro to that set. I was imagining really setting the vibe of the start of that journey late afternoon on Bicycle Day in the swamp. Entangled Mind sound bath, atmospheric, worldly sounds. Turned into a drum circle like build ups and up for several minutes, straight into the 140 bass drop of “Grounded”. Later, as I was narrowing in on finishing the EP, I thought why not just include “Brain Bath" as the intro to the EP. Since I literally wrote it to lead into the first main track, and that plan just felt right. Like it makes the EP a full journey.”
A: “When preparing for a show like Cervantes, do you build your set around the room, the system, or your current creative headspace first?”
EM: “I like to think about the setting, time of day, the venue, the people, and the rest of the lineup. Then I think about what songs I definitely want to incorporate. I sort of roughly plan out the overall flow of the set. Like do I want to start off chill and then get heavy in the end? Or reverse that. Or more like a bell curve of energy? Or have more ups and downs? I like to leave room to improvise at the moment. If I make too much of a plan, it can take away from being present in the moment when performing.”
A: “Have your goals as an artist shifted since you first started releasing music, and if so, how does this EP reflect that evolution?”
EM: “When I first started releasing my music, I had 2 main goals. The first being, that I wanted my production quality to be comparable to music that I was inspired by. And secondly, I wanted to be able to collaborate with artists I liked. I feel like I have achieved both of those! These days, I feel like my main goals are really just to keep creating and exploring, getting into the flow state with it as much as possible because that’s such a rewarding feeling. And to finish more of the projects I am working on more efficiently. Because seeing a vision into completion is also so rewarding. I would love to continue to collaborate and play shows with other amazing artists and get to perform more in other countries but I think that will all continue to fall into place so long as I just keep creating authentic music.”
Marissa is guided by curiosity, collaboration, and a willingness to be free of boundaries. That openness is perhaps what makes Entangled Mind’s performances so compelling; no two moments are ever the same, and each set is shaped as much by the room as the people in it. Whether it’s carefully curated melodies layered over pulsing bass lines, or organic jams reshaped into immersive electronic journeys, Entangled Mind reflects the conversation between instinct, influence, and presence.
Beyond their appearance at the Chocolate Factory this weekend, they’ll be headlining Soundbreak on 5/30 in Maine, and two sets at Midpoint on 6/20 in Pennsylvania, as well as returning to Secret Dreams, Ozora Festival in Hungary, and making their debut at Unison Fest in New Mexico.
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