Whitebear [Interview]

The hammer, the bat, the boxing glove; we as humans use these tools for literal smashing, but sometimes we need a more proverbial smashing. With Arthur Song behind his quickly rising nom de guerre, Whitebear pounds the ground with a visceral harmony of melody and discord, symphony and cacophony. A Malaysian native based out of Melbourne, Australia, he's made his way all the way out to the States for a massive tour alongside Kalya Scintilla, and is headed straight for NYC this weekend.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Whitebear and pick apart his brain just enough to satisfy the suspense of a long-awaited face-to-face blessing with the man, and see what really makes this production powerhouse tick.

The Rust: Your music has been described as “tribal”. Much electronic music from Australia has tribal or aboriginal influence, at least when heard by American ears. What effect can place have on music? Feel free to answer the question in relation to Whitebear music, or in general.

The environment most definitely plays a huge role when it comes to influencing the feel/mood of the music, although I don’t think that it is entirely dependent on it. Most of my music was written in an apartment in the middle of Melbourne city 12 stories above the ground, I guess which is why peppered amongst the “tribal” elements are dashes of inorganic sounds.

The Rust: The infrastructure of the music industry has undergone great change, and musicians, labels, collectives have to get creative to make a living off their music, with Shanti Planti being an example of a successful model with artists helping artists. How can artists help each other succeed? How, if at all, would you like to see the processes behind the publication, distribution, and sale of music change?

We need to stop viewing this as a competition, use the success of others to inspire you rather than depress/discourage you. Stop complaining about how someone else is doing better and level up. That and the sharing of knowledge amongst artists, most of us wouldn’t be where we are today without the help of online tutorials, tips from mates or whatever else it took us to learn the skills we needed to be the artists that we are today. Regarding the sale of music, I definitely would like to see more labels go down the collective route, much like Shanti Planti, and now Enig’matik as well since their rebirth not long ago. It’s a win-win for the “label owner” and the artists- most of the work has been offloaded or at least the weight is now equally distributed because the individual artist is now taking care of their own mastering, artwork, social media etc. with a few exceptions of distribution and promo still being taken care of by the label (depending on the label/collective). Too many labels have been discontinued purely due to the fact that there was too much of a workload and not enough financial gain to warrant that amount of work, which is a shame because we’ve lost some good ones!

The Rust: You told Lost in Sound that there’s a symbiotic relationship between “mainstream pop shit” and tasteful underground music, with the former forcing people to search for deeper, more meaningful music. I’ve been starting to see “edgy” electronic music used in television ads pretty frequently. Can the line between mainstream pop music and underground bass music become blurry at times?

Sure.

The Rust: You’ve said that in Australia, more people are flocking to the underground music scene, but bringing with them the attitudes and morals of the conventional world. The same could be said in American scene, which has exploded in popularity in the last five years. Can we welcome as many people as possible into the community, while preserving the unique attitudes, morals, and customs that have made the community so attractive?

I’m not too familiar with the evolution of the scene in the US so can’t speak for the scene here, but in Australia, there has definitely been a rise in outdoor festivals that are being run by companies that used to put on one-day raves. As long as we work to educate but more importantly inspire the newcomers, we’re sweet.

The Rust: You said you’ve been asked to play hip-hop here in America, which could in a way be described as the indigenous music of the United States. Are you influenced or inspired by hip-hop?

I never listened to much hip-hop growing up, I appreciate it, but it has never been a huge part of my musical life.\

The Rust: With your recent EP, Dialectics, you retain certain elements of archetypal psybient music, but also develop a darker tonality and sonic direction than previous works. What triggered the inspiration to tackle this shift in sound design and composition?

I didn’t want to be pigeonholed into the “tribal bass” thing, I’ve always been influenced by the darker forms of music with techy sound design so it was natural for me to explore that side of my musical palette.

The Rust: Can you walk us through your workflow? What digital tools do you use to flesh out your music? Do you have any affinity for hardware instruments in conjunction with conventional production methods? (Preferred DAWs, VSTs, Mastering software, etc)

Ableton Live is the main workhorse, everything else is software. Workflow is pretty much- get excited about writing music, start doing sound design, get more/less excited depending on success of sound design session, start sketching out track, whine about how track is not working at all, keep banging head against wall until something works or breaks, repeat until track is done. 

The Rust: Do you have a vision for the future of the Whitebear project and of your performance? Are you satisfied with your current methods for performing live, and are you experimenting with any unconventional ways of presenting your music? What does the ideal Whitebear show look like to you?

At the moment the vision is a bit clouded. If you had asked me six years ago if I saw myself doing what I do now, I would tell you- yeah nah. So I’ve been winging it this whole time with no solid plans except to write the best music I can write and to be stoked about what comes out as much as possible. I have some soul searching to do over the next six months. I would definitely like to collaborate with visual artists to create an immersive experience with synced visuals and maybe even surround sound type stuff, but to be honest it isn’t really a priority right now, more an idea I’ve been toying with. 

The Rust: Do you have your hands in any other artistic content beyond music? Do you take inspiration from non-musical art forms?

Navigating this human thing meat ship is an art in itself, that’s probably up there with the music. Inspiration comes from everywhere and everything, it's hard for it not to.

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If you're in the tristate area this coming weekend, then we're sure you'll be piloting your human meat ships straight to Brooklyn for a tango amongst maestros. Make sure you grab your tickets HERE

FOLLOW Whitebear:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp   /   Spotify   /   Instagram

Kalya Scintilla on Progress and the Perils of Pop Music

If ever a musician was rooted in the past, acting in the present and looking to the future it is Kalya Scintilla. Scintilla, real name Yaegon Lamagaia, is a pillar of psychedelic electronic music and culture. Since the late aughts this Australian producer has pioneered a now popular sound - a juxtaposition of earthy, instrumental world beats with squelchy, spacey synths in a psybient mid-tempo mold.

Scintilla takes great care to draw listeners into the thematic world beyond his sounds, one of ancient energy, myth, intention and alignment. Ahead of his Back to Roots tour stop at Knitting Factory Brooklyn, supported by Whitebear and The Rust Music artist MALAKAI, we were fortunate enough to speak briefly with Yaegon about his music and ideas.

As the NYC tour stop draws closer we’ll also share a conversation with Whitebear, the other half of the Back to Roots tour, who for the last few years has been carrying the mid-tempo torch lit by Scintilla and others into deeper and darker territory to illuminate new sonic spaces.

The Rust: You’ve said the drum is the oldest instrument and that its ancient rhythms unlock ancient mysteries within us. How about the synthesizer? As a new instrument with a digitized soundscape, what can the synthesizer potentially unlock within us?

The drum is ancient and the synth is future. The synth can carve out new and different unexplored worlds, propelling our imagination into something unseen. That's why I love the fusion of the two world. It's like having your feet in the earth, your mind in the universe and your emotions everywhere between.

The Rust: You purchased your first computer to make beats in 2005. What was it like to make a beat on the computer over a decade ago? Is there anything you miss about the composition process back then?

I do miss the simplicity of a decade ago. There is such a heavy saturation in the digital music technology market now... and the crazy thing is that most of it is amazing. So it's a challenge now to keep a simple palate of sounds and textures and explore them intensely. I always recommend to artists just starting out to keep it simple. When you keep you setup simple, your focus and thirst for learning and pushing the limits of what you have is greater. Slow down with getting new tech and learn what you have... this is also a reminder to myself HA!

(Credit: Derek Rickert)

The Rust: As the head of Merkaba Music, are there any new artists or sounds that you admire right now?

The sounds that push boundaries for me are not necessarily ones that are trying to be the next new sound but sounds that are a true expression of an individual's soul. As each soul is different, when a soul shines through music it's always a magical and unique feeling.

The Rust: As a leader in psychedelic sound design and composition, what’s next for Kalya Scintilla’s sound? Do any musical challenges still lay before you?

Art and creativity is infinite and inspiration can be found everywhere so while I feel I have accomplished so much I feel in some ways that I am just beginning. I have visions and more creations on the way for both Merkaba and Kalya Scintilla and a few other secret things I am flirting with at the moment. I see art and the creation of something truly original and profound as a deep and infinite exploration. A fun one!

The Rust: You once said a great awakening took place within you when you listened to Herbie Hancock’s “Manchild” on vinyl when you were younger. What will the next generation be awakening to? Is it problematic that the next generation will likely be listening on mp3, youtube, or a streaming service instead of the organic wax?

(Credit: Derek Rickert)

I have come to know that the feeling, intention and story of a piece of music can be experienced regardless of the tuning or bit rate. But why not quest for the most detailed representation of a piece of art? I feel that with the way digital storage is becoming, and with a push from many in the industry to always have the best quality possible, we will evolve away from MP3 and towards a higher quality standard. But you can’t beat the feeling of a good vinyl! To anyone reading this I recommend taking that voyage [“Manchild”] in a dark room by yourself.  

The Rust: If sound is much more powerful than most people realize, and I believe we agree on this, is the power of sound being used for negative purposes? If so, what does this look like?

MTV pop music! This is the best example of music being used to ill effect. Sound is creation and destruction so it goes without saying that there is some truly destructive sound on our planet. How much destructive music is created intentionally? Probably not a lot. When money, bitches, guns, 'satan', death, ego, etc. are fed to a society as the norm and as status symbols, it's natural that humans would mimic and imitate that in their own art. The question is who planted the seed in the first place?

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Who indeed? Kalya Scintilla certainly knows how to plant a seed or two of his own with his transcendent, mid-tempo music, seeds which soon sprout roots, roots which we may eventually come back to. We’re extraordinary grateful to Yaegon for taking the time to share his thoughts with us, and with the world.

Don’t forget to check back with The Rust as Back to the Roots at the Knitting Factory Brooklyn draws closer. We’ll be diving a bit deeper in our conversation with Whitebear, so stay chooned!

FOLLOW Kalya Scintilla:   Soundcloud   /   Facebook   /   Bandcamp   /   Instagram   /   Spotify