Artistic inspiration often requires a soundtrack, and vice versa. So, it's no surprise that many DJ/Producers musical endeavours go hand in hand with the visual arts. Sleep / Walk / Listen, a music and art series based in London, England, aims to explore this relationship and bring the two mediums closer together.
THUMP previously talked with SWL about their fourth release, featuring techno titan John Tejada and graphic designer David Grey. For SWL005, the project returns with a special mix from the Berlin-based electronic duo Egokind & Ozean and accompanying artwork by SWL creative director and visual artist SnowSkull. The mix culminates with a previously unreleased track "Funambulate," selected especially for the project. The duo recently gave a spellbinding performance for Boiler Room Berlin on the Watergate Terrace over the summer, and were eager to flex their muscles in the SWL005 mix.
THUMP: For this mix you both embarked on the "simple but sophisticated goal to create the best mix we've ever made." What exactly does that goal entail?Egokind & Ozean: We think that all mixes are a good way to (re)present the recent sonic developments or passions of every artist. Compared to some of our older mixes, it's not only the tracks we pick, but also the general groove and flow that is changing with our inner development. We're really happy with the SWL005 mix because the whole creation came together very naturally. In our opinion, it reflects the moods and feelings we wanted to spread in the right way.
The mix and your previous productions often combine dreamy, atmospheric sounds with electronica, house and thumping techno. What motivates you both to pursue those sounds?
Diversity is our creative engine. For example, on our debut album "Transition" we tried to explore different spheres by bringing together our passion for ambient music, but also evolving colourful, psychedelic and dreamy sounds. But we don't produce just ambient, just house, or just techno. Music preserves so many diverse energies. By connecting the raw power of techno with some trippy and trancy shades, as well as breeding the emotional vitality of house, we wanted to create a personal and vibrant journey the listeners could connect to.
What pushed you both to conclude the mix with the featured SWL track "Funambulate"?
While the mix starts out with some pretty deep tracks by Traumprinz and Route 8, it slowly moves into a more straight-forward and even trance-like direction with Alan Fitzpatrick or ASOK. Our track "Funambulate" is one of many new, unreleased tracks we've created this year. During our sets, we've tested this one a lot and the crowd's response has always been crazy enthusiastic. It's one of our more dance-floor orientated tracks, something for the peak time. So it seemed like a perfect way to end this journey with a statement.
How do you see the connection between music and visual arts?
E & O: Actually the connection between visual and auditive art is very important to us. When we talk about music and the way we mix our sounds in the studio, we often talk about certain colours and shapes. Every time we see a picture or a painting, we immediately have certain sound or atmosphere in mind and it's probably also the other way around.
SnowSkull: There are many similarities. Both are forms of self-expression, deeply reflective and informative. Music is a function of definition. Colour is the language of visual arts. The conjunction of music and visual arts is required to accurately tell a story. The more abstract the story is, the greater need for combining these tools. Technology constantly creates new ways for these stories to be told, which develops the connection between these art forms. This is what we find exciting.
As the creative director of Sleep / Walk / Listen, What would you say the overarching goal of the project is?
S: To raise the profile of visual arts in electronic music. We realize that the marriage of music and visual arts isn't an original concept, but we feel the link between these two art forms can be explored, developed and appreciated in greater depth. Our partnerships between music and visual arts signify the basis of our passion about this movement. In time, we plan to work closer with these mediums and inject our philosophy into physical releases, live events, exhibitions and installations. We want to investigate how these two art forms can work and thrive together.
Can you explain the inspiration you took from Egokind & Ozean's mix?
S: The painting is the other world that the music takes you to; the black represents the deepness and spacious sounds. The burst of colours and textures are the rhythms that pulsate through the mix. The moon represents progression. There's a beginning and an end to every piece of music. I wanted to reflect this influence in a motif that is explicitly linked to time.
What was your impression of each other's work?
E & O: It was really smooth and fun to do this together. Everything began with our mix. It inspired the SWL team and SnowSkull to create something that is still deeply connected. The goal of creating a mutual synergy between two art forms was beautifully accomplished. It was also pretty exciting to see what other artists, coming from a different background and having a different perspective, would create from our music.
S: As a fan of both Egokind & Ozean's productions and DJ mixes, I was interested in hearing their thoughts on how colour could be used in the creation of the "Funambulate" artwork. Their input here allowed me to refine the direction of the elements that made up the final artwork. It was reassuring that their initial input aligned with my natural outlook for creating the artwork. I feel this shows how well the music and visual elements connect and co-exist.
The hour-long mix can be streamed and downloaded from the Sleep / Walk / Listen website. Print's of SnowSkull's original artwork are available on the Sleep / Walk / Listen store.
Egokind & Ozean is on Soundcloud // Facebook.
SnowSkull is on his Website // Facebook // Twitter.
Alex is on Twitter.
Diversity is our creative engine. For example, on our debut album "Transition" we tried to explore different spheres by bringing together our passion for ambient music, but also evolving colourful, psychedelic and dreamy sounds. But we don't produce just ambient, just house, or just techno. Music preserves so many diverse energies. By connecting the raw power of techno with some trippy and trancy shades, as well as breeding the emotional vitality of house, we wanted to create a personal and vibrant journey the listeners could connect to.
While the mix starts out with some pretty deep tracks by Traumprinz and Route 8, it slowly moves into a more straight-forward and even trance-like direction with Alan Fitzpatrick or ASOK. Our track "Funambulate" is one of many new, unreleased tracks we've created this year. During our sets, we've tested this one a lot and the crowd's response has always been crazy enthusiastic. It's one of our more dance-floor orientated tracks, something for the peak time. So it seemed like a perfect way to end this journey with a statement.
E & O: Actually the connection between visual and auditive art is very important to us. When we talk about music and the way we mix our sounds in the studio, we often talk about certain colours and shapes. Every time we see a picture or a painting, we immediately have certain sound or atmosphere in mind and it's probably also the other way around.SnowSkull: There are many similarities. Both are forms of self-expression, deeply reflective and informative. Music is a function of definition. Colour is the language of visual arts. The conjunction of music and visual arts is required to accurately tell a story. The more abstract the story is, the greater need for combining these tools. Technology constantly creates new ways for these stories to be told, which develops the connection between these art forms. This is what we find exciting.As the creative director of Sleep / Walk / Listen, What would you say the overarching goal of the project is?
S: To raise the profile of visual arts in electronic music. We realize that the marriage of music and visual arts isn't an original concept, but we feel the link between these two art forms can be explored, developed and appreciated in greater depth. Our partnerships between music and visual arts signify the basis of our passion about this movement. In time, we plan to work closer with these mediums and inject our philosophy into physical releases, live events, exhibitions and installations. We want to investigate how these two art forms can work and thrive together.
S: The painting is the other world that the music takes you to; the black represents the deepness and spacious sounds. The burst of colours and textures are the rhythms that pulsate through the mix. The moon represents progression. There's a beginning and an end to every piece of music. I wanted to reflect this influence in a motif that is explicitly linked to time.What was your impression of each other's work?
E & O: It was really smooth and fun to do this together. Everything began with our mix. It inspired the SWL team and SnowSkull to create something that is still deeply connected. The goal of creating a mutual synergy between two art forms was beautifully accomplished. It was also pretty exciting to see what other artists, coming from a different background and having a different perspective, would create from our music.S: As a fan of both Egokind & Ozean's productions and DJ mixes, I was interested in hearing their thoughts on how colour could be used in the creation of the "Funambulate" artwork. Their input here allowed me to refine the direction of the elements that made up the final artwork. It was reassuring that their initial input aligned with my natural outlook for creating the artwork. I feel this shows how well the music and visual elements connect and co-exist.The hour-long mix can be streamed and downloaded from the Sleep / Walk / Listen website. Print's of SnowSkull's original artwork are available on the Sleep / Walk / Listen store.Egokind & Ozean is on Soundcloud // Facebook.SnowSkull is on his Website // Facebook // Twitter.Alex is on Twitter.