In 2016, Darcy Baylis spent time exploring the culture of Eastern Europe, experiencing New York's confident individuality, surfing couches in Sydney, and trying to find warmth in Berlin sunrises after nights of clubbing.In between drinking German beer that's cheaper than water and riding the L-Line, Darcy was writing his first album Intimacy & Isolation, a collection of fast-tracked house songs that can stretch and compress in the span of a minute.
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With club music veering from doof beats in the past few years, the Melbourne producer and songwriter's new release is indicative of the movement. Baylis' far-away vocals sift through reminders of UK hardcore, vintage house, and techno.Darcy Baylis deserves to be taken seriously, and Noisey spoke to him about that anti-functional nature of Intimacy & Isolation.Noisey: How is life post-graduation?
Darcy Baylis: Honestly? Quite boring. I took a year off after my Bachelor of Music under the assumption that I would be "burnt out" or need a break, but it's very hard to relax when you have nothing to do. It kind of sends you crazy. I'm going back to uni to complete my Honours in a few weeks and I couldn't be more excited.You spent time travelling across different countries last year. Was it just for fun or did you go for a reason?
But the thinking was very much "I've just finished 3 years of university, I'm going to go out into the world and see what happens". I'm glad I didn't go into it with any expectations of 'finding myself' or 'growing up' because as it turns out, neither of those things happened until I got back home to Melbourne. But it was very, very beautiful.How has producing Intimacy & Isolation while in transit affected the final product?
Well it's very disjointed, isn't it? You have these big, widescreen moments that suddenly give way to very muted, still ones. Pisstakes on Melbourne house music that dissolve into post-The Life of Pablo rap beats. It's generally because I would finish a piece of music in one city and pick it up in the next. "Sloterdijk Station" is a great example of that: the intro was made on a bus to Leipzig, the first verse was made at a train station in Amsterdam and the last section was made in New York. And that's because Leipzig sounds different to Amsterdam, which sounds different to New York, which sounds different to Sydney, and so on. It's a complete mess, but consistently so I think.
Darcy Baylis: Honestly? Quite boring. I took a year off after my Bachelor of Music under the assumption that I would be "burnt out" or need a break, but it's very hard to relax when you have nothing to do. It kind of sends you crazy. I'm going back to uni to complete my Honours in a few weeks and I couldn't be more excited.You spent time travelling across different countries last year. Was it just for fun or did you go for a reason?
But the thinking was very much "I've just finished 3 years of university, I'm going to go out into the world and see what happens". I'm glad I didn't go into it with any expectations of 'finding myself' or 'growing up' because as it turns out, neither of those things happened until I got back home to Melbourne. But it was very, very beautiful.How has producing Intimacy & Isolation while in transit affected the final product?
Well it's very disjointed, isn't it? You have these big, widescreen moments that suddenly give way to very muted, still ones. Pisstakes on Melbourne house music that dissolve into post-The Life of Pablo rap beats. It's generally because I would finish a piece of music in one city and pick it up in the next. "Sloterdijk Station" is a great example of that: the intro was made on a bus to Leipzig, the first verse was made at a train station in Amsterdam and the last section was made in New York. And that's because Leipzig sounds different to Amsterdam, which sounds different to New York, which sounds different to Sydney, and so on. It's a complete mess, but consistently so I think.
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You say that this album is "anti-functional music." Why did you make this decision?
I remember reading this Stravinsky quote where he said something to the effect of music is by its very nature unable to express anything at all and when expression is found in music, it's merely an illusion. While there's obviously a lot of fallacies in that argument, it did get me thinking about music that exists only for music's sake, which I think could apply to a lot of the bands I was obsessed with growing up: Underoath, Deftones, Tool and stuff. So I wanted this album to occupy that space - that weird music you put on in your bedroom when you're trying to make sense of things, that music you're too embarrassed to put on around your friends, that whiny music your parents don't like. Honestly if teens end up listening to this album, I'll consider it my greatest success yet.You seem to center your songs around themes of identity and personal conflict, something that's not common in house music.
That's just me. I don't even consider it a conscious decision. For me, the work always comes first and the analysis, the critique, has to be secondary. So when I was making this music, when I was mumbling words over the top, only the most recent things I was going through came to mind: suicide, loss, selfishness, drugs - all the bullshit, basically. At this point I'm honestly done writing songs about all of that though, I just don't find it interesting or useful anymore. I've only just returned to writing again recently, but I'm already far more excited about the lyrics. I have this song called "Cucks" which I can't wait to perform live.
I remember reading this Stravinsky quote where he said something to the effect of music is by its very nature unable to express anything at all and when expression is found in music, it's merely an illusion. While there's obviously a lot of fallacies in that argument, it did get me thinking about music that exists only for music's sake, which I think could apply to a lot of the bands I was obsessed with growing up: Underoath, Deftones, Tool and stuff. So I wanted this album to occupy that space - that weird music you put on in your bedroom when you're trying to make sense of things, that music you're too embarrassed to put on around your friends, that whiny music your parents don't like. Honestly if teens end up listening to this album, I'll consider it my greatest success yet.You seem to center your songs around themes of identity and personal conflict, something that's not common in house music.
That's just me. I don't even consider it a conscious decision. For me, the work always comes first and the analysis, the critique, has to be secondary. So when I was making this music, when I was mumbling words over the top, only the most recent things I was going through came to mind: suicide, loss, selfishness, drugs - all the bullshit, basically. At this point I'm honestly done writing songs about all of that though, I just don't find it interesting or useful anymore. I've only just returned to writing again recently, but I'm already far more excited about the lyrics. I have this song called "Cucks" which I can't wait to perform live.
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You're pretty much a fixture in Melbourne's club scene at this point. What are some of the things you like most about the clubbing spirit?
Oh, I'm not really. I mean I'm not that person playing The Mercat (RIP) each weekend or whatever - I don't even own a single record. Also I used to like clubbing a lot, but these days I'm not so sure. Something about it feels evil, but maybe I'm just being needlessly cynical. I do go to Re-Up every month though, because that's the only place in Melbourne you can hear Sixpence None the Richer and Lil Uzi Vert in the one night.What are you hoping to accomplish this year?
I think I'm ready to be taken seriously. I wouldn't have said that last year, but I just know that I'm better now. I'll be spending the year juggling performing, completing my Honours degree, producing for rappers and spending time with my friends and family, then I'm probably going to leave Australia for a while.
Oh, I'm not really. I mean I'm not that person playing The Mercat (RIP) each weekend or whatever - I don't even own a single record. Also I used to like clubbing a lot, but these days I'm not so sure. Something about it feels evil, but maybe I'm just being needlessly cynical. I do go to Re-Up every month though, because that's the only place in Melbourne you can hear Sixpence None the Richer and Lil Uzi Vert in the one night.What are you hoping to accomplish this year?
I think I'm ready to be taken seriously. I wouldn't have said that last year, but I just know that I'm better now. I'll be spending the year juggling performing, completing my Honours degree, producing for rappers and spending time with my friends and family, then I'm probably going to leave Australia for a while.
'Intimacy & Isolation' is available Feb 17 through Downtime.Images: Elliot Lauren