RBMA: Introducing… ANGO

In the third in our series of interviews with this year’s Red Bull Music Academy participants (after Lunice and Kidkanevil), we caught up with ANGO…

Jus Like Music: So, who are you and where do you come from?

ANGO: I’m ANGO, a first generation Scottish Canadian, born in the year of Purple Rain. Currently residing in the UNESCO design capital of the world, Montreal, with my girl and my dog.

JLM: And in your own words, what is it that you do?

A: Mostly I research. I always have five or six ideas on the go, whether it be musical or visual or performance, and mostly I try to make them work. These include various hardware/software interfaces for playing live, MIDI controlled light presentations, re-designing sounds for instruments, etc. I wish I was releasing more work, but I tend to make a lot of prototypes.

JLM: Why do you do what you do?

A: When I was a kid I drew pictures of things I wanted but couldn’t have. Mostly I create to have what’s in my mind.

JLM: When you’re creating music, do you have an immediate image in your mind of the end result, or do your visions evolve as you progress?

A: If I’m making a whole record, I usually have some set of rules, concept or overall vision of the project and explore it as far as I can. I usually go into the writing process with some small nugget – be it an interplay between instruments or a kind of synth sound to be designed, or the juxtaposition of a certain type of rhythm with a certain type of bassline, etc. – or create a bunch of little ideas and then expand on them. Most producers I know, myself included, seem to get into this self-induced trance and the stuff takes on a life of it’s own, and then later on can feel very far removed from where it all started.

JLM: So, what’s new in the world of ANGO?

A: “You should know ANGO” podcast with instrumental previews of records I’m working on. “ADSR&B” a mixtape of 80s r&b/funk which I chopped up and played synths over the top of. I have a new synth, a new drum machine and a new puppy. They’ve been keeping me company while recovering from a recent back injury.

JLM: What about the Red Bull Music Academy, what do you hope to achieve there?

A: I hope to contribute to as much of the music being made as possible. In any manner. I hope to make some great friends.

JLM: What music have you been feeling lately?

A: The so-called chill-wave stuff is interesting to me, like; Toro Y Moi, Washed Out, Neon Indian. I feel like they create music like I do, even though the end result is obviously different. I could be totally out to lunch, but I feel like I can see how it’s made.

JLM: As an emerging artist yourself, what do you find are your biggest obstacles within music?

A: I love making recordings; being a recording artist, but actually making a physical record feels more and more futile, in North America at least. Not that I feel like the only purpose of creating albums is to sell them, but it makes it difficult to pay the mastering/manufacturing bill when nobody is buying anything.

JLM: What’s the best advice you would give to other emerging artists?

A: I always feel like an emerging artist myself, but I guess I would just say; finish stuff and share it as often as possible.

mp3: ANGO – More And More