52 - Shimura

Author

Giannis Kampiotis
February 17, 2023

Hello music people đź‘‹

Today in the spotlight, Shimura

Coming from the UK, he has been into music since childhood were his obsession was scratching. He only recently started making music but he knows the sound he is after and his first album is already on the way 🎶

Read Time: 7 minutes đź“°

Studio

Gear List

Eurorack

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Interview

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

I go by the name shimura, I’m from Kent (UK)

I’ve listened to music since I was a kid, and started taking things more seriously when I bought turntables when I was around 15 (more than 25 years ago now). I had no clue about DJing but was completely obsessed with learning to scratch. Every weekend I’d trawl records shops and spent every penny I had on vinyl. I was into mo’wax - I bought everything I could get my hands on: Endtroducing by DJ Shadow has probably had the most influence on me.

I only started making my own music 18months ago - I bought the Lyra 8 and the pulsar 23 during lockdown, modular came soon after when I realized I loved creating patches.

I started posting sketches to IG and after some encouragement from the fantastic online community I pushed myself to write complete tracks - I have an album coming out in the New Year. I’ve recently joined the Petite Victory Collective label who have a wonderful community and attitude towards making music.

I don’t make any money from my music and I don’t expect to in the future.

Which piece of equipment in your studio is essential to your production process?

My Pulsar - I use it in every patch; even if it’s not generating any sound it sits at the heart of my set up, with everything running through it.

What is the least expensive piece of gear that gave you the most results?

The Pulsar isn’t the least expensive but for me it’s the best value; I use it in every patch and if you break it down into its components you’d spend way more buying individual modules in Eurorack.

The Ornament & Crime Eurorack module has given me the most results. I use it in every patch, mainly as a utility or for sequencing. I’ve got two of them (both using Hemispheres firmware).

Walk us through your process for creating and producing music.

I start with percussion and then add drones / pads and think about how the whole patch should be glued together - I nearly always use the Ornament 8 as my “macro sequencer”. Once I’ve finished the patch I’ll jam on it and tweak it further for a few days - I try to record a complete track for every patch. I rarely do stuff in the DAW - mainly because I don’t know how to use one! But also because I believe there’s a unique energy that comes from recording stuff live.

I generally like to have everything controlled via CV, but playing by hand is super exciting and sometimes results in the most dynamic results.

What is a production technique that you always come back to?

I write drums using a combination of various sequencers. Some aspects are generative (eg. probability-based) some aren’t (eg step-sequencer). Getting the right balance of generative versus deterministic is key. Otherwise it’s a mess!

How would you explain your style?

I like the contrast of reasonably intricate drum patterns with fairly simple drones over the top.

I also like creating Sci-Fi type soundscapes.

What’s your biggest struggle?

I don’t have a load of time to spend writing music so it’s always tempting to create variations of a previous patch rather than experimenting with something new.

I try experimenting with different techniques in-between patches… don’t always get around to it since I want to be making tunes as soon as possible!

Has building a hardware setup changed your perspective on music or life in general?

Hardware has allowed me to write music for the first time since it’s so immediate. I would never have managed it using computers.

One tip on how to spark creativity?

Start with a small set up; so many synths / modules are incredibly deep if you push them and get to know them inside out.

The time I had creating standalone patches on the pulsar was invaluable in that sense.

A book, movie, article, or album that has inspired you?

The Kode 9 / Burial Fabric compilation.

The drones on that album inspired the Lyra 8 purchase.

Anything else you'd like to say?

Some thoughts in relation to the process of creating my album “Transmission” (which comes out on Petite Victory Collective on 17th February)

The tracks were recorded in the last 6months of 2022; during that period my modular set up evolved quite a lot, and I started to get a bit more comfortable with the set up during that time. I guess I’ve always believed in the concept of an “album” , and I found the process of selecting tracks (and leaving others out) almost harder than writing the tracks themselves! Selecting tracks that sat cohesively with each other was something I spent weeks thinking about. Certain tracks from the “early days” I was sure at the time would make it onto the album had to be left out, since my style had evolved too much and the tracks wouldn’t have sat well. I plan to release a few tracks as singles.

The other challenge is overcoming the hurdle of self-criticism. It’s very easy to listen to a track so many times all you hear is “mistakes”. Personally I find it hard to get the right balance of self-analysis: some tracks I absolutely loved during the jam…and then maybe too much analysis resulted in them being stripped out. That said, I’m totally happy with every track on the album, and that’s a great feeling. It was important to have long gaps between listening sessions in order to remain objective. And don’t under estimate the value of mastering , which cleans things up a lot, and makes tracks much easier to listen to.

How can people find you?

In Case You Missed It

For jams, knob-twists and pad hitting videos go to G.A.S. Instagram

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