Featured Artists, Songs and Posts

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Nagamag:
What are the genres that describe better your music style?

Jaap Mol:
My main genre is neo classical. But I tend to expand it to ambient electronic music with some beats where I feel they add something to the music.

Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Jaap Mol:
I started taking classical piano lessons when I was about 6 years old. I don't exactly remember why it were piano lessons and not another instrument, but I kept playing for years. I even played church organ for while, but discovered I'm way more inspired by a piano.
When I was around 15 years old, I discovered punk bands and that was all I wanted to play from that point on. So I bought a bass guitar, started a band and quit my piano lessons when I was 18. Since then I played in all kinds of bands, mostly pop punk, but also bands inspired on those really cool emo core bands from the zeros which I still love.

But when I finished my study, that musical environment dried up and so did the bands. I went back to my keys, sang in a a capella group and worked on some music on my own but never really got back to it; life happened and I got a job as a teacher. Back then I thought I'd never do any serious music at all ever again.

But then a friend of mine started a band and needed someone to play keys and that's how I got back into music. It worked out really well and I started playing in bands again, but this time no punk and bass guitars, but keys in pop, pop-rock and electro pop bands.

Meanwhile I discovered that my love for pop music and my interest in quiet piano and string music could be mixed pretty good and I started experimenting with what turned out to be the neo classical ambient music I create now. But I am always tempted to try new styles and experiment with other genres. Right now, for example, I worked on a live show for which I remixed all my tracks into an ambient electronic hybrid DJ-set.

That's what I love about music the most; I get bored quite easily, but never with music. It's an endless source of inspiration.

Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Jaap Mol:
I think, funnily enough, that first feeling when I heard a punk track on the radio has been one of the most important moments to spark my music career. I waited for weeks, glued to the radio, to record that one song to tape, because I never heard anything like it. That was a really important moment, because that was when I realised that it was actually possible to create something myself.

Nagamag:
What inspires you to create new music?

Jaap Mol:
Everything I create in music always starts with a sound I love. That can be the sound of a beautiful old piano, something I come up with when tweaking a synth, or just a sample from a plugin in my DAW.
I'm not a very technical player, and at first I saw that as a limitation. But I learned that to be really creative, you have to set boundaries and limitations, and mine forces me to really dive into a sound I love, and create something beautiful from that. I'm embracing that now, and I'm really happy with how it turns out.

Nagamag:
What does your creative process look like?

Jaap Mol:
I like to do a lot by myself. I'm kind of a control freak, so when I didn't find what I wanted to create elsewhere, I wanted to master the whole process. I compose and produce while writing, just like pop records.
Sometimes I ask other studios for help because they have better equipment, but most parts I record at my own place. I like to do the mixing myself as wel, because a lot of mixing happens during the production.

I like to work with concepts for my music, so that's why I prefer to do al the artwork, photography and video's myself as well. To master all theses parts of the creative process takes a long learning curve, but I like to be curious and just love discovering new things to improve. It's an infinite playground.

Nagamag:
Most artists have a favorite song from a different music genre than the one they are producing music for... Which is yours?

Jaap Mol:
Sufjan Stevens "A Little Lost"

Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which track from a similar artist you admire?

Jaap Mol:
Jon Hopkins "Echo Dissolve"

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Nagamag:
What are the genres that describe better your music style?

Kristine Bratlie:
I like to call my music style a cross over between classical piano music, film, musical and jazz. It stretches in multiple directions, often even inside one song.

Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Kristine Bratlie:
I am a norwegian classical pianist that developed into a composer, curios about HOW I could reach peoples heart with my music.
My musical education is from academies in Oslo, Norway and Salzburg, Austria (the birthplace of Mozart).
After turning back home, doing concerts and teaching with classical piano literature, I eventually started publishing music, both piano, chamber music and singing.
Now I live in Sweden, in a small town called Aneby.

Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Kristine Bratlie:
I started to play piano at the age of 9, and had many fine years developing. But what I think gave me that boost, that feeling of joy and meaning was when I began singing (and playing) in a gospel choir at 13. I felt this inspiration from the harmonies, the rhythm, the joy. It became really a manifestation of music in my soul.

Nagamag:
Most artists have a favorite song from a different music genre than the one they are producing music for... Which is yours?

Kristine Bratlie:
Tiziano Ferro "Lo Stadio"

Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which track from a similar artist you admire?

Kristine Bratlie:
Ludovico Einaudi "Una Mattina"

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Nagamag:
What are the genres that describe better your music style?

Andrei Poliakov:
The foundation of my works is a well-educated neoclassical, romantic soundscape, but as soon as the music begins, it starts looking for cross-over opportunities to develop into an exciting house-party, jazz, pop, or electronic music, all these easily transforming to warm classical follow-ups – hence the eclectic style which I hope helps me tell better stories without words.
Essentially, I treat a musical genre as an additional color for the compositions, like seasoning in food; these colors help me get the emotions across and tell the stories to the listener with better precision and stronger impact:

I do not feel bound by a genre or a style, and instead I use and abuse the variety of styles to paint a deeper and more colorful, meaningful musical picture. Nevertheless, the Piano is always staying as a centerpiece of my compositions as I believe the richness and diversity of sounds of the “king of music” easily trumps any other instrument I know

Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Andrei Poliakov:
I am a professional musician, composer and producer, received a fundamental classical music master education as a pianist and an oboist in Russia, and then continued with the professional musical career performing with world-renowned orchestras. Later I diversified my musical taste and capacity into jazz, rock, and pop genres, performing and recording with various bands and solo.
Since 2012 I have been living in Switzerland, Geneva, engaging into various professional activities both in artistic and business domains.

Nagamag:
Do you remember your first connection of love to music that was the right impact to be a music artist now?

Andrei Poliakov:
I started learning piano at a very early age of 3 or 4 years old: my parents are pianists and music has always been in the center of my life.
When I was in school (yes, seriously underage…) my favorite pastime while cutting lessons was to grab a couple of friends, buy a box of beers, go to a nearest abandoned building (which we had a lot in Russia in the 90s), sit down on a window sill, take a sip of a cold one, and put the 6th symphony by Tchaikovsky, or the 2nd (no, 3rd… any of them!) Rachmaninov’s piano concerto on a Walkman and basically drown in emotions and thoughts… and beer.

Hence, the music that has influenced me the most, comes from the second half of 19th – first half of 20th century – and I must admit, most of it is Russian music or music with Russian roots. Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Skryabin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky – but also Mahler, Bruckner, Richard Strauss – these composers influenced my taste the most. Depth of thought, wide array of emotions, unimaginable soundscape and extremely clever and elegant arrangement solutions; beautiful harmonies and melodies…

Being a teenager, I of course dived into the world of rock and pop music, starting with The Beatles - the band that still remains my all time favorite, and all the usual suspects: Queen, Michael Jackson, Metallica... and this journey continues to date.

Nagamag:
Is there a story behind your latest release "Moonlight" and would you like to share it?

Andrei Poliakov:
I dedicated this short piano essay to the Moon and to the most beautiful village in the world: Céligny - a tiny little place in Switzerland, where I live.
Céligny is inhabited by incredibly kind, smart, and very warm people, has an unbelievably rich and beautiful nature, and stunning views along with very old historical houses drowning in floral multi-coloredness, and there is #MontBlanc 🏔 on the horizon... and don't get me started on the birds' chirping and singing...

Once it was a home for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the latter is buried in the old cemetery of the village.

Céligny is an unfathomably cozy place on this planet, and I feel very blessed to have had a chance to engrave my very intimate memories of this village.

I have actually composed the Moonlight in the heart of a former water mill!

And then one early morning in February I woke up and couldn’t fall asleep again. I decided to go for a walk and took along a video camera, and there was a full Moon in the skies! I was so enchanted and intrigued by mysterious flair of that morning that I couldn’t stop the camera running - and then I decided to use some of that footage for the video of this track.

Nagamag:
Is Moonlight going to be a part of a bigger project you are working on right now?

Andrei Poliakov:
Yes, this new solo piano release “MOONLIGHT” is continuing to form my live album “Moonlight & Sunshine”, and it follows the previous releases of 2020: “Declaration of Love”, “Lullaby”, and “La Promenade in Paris”
The “Moonlight & Sunshine” album has an uncommon approach for the neoclassics genre: every next release features 2 different versions of one motive, coming to life as a piano solo piece, interpreting a narrative in the moonlight, and as a fully arranged piece, revealing the same story under the sunshine.

The album has been evolving live on the major streaming platforms as a playlist (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and others), thereby gradually forming the full album as new pairs of tracks are released.

The album Moonlight & Sunshine on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3MCyNWldBXCbZdLKehspn2?si=882c2e2dc09d4074

In a few weeks I am planning to follow up and release the fully arranged track called "Sunshine", which is inspired by the melodics of Moonlight, but features a duet of piano and violin (played by a very talented violinist from Russia) and other instruments.

Nagamag:
Most artists have a favorite song from a different music genre than the one they are producing music for... Which is yours?

Andrei Poliakov:
The Beatles "Here comes the Sun"

Nagamag:
Of Course Nagamag would love to listen also which track from a similar artist you admire?

Andrei Poliakov:
Ludovico Einaudi Una Mattina