Electronica Music ⁞ New Releases⁞ Artist Interviews⁞ Music News

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

Geist Contagion:
With my project Geist Contagion, I find myself with varied inspirations from one song to the next, so it becomes a bit of a daunting task to label each with its own discrete genre. There are elements of Glitchstep, Breakbeat, Techno, Industrial, Ambient, and Drone throughout my releases. I generally don't stick to one style for very long because I get bored easily, and I like to keep the listener on their toes.

Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Geist Contagion:
I started out like a lot of people do, playing guitar in a garage band with my friends. *That eventually fizzled out, as it often tends to.* Shortly after, I attended school for artist management and music production, which is where I developed my love of synthesizers, and of a whole new world of musical styles and composition techniques. From there, I dove headfirst into experimental electronic music which lead to the formation of my main project, The Databats. I met the folks over at Slice Records around this time and after working together on a couple of gigs, they brought us into their stable of artists. Geist Contagion spawned from there as my first full solo project. I wanted an avenue for the music I was writing that didn't stylistically gel with my work with The Databats. This has allowed me to explore my songwriting ideas more deeply, and to illuminate music that otherwise wouldn't be making it out into the world at large.

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

Geist Contagion:
I've felt a strong connection to music since I was very young. Some of my favourite parts of Saturday morning cartoons were the theme songs, not the cartoons themselves. As an adult, one of my more formative experiences was attending a live performance by Alessandro Cortini's solo project Sonoio, opening for Ladytron at The Phoenix in Toronto. Watching him utilize a myriad of synthesizers and vocal effects to craft such a layered and complex performance really opened my eyes to what was possible as a solo electronic performer, and to what an audience would be interested in experiencing.

Nagamag:
Tell us about your new album Écoutez and the process behind it.

Geist Contagion:
Écoutez is a collaborative album by Geist Contagion and Arcane Trickster. I met Damiano from Arcane Trickster a few years back when The Databats travelled to Australia and hooked up with the Slice Records crew for a couple of club gigs. We got along well and had a good rapport, so working together seemed like the logical next step.
Flash forward to 2020, and we found ourselves with a lot more time on our hands, so Damiano and I messaged back and forth a bit to discuss our ideas for a project. We then exchanged a bunch of demos via email, and once we decided on the tracks we wanted to use, we got down to editing, remixing and performing on one another's work. The ensuing result was a rather cohesive blend of each of our styles that we hope provides the audience with a fun journey from start to finish.

"Écoutez" means "listen" in French. It's both a title and an instruction. We'd like the audience to take a moment out of their hectic lives to do exactly that, just listen.

Nagamag:
What are the plans for Geist Contagion in 2021?

Geist Contagion:
I've been writing a lot of music, so hopefully we'll have followup to my record "Residue" out by the end of the year. On the collaborative front, there are a couple of projects going on at Slice Records that I plan to be very involved in, so you'll be hearing new remixes and joint productions from me as well. I'm very excited for those.
In terms of live performances, we're still under tight lockdown up here in Canada, so I've had to adapt. Thankfully, there are more ways than ever to reach out and interact with your audience, and I plan to take full advantage of those. Livestream performances, music videos, and interactive experiences are all part of the plan, so stay tuned for that! I'm also hoping I'll be able to get out and perform work by this project live some time before the end of the year, as I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet.

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

Geist Contagion:
Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois "Night MXCMPV1 P74"

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

Geist Contagion:
Oneohtrix Point Never "Nothing's Special"

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

Arkanna:
At the moment, I would say electronica, trip-hop, downtempo, chill, sometimes with world elements.

Nagamag:
Few words about your musical background and career?

Arkanna:
I grew up in a musical family. With musicians on both my parents sides. I was brought up listening to Rock n Roll, Motown, Soul and everything in between. The UK charts were always on in my house growing up, hearing bands of the 80's like Bronski Beat, The Human League and The Cure. Also often, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and my Mums favourite, Rod Stewart.
When I was a teenager, I loved Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, The Doors, Nirvanna and lots of dance music like Beats international, The Source, Technotronic and 808 State.

I first picked up the guitar at age twenty one. At the time I started going clubbing and loved progressive house back then and all the chillout stuff around at that time. Before this I was more into drawing and painting as my creative outlet. A number of years later I started writing my own songs and played a few acoustic gigs. I was listening to bands like Morcheeba, Beth Orton, Faithless, Massive Attack,Lamb, Portishead, The Chemical Brothers, The Future Sound Of London, Bjork, PJ Harvey and Leftfield.

Soon I met my partner, who was an MC in a Drum n Bass band at the time, and as a DJ he introduced me to a lot of breakbeat, Techno, Hip Hop and DnB. He introduced me to my first production software and I was hooked.

I started to teach myself production developing my acoustic tracks into a more electronic sound. I put a few of my first productions online. In 2009 I was offered work with London based techno/breaks producers, Elite Force and Meat Katie, recording vocals for 'Fire's Still Burnin' on their Dustbowl EP, released on U&A Recordings.

While still working on my own productions, I was also writing and recording music as part of a collective called Timeshade. This brought about a release in 2010 in which my vocals featured on Bambook's track 'off the system' feat Arkanna, the vocals taken from one of the Timeshade songs.

Later, I collaborated with producers from Nomad Records based in Italy, on a three track EP. It was never officially finished due to some problems within the label at the time. You can listen to 'Love is Timeless', on soundcloud, which is one of the tracks from that EP.

Finally by 2017 I felt happy enough with my own music production to begin independently releasing my music, the first of which was 'All This Time'.

My latest release 'Wonder Cloud' has been supported on BBC music Introducing in Scotland and recently remixed by the very talented Side Liner.

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

Arkanna:
I have always loved music as far back as I can remeber. I was always singing when I was a child. I was given my first keyboard when I was 10 and remember writing lyrics to the songs I made up on it. The Casio SA-1, I thought it was so cool lol. I actually found one a few years ago in a charity shop. I had to buy it haha.
Music for me is about my connection to the unknown mystery, the all or whatever you want to call it or see it as. It is my healer, my passion and a tool for self- reflection and discovery.

Nagamag:
What are your plans for the near future?

Arkanna:
I am currently finishing my EP and plan to develope and release a lot of the music I have written over the past few years, as well as all my current material. I'm also collaborating on a track for another artists forthcoming album, more details on that in the very near future.

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

Arkanna:
Ane Brun "All My Tears"

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

Arkanna:
Massive Attack "Teardrop"