INTERVIEW: Nosaj Thing - 'To Be Honest I'm Not Really A Club Person'
Nosaj Thing is heading over to Australia to play Circo festival and it looks like we'll be the first to hear the tracks featured on his upcoming third album.
NOSAJ THING is a producer for the United States who has more than just a passion for song writing. The man has big dreams of spectacular shows that give the audience a wild experience both musically and visually.
Being a more ambient producers, his music has a light and serene atmosphere that coats an array of soft samples and dream-like synths. With two albums becoming incredibly successful and a third that will no doubt do the same, NOSAJ THING has made quite a name for himself in the US and now it's Australia's turn to get a full view of what this guy can do.
NOSAJ THING is coming to Australia for a national tour, which includes an appearance at Circo Festival in Perth. We had a chat to him about what we can expect to hear at each show and his vision of a roving planetarium.
What was your initial reaction when you were first asked to perform at Circo Festival in 2014?
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I was just really happy to do it because I was originally supposed to be there in November last year. There was a [scheduling] conflict because I got double booked and I ended up going on tour with James Blake. I just felt really bad you know, but I'm glad a can do a lot more of an extensive tour this time around, so it kind of worked out for the better I think.
Had you heard any stories about Circo's debut last year?
No I haven't, I've been recording a lot. I've been in the studio wrapping up my next record, it's actually due right before I leave for Australia.
That's great! Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect on the record?
You're gonna hear it during this tour. I'm going to be playing a lot of the new songs so, you guys will be the first to hear it basically.
Speaking of albums, what's your overall process for choosing songs for a new album?
It's out of like eighty to one hundred songs and I'll just pick around twelve. Then I'll just kind of throw away all of the other ones, really and start the process all over again. I'm just glad that I got to do it again now because there was such a big gap between the first and last record, almost four years, and that's because with the first album I didn't really expect anything.
It was released on a really small that was really new, but I ended up touring for two or three years and by the time that ended I thought "Oh my gosh, I've gotta get the second record out," and it did shape up quite quickly. So that's why the second album was so late and there're a lot of crazy things happening in my life, but I'm finally out of that and I feel really comfortable with the new album, it just feels really natural, you know?
You're last two records are both really unique..
I know they're quite different, the second album is more of an ambient record whilst the first record is more aggressive and the third album, the third record will be more on the line of the first record but with completely new textures and sounds. It has a really free sound to it. I've always wanted to keep exploring new sounds, that's the goal.
Your music seems to have a very melodic sound, do you prefer writing that to the heavier club tracks?
To be honest I'm not really a club person, I don't go to clubs I just stay at home, which is probably kind of weird. I don't go out much. To me it's more about telling a story, don't get me wrong I started in raves when I was thirteen hearing a lot of house music, that's been a big influence of mine, but I want to make music that's kid of like a soundtrack to my life or something. Not that club music is wrong I love it, if I DJ I'll play more club music, but for the music I'm playing, I like more of a story; like cerebral music.
You've produced some great remixes recently too, is it difficult finding tracks to remix that suit your music style?
Over the years I've just been going with whatever comes through naturally. If I get a remix offer, most of the time I'll just try it out and get myself out of my comfort zone. When I do a remix I always pick up a few things that I've never tried before. I feel like I'm happier in the studio than touring, but that's because I'm not really touring with a vision, if you know what I mean. I'm just doing these small runs right now, but ideally I'd like to do a whole 360-visual show.
I've done a visual show, way back in 2011, but that was a brief tour. It's so expensive to do what I really want to do, but hopefully I'll get to do it in the next couple of years, I'm just trying to figure it out. I'm in the process of it now actually, I'm working on it with an artist that directed the last music video that I put out for 'Eclipse/Blue'. The goal is to create that live. It's kind of hard though because what I'm trying to do is get the audience to feel like they're at a planetarium show. I'm just trying to figure out how to do it [laughs].
You've worked with some wonderful vocalists, are there any vocalists that you'd like to work with on new projects?
I have a few in my head but I don't know how I'm going to get them. I'm really interested in Bjork because I've really been interested in her for quite a while now. I love that she's quirky and I just want to experiment with her voice and do something with that but, that's really about it.
Do you think you might be able to find a potential candidate in Australia?
I haven't even planned or looked to be honest. I've been recording here so I've just been totally mixed up in that. If there's any opportunities I'm always open for that.
Over the years you've toured a hell of a lot, what's most interesting show you've done?
I did a show a few years ago [where] I played at Paradiso in Amsterdam and it was crazy! The whole crowd just ended up singing the melodies to the songs and I was blown away because I didn't know that it could even happen. I've never seen that. I'd been to a lot of electronic shows, but that was a crazy moment. There were people on stage and everyone was drinking and singing the melody, it was unreal.
Words by Lauren Payne
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