I heard edapollo back in 2014 - site's early days. It was just in the beginning of that wave which sparkled my love for downtempo and electronica and a turning point for what we featured. This all led to the rise of chillhop and instrumental music and as of lately - more house and experimental ambient-driven sounds.
Fast-forward to 2018 where we realized we're both in Canggu, Bali. Naturally, we had to grab a beer and catch up in person. Great dude and genuinely positive person. I hope you enjoy the interview and the mix.
Regarding the mix, I must say openly - it made me weirdly emotional. I heard it in a beautiful setting and it just made me hopeful and made me appreciate life with its ups and downs. Hands down one of my favourite guest mixes we have so far. It offers so much complexity and if you guys submerge into it, you'll leave this experience enriched.
???? Tracklist
- Nuages - "evenings"
- Yonderling & Feverkin - "Nightshfit"
- Marley Carroll - "Shiver"
- il:lo - "Biome"
- edapollo - "Silk Spirals"
- edapollo - "Aurora"
- Ben Bohmer - "Flug & Fall"
- Charles Murdoch - "Super Pop Song Not Depressing"
- Bonobo - "Linked"
Hi Ed! Where do we find you right now?
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It’s Friday evening, I’m sat in my cosy little flat in Fitzroy (Melbourne) listening to Kraughbin, staring out of my window, watching the lights of the City and answering your questions.
You are from UK, what led you to the down under and what are you doing there?
I’d been living in Bristol for about 10 years but I’d always wanted to live overseas at some point.
A lot of stuff changed a couple of years ago, I came out of a long relationship and also quit a long term job, so I felt that it was the right time for a change of location and to have a big life switch up. My sister also lives here in Melbourne and when I visited her, I immediately felt excited and connected with this City, there’s such a vibrant creative culture and it’s an exciting place to be as a music producer / designer, so I’m currently here balancing my time between my design / creative direction work and my music.
You and I actually met in real life and that was a great experience. Do you often meet "online friends" in real life - producers or other music industry people?
It was great to meet you in person. I try to meet online friends whenever I see a potential opportunity to do so, I find it really interesting and it seems a shame to ‘know’ someone online but to never actually meet face to face. The internet is great for many things but you can’t beat real connections!
Besides a producer, you're also a designer (and a really good one). What are the works you're mostly proud of?
The project I’m most proud of is the recent rebranding work I did for Bonobo’s Outlier event series. It was a real honour to work on the visuals for one of my favourite artists and to then see it being shared and used all around the world, promoting nights with some of my favourite music artists. When designing for that project it felt like a very natural and satisfying process.
I was also honoured to be asked to be Maison Kitsuné's designer of the month recently, curating the visuals for 12 of their releases, which was a great project to be a part of. I also have some more exciting design projects in the works that I will be sharing soon.
Thanks for the mix, how would you describe it in a sentence?
I’ll call it ‘daydreams of a desert sunrise’ which is a probably a good way to describe it. It’s an atmospheric journey, starting slowly, then gradually building throughout.
Speaking of music, your debut full length album Endless Cascades is scheduled for August 29th. Where does the title come from?
I decided to call the album Endless Cascades because I spent a lot of time over the last couple of years appreciating nature, exploring and enjoying the great outdoors. During this time, I collected field recordings of waterfalls, crashing waves, rain and more that can be heard at different points, taking me back to those places and times. I’ve taken a creative path in my life both with music and design, pouring all my energy in to these passions for years now, so the title is also almost like an acknowledgment that I’m following the right and most ‘natural’ path for me, despite any doubts or obstacles I face along the way. A metaphor I kept visualising was how our creative minds can flow like waterfalls if we allow them to, so I used this visual idea when designing the album cover for the record.
What's the theme behind the record and do you see it as an evolution from the early edapollo works?
I have a lot of influences and making an album has allowed me to have more scope to explore different sounds, tempos and styles, all whilst (hopefully) keeping a cohesive listening experience. I definitely feel that it’s my strongest production work and is a lot more musically focused than the EPs I’ve released. I’m really proud of this collection of music and I feel like it’s only the beginning because I have so much more music constantly in the works.
Are you releasing the album with a label or on your own?
I decided to set up my own imprint Opine Records to release my album.
The album has been a personal journey for me, taking a very D.I.Y approach to everything from the music to the design work, so it felt right to also release it myself. That’s not to say I won’t release under other labels in the future though, it just needs to feel like the right home for the music.
What do you think would be the perfect place/situation/ambience to listen the album for the first time?
Walking alone somewhere through nature, ideally a forest walk leading to a stunning waterfall or something…!
Since we're on the matter, how important do you think labels are in the age of DYI. Favourite independent labels?
I feel like labels are not as important as they used to be, if your music is strong enough, you don’t need a label to get your music heard and to engage with a bigger audience.
It’s all part of a much longer conversation and depends on many different factors, including the genre you’re making and the goals you’re setting for yourself.
One of my favourite labels is Ghostly International, I love a lot of things about that label, the music, the design work / branding, the ethos, I also met Sam the owner many years ago and he was a really great guy and even gave me a few free CDs. Other labels that consistently resonate with me include Ninja Tune, Erased Tapes, Future Classic, Majestic Casual and more.
If you could collaborate with any artist in the world, who would that be?
Would love to have a jam with Nick Hakim or Toro Y Moi. That would be rad… can you arrange it please?
What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make in the name of music?
Right now I’m feeling good and healthy but I’d say in the past there’s been times when I’ve let my mental health suffer a lot because of other people’s expectations of me and also my own self doubt about the path I’m following. I really think there needs to be more awareness of mental health within the music industry because I know a lot of people who struggle silently.
What's on your playlist right now. Something we should be listening to right now?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Jadu Heart and Kraughbin lately, two amazing artists, well worth checking out if you haven’t heard them.
Thanks, Ed! If you could ask yourself one question what would that be (and of course what's the answer)?
When is your debut album out, Ed? It is out August 29th, Ed. Some of the tracks are up now on Spotify if you’d like to listen to them, Ed.
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