Alex (aka Paluca) took detailed notes on each of the tracks from 'The Art is Getting Older' EP. The EP was released on Pinecone Moonshine early 2021. Alex had been working and refining the tracks for a couple of years. We decided to keep the original catalog number, PCMS060, instead of switching to the new format which would have been PCMS 2021.1.
What follows are the notes written by Paluca. Click play and read along:
I want to tell you short stories about how I made tracks for my latest EP 'The Art is Getting Older’ that was released on Pinecone Moonshine. I had a unique approach toward each one of the three tracks and I thought it would be interesting if I shared this.
I will begin with ‘Hello, Eraserhead’.
It was created last year when Nic TVG shared with me a sample pack and I decided to use only the samples I had in it for my track. The pack included drum samples, free jazz recordings, some field recordings, bass samples and pads. There wasn’t a lot of stuff to use, just 250 mb. Before this, I had never worked with such a limited amount of artistic tools and at first, it was a bit hard for me to get over the fact that I can’t open a synth plug-in or browse my library to find the sound that I needed.
So I started my work by examining the samples in detail. First of all, I chose a drum sample that I liked — that was easy. Then I found a piece of a piano record and created the intro and the first drop out of it. The second drop was made based on a violin sample that played well with the drums. Still, I was struggling to make a connection between the two drops and that was the moment I felt really restricted by what I thought was the lack of artistic tools.
I went on by grabbing more and more sounds out of the pack. I also worked intensively with sound effects to make the most out of the material that I had, using my sound design skills and experience. Though I sometimes had a hard time working on this track, it came out 100 percent unique because every each second of it went through me and got reinforced by powerful emotions.
Work on this track showed me that you can do something authentic not only by working with sounds but, mostly, with yourself — by finding something new inside yourself, developing it and getting wonderful emotions and experience out of this process. I feel it has impacted my way of creating music.
When I created this experimental track, I was 100% sure Nic TVG would appreciate and accept it. This gave me the confidence to search for new approaches and not be afraid to express myself. I am extremely happy I had a chance to work with Nic TVG (Pinecone Moonshine)! Big up!
In 2018, I decided to enroll in a sound design class to study Wwise and sound implementation in gaming. For nine months in a row, I went to classes two times a week after work and studied full time each Saturday. Apart from that, I had a full time job and also was crazy enough to engage in movie and game projects as a sound designer and music composer. And on top of that, I still had my homework.
So, I had no time for my music during this period. But at the end of the course, when I started getting some free time, I began working on this track. The first thing that emerged was this repetitive synth sound. I used a lot of overdrive effects and put bitcrushers and granular distortions on it. I did not make it on purpose, rather this sound resonated with how I felt throughout these nine months – tense, exhausted and nervous, caught in a repetitive scenario.
There is a unique thing about this track, too. For the main sound in the breakdown, I used the sound I got from interacting with the 'Oil' installation created by Russian media artist Dmitry Morozov, aka ::vtol:: . This interactive installation is a hydraulic press that can crush practically any object. As the object is being deformed, the sound that is being produced is recorded by special microphones and a computer algorithm subsequently makes a 20-minute long sound out of it. This installation is aimed at showing people that you can get rid of a material consumer object and get a unique abstract work of art instead. I destroyed a 3.5 mm jack - 6.3 mm jack, got the sound recorded on CD and used it in ‘Choosing the Right Answer.’
One more thing – the game company Odd-Meter used this track in a teaser for their Indika game.
Here I am finally, telling you how I created ‘The Art of Living Without a Head’ from ‘The Art is Getting Older’ EP. The track kind of closes off the EP but in fact, it is the tune that provoked the EP when I started to discuss it with Nic TVG back in 2018. Then, I created a track and though it was something cool and experimental but it turned out it wasn’t haha, so this track was just sitting there until other tracks for the EP were ready and in 2020, Nic wrote to me suggesting that I make some changes to it so it suits the EP more.
He said he would accept it if I decided not to change anything. But I was really happy to get this advice from Nic because I thought the track was dated and did not fit other tunes. At that time, I could not make myself change it because I thought it was fine and I put some thought and work in it anyway. But Nic’s message inspired me to do what you can now here at 2:30 in the track — harp samples mark an infusion of fresh drum patterns and glitch effects in the original tune made back in 2018. The track changed its dynamics and spirit, it became more experimental and I believe, it now holds an ideal place within the EP.
️It was extremely exciting to produce a track combining my vision of music from 2018 and 2020. Thank you Nic TVG (Pinecone Moonshine) for pushing me to do these changes. I believe they made the track beautiful.
The name of the track (it was ‘Special Way of Thinking’) changed too.
Release date 2021.
More PCMS releases by: Paluca.
Artwork by Nic Taylor.
PCMS, Pinecone Moonshine (C) 2022.