Atmospheric breaks from Brooklyn-based producer and music writer Ted Davis.
How are you today?
Good! Recuperating from a really fun party last night here in Brooklyn that I helped throw at a cool spot.
What was the last song you listened to?
“Pulse XI” by Peverelist.
Where’s your favourite place to listen to music?
I feel like I’m always listening to music, so that’s tough. If I had to choose, though, driving around the mountains on a drizzly fall afternoon.
What’s A favourite music discovery you’ve made recently?
Not the most recent discovery, but a year-or-so ago I got really into The Radio Dept. Probably the most excited I’ve been about a new musical discovery in a long time.
Is there an artist or album you listen to a lot we might not expect based on your music and mixes?
I listen to so much left-field electronic and experimental music for my work as a DJ and writer that when the day is done, I don’t have a ton of bandwidth for heady music. So that is all to say, I find myself listening to a lot of, like, 2000s minivan rock when I’m decompressing. It’s certainly goofy, but after taking in eight-or-so hours of new dissonant bass sounds a day, it’s a balm for the ears and soul.
Can you tell us a little about your Theory Therapy mix? What were you feeling when you made it? Where did you record it?
My Theory Therapy mix is a re-recording of a set I played at a warehouse loft space in New York City. It was a really special night, and I was happy to be joined by some of my hometown favorites Post-Geography, Alien D, Liai, and Solpara. I was pulling a lot from the “atmospheric breaks” folder on my USB, trying to find tracks that feel clubby, but have a structureless quality that keeps them in the ambient vein. I guess I was feeling pretty in the zone and happy when I made it!
Where would you recommend listening to it?
Taking a train through the countryside on a foggy day.
Theory Therapy mixes are about sharing the music that you personally find therapeutic, cathartic or restorative. What does that mean for you?
Because a big part of my professional life revolves around listening to atmospheric music, I actually find that bassy club sounds become therapeutic to me. I passively listen to a lot of stuff one might typically expect to hear in a warehouse setting at 3am because the energy mimics the thrum of city life. This mix is a lot less feisty than some of my other ones, but I tried to find ambient-leaning cuts that have a certain grit or glitchiness to them.
Is there a particular album or piece of music that you find yourself returning to for similar reasons?
In college, I had a professor in music school who made the whole class listen to Loop Finding Jazz Records by Jan Jelinek. That album definitely rewired my brain and how it interacts with music. I’m not sure I’d have come to connect with outside-the-box textures quite as much if it hadn’t been for that record and the unusually formal context in which I was pushed to hear it.
Tell us something exciting that's coming up in your life, music or otherwise.
In music, I just put out a digital only 12-inch called the hits with DJ CLUB on Image Research. I’ve been a fan of that label for a while, so it was nice to make some tracks for them. Also, just excited for more sets and shows. I feel like I keep getting the chance to DJ the types of spaces and bills I dreamed of being involved with when I started out. It’s rewarding to see unexpected and fun new things unfold every month.
Away from electronic music stuff, I’m excited to hopefully take some kind of vacation soon. I’ve got the wanderlust bug pretty bad, so I’m hoping I get out to somewhere unfamiliar and see some cool new stuff!