Deep textural sonics from Sydney.
Theory Therapy 58 is a spellbinding mix by DJ, producer and Optic Nerve band member gi. Read the full interview below.
How are you today?
Hey Gary! I’m doing the best i can <3
What was the last song you listened to?
Voice without a face, the Endive side of a split w Ice Nine
Where’s your favourite place to listen to music and why?
For me music is most potent when it’s shared, so probably my fav place would be outdoors in front of big speakers, in the front left pocket with all the freaks.
Favourite album you've listened to in the last while?
Wilurarrakutu by Keanu Nelson.
Can you tell us a little about the mix? What were you feeling when you made it and where did you record it?
A while back I was preparing for a live set (shout of Stew magazine!) and just nothing was sounding right. I’ve been playing a lot with using feedback as a melodic tool in my music, but it was getting a bit unruly and noisy. I think it’s a fine line between distortion being emotional or overbearing. To get my thoughts for the set back on track I had a mix just listening to some music to try get me out of the hole i’d got myself in, and I was drawn to textural, grainy, wooden sounding music, lots of live instrumentation and quiet distortions.
That mix initially got me pretty inspired, but I re-recorded a slightly longer version to release some of the tension I felt like it (and the last few months) represented personally.
Where would you recommend listening to it?
Drive yourself for a night swim to it. Bronte pools situation maybe?
Are there any tracks you’ve used in the mix that are special or significant to you?
There’s a track by my dear friend & cellist/sound artist Abby Sundborn from her recent album. This year we have formed a tight bond around our shared kinda slow obsessive approaches to music. Her impulse for really unpredictable but singular & exciting choices in the songs is superb. It's special to include her work in my mixes.
Theory Therapy mixes are about sharing the music that you personally find therapeutic, cathartic or restorative. What does that mean for you?
I feel alive when I am overwhelmed with feeling. This can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing. I think I find a lot of catharsis in music that makes me feel intensely emotional. That's what life is about right? For me recently intense emotion in music comes from things like affecting textures or trance-inducing repetition or feedback, all of which balance the tender with the intense.
Is there a particular album or piece of music that you find yourself returning to for similar reasons?
Been listening to Julius Eastman lots. This one, Buddha, is special.
Tell us something exciting that's coming up in your life, music or otherwise.
I think there’s some more music that will come out from me, a live set / ep soon, but ummmm it’s been a pretty busted year, I've been non-stop w creative projects. So I'm excited to not have too much to say or do over summer. Summer is best when u leave heaps of time for being a lover.
Tracklist:
Sonmi451 - Ruis
Windy & Carl - Sunrise
Panphilia - billow
Cliché Toupee - E=G ouutta tune [on Nov13th]
Franco Battiato - Aria Di Rivoluzione
Zoh Amba / Chris Corsano / Bill Orcutt - Moon Showed But No You
Abby Sundborn - edge
µo - sne
Trans Alp - Seno
Future 3 - Rev (Opiate Remix)
Shoal - Digital Swamp
Loek Frey - unreleased
gi - unreleased
cypha - Xzirow Command
BLNDR - Untitled 1 (Cio D'Or Trilogy Remix)
Ena - Back Cover
Lemont - No-Man’s Land Between
Tiamacr - cCecc
D'Arcangelo - Familiarity
Ghost Warrior - No Stream
Melaaz - Non Non Non
Les Négresses Vertes - Face a la Mer (Massive Attack remix)
We™ - Dyed Camel Skins
In The Nursery - Hallucinations?
Hysterical Love Project - Boyracer
Th Blisks - Guesthouse
Lost Balance - Downloads
Mike Midnight - Had 2b ft. Noa