for more information: official site or facebook
Firstly, can you give us a brief history of your project?
I started Aythis in 2006, the first release “Doppelgänger” was released by the english label Paradigms Recordings and that's how it all started. I would describe Doppelgänger as raw, obscure and minimalist sometimes. With the second album, Glacia, I wanted to write more sophisticated music melting different synth sounds and deeper constructions. For the last album, The New Earth, I wanted to mix Glacia's more sophisticated sound with natural elements. I used acoustic guitars sometimes. I would say that The New Earth melt the simplicity of doppelganger with more complex melodies of Glacia.
What inspires you to make music? What draws you to the medium of ambient / neo-classical music?
I'm very visual when I write music; it might come from dreams, movies, nature or simply life experiences...
I find a lot of freedom in this style of music, there are so many possibilities, you can either focus on the sounds you chose or focus on melodies & harmonies. I find this genre very complete; it’s not just about making things loud using distorted sounds. I like doing this too, but not in Aythis.
Ambient music makes the mind wander, it can become very deep and profound, you can live your worst nightmare while listening to ambient music. I hope some people find their nightmares while listening to mine :)
Your track for the compilation is “The Ground is Burning”. Can you give us a bit of insight on what inspired the track, how you composed it, etc?
I was inspired by the french movie called Antichrist, from Lars von Trier. There's almost no music in this movie and I wanted to imagine its soundtrack. As the movie is somehow disturbing I wanted it to be heard in the sound, a sound that would make you feel unease.
Tell us a bit about your studio. What gear are you using, what is your favorite gear/techniques/etc ?
I use an Intel i5 3.1Ghz, EMU 404 soundcard, Sonar as sequencer running with Windows 7. Kontakt with many different plug-ins and soft synths. I built my own drum kit that I run with the software Battery. As Instruments in Aythis I use a Korg Triton LE, a Yamaha acoustic guitar, Jackson electric guitar, with clean effects from Pod Xt, electronic drums Alesis, Yamaha studio Monitor speakers, 4 track mixer to record audio, audio technica microphone.
I don't have any techniques, either I'm inspired or I'm not... I don't force myself to write because nothing good comes of it. I like to know what I will do before starting a new song. Going into a song blindly doesn't do it for me.
You are also in two doom metal bands, Lethian Dreams and Remembrance. How does this impact or inspire your solo material, and how is the writing process different for each of your projects?
The process of writing is different, because in Aythis I have to compose everything on my own, starting from scratch while in Lethian Dreams or in Remembrance, either I start with some riffs (guitars or synth) then the other band member, Matthieu Sachs, completes with his ideas, or it goes the other way around.
In Lethian Dreams, I never use synth as basis for writing a song, I always prefer using the guitar. The music isn't synth based, it's only used as background most of the time.
My other bands don't inspire me for Aythis. It's another kind of inspiration, that's why I like having 3 bands to dispatch all the things that inspire me when composing. There're obviously similarities between my 2 other bands and Aythis; for instance I use a lot of synth in Remembrance but the feeling is different, Doppelgänger (the first Aythis album) is maybe closer to the first Remembrance release because both albums have a funeral atmosphere.
Writing is sometimes easier/faster in my other bands because there are 2 people involved, so if one is stuck, the other might come up and help in the progress, but at the same time I feel more free in Aythis.
What can we expect in the future from Aythis?
I'm working for a new album that I hope to complete within the next few months.
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