Contributing work that’s both genuine and unique to today’s broad electronic vista is no easy task. It’s a singular obsession that requires unwavering energy and in most cases, it means questioning and challenging everything that’s proceeded irrespective of risk. Alternative approaches in the company of mediocrity are often the consequence of a realisation through reflective references of inquiry buried deep within decades of routine.
Post Scriptum has transcended into the territories of apocalyptic sci-fi techno, and emerged with a growing body of work that epitomises an impetus for change. In an impressively short space of time he has released a debut album on Function’s Infrastructure NY label, featured on Ostgut Ton’s limited edition 12″ series, and appeared on both the Berghain 07 mix and the Facticity Compilation on Infrastructure NY, and that’s all prior to his newly launched PS Records imprint. With more work scheduled for release on varying established labels in the pipeline, it’s easy to conclude that this faceless producer is beating his own proverbial path through the mess of a creative narrative.
Inter alia, it’s one thing to release music that fits the mould of current trends, but when you’re at the helm of something truly unique, things begin to catalyse.
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Kn: Before we start, congratulations on the PS project and the success you’ve cultivated thus far. In saying that, and from your own perspective, where are you in life right now, both personally and as an artist?
PS: Thanks! I’m letting my worlds interact. My life experiences have been constantly influencing my creation and the place I am in artistically has a good impact on me. It wasn’t easy though. I used to have a normal job but imagine the level of frustration while feeling so much musical potential. The decision had to come. Now the studio is my office and this really makes me feel in the right place. That moment was crucial. I stopped treating music just as hobby.
Kn: What’s your process of capturing ideas and concepts and then developing them? Do you tend to generate the idea and then pursue it with music?
PS: Ideas or concepts are born when something resonates with me, being a story, image, experience, a book, movie, whatever, as long it just hits me with emotion. It literally pushes to create. My partner is key to this, as we bounce energy and ideas back and forth. I like titles, for instance when making an album I may have most of all tracks named and then make music to capture that feeling. There is no one formula here, I’m just keeping open and alert so ideas just come with daily experience, and I’m letting all kinds of feelings hit me.
Another thing is that I just enjoy jamming. I let the emotions drive me and if something grabs me by the balls, I build on it. If it doesn’t, I’ll keep on looking.
Kn: Where are your emotions rooted? Is there a particular time in your life where connections to certain types of music influenced you along the way and what do you feel emotionally when you’re conceptualising these ideas?
PS: Yes, it’s been a long way, and it’s constantly evolving. It’s funny how music tastes reflect on your maturity. It took me ages to get where I am. As a 10 year old kid I used to have a neighbour girl, who was the purest of ‘The Cure’ lovers. I didn’t give a damn about the music, but her world somehow impressed me as mine tasted so differently being made of ‘Yazoo’, ‘Limahl’, ‘Aha’, or even ‘Wham’, not to mention ‘Sandra’.
The kind of admiration I had on the girl (quite the same I used to feel with the DM fans), sensing the world I had no emotional access to, it stayed with me for many years. It took me quite a long time to get there. In the meantime I had to discover rave, go through a bit of a rebel punk wannabe stage and hanging out with the Nirvana fans. Then getting into serious hardcore rap, Ebm, industrial, wearing long dark coats and Doc Martens and slowly dusting off the old Bowie vinyls. All of them are still in me, the music is bringing back smells, memories, and in the less expected moments, opening canals to my own artistic expression.
Kn: How important is the idea of being ‘uncomfortable’ when creating new music?
PS: As simple as that. When you’re relaxed, beautiful landscape, good food and weather, peace in your heart, aren’t you just enjoying life? Happily or unfortunately, take it as you like, people get bored and lazy with too much comfort. You need an impulse. It’s essential not only to me, I guess, as we are not playing reggae, nor samba. What I do need, to wake and feed my creative beast, is a strong (usually negative) emotion.
Thankfully, it comes naturally to me to get in front of my gear whenever the first symptoms of a wave of anger, frustration, or … could get me drawn in it. It is quite an effective medicine and much more safe than drugs or alcohol, don’t you think? For me it works, for others it doesn’t. I’ve heard people saying things like, “you know, my OCD doesn’t let me work/create”. I don’t get it. I believe it’s a matter of arriving at a state of total focus, being in the moment, falling into the trance when creating – music, in my case.
Kn: Does this ideology transfer into your live gigs, or are things more structured on that end?
PS: Yeah, I think this transfers into Post Scriptum live shows. I always preferred a jazz kind of approach – it’s like having a box full of sounds, some themes, jam ideas in the studio and you fuck about on stage with it. It’s more fun this way to have less structure, it makes you work harder as well, as you have 90 minutes to make shit up. I apply the same approach into DJ’ing. I may preselect tracks that I would like to play on the night without any particular order and then just flow with the crowd and place, and let that feeling take me away and mix music in totally spontaneous ways.
Recently, I’ve started to record my live performances, and sometimes I come across some really mad ideas, that would have never been created in the studio otherwise. I take those ideas back in the studio, push forward and again during the next live show I would mess it up more. Shit just flows, I record it, and here it goes again. It is quite an exciting approach. I’m constantly changing the live set up, trying different mixers, going to incorporate other people into this as well to have a bit more fun. My techno used to be dead serious, and I just reminded myself that techno was made with the intention to rave.
Kn: Most artists feel a necessity and an importance on placing a face to a name, however you clearly believe that the music is all that matters. Can we elaborate on your view regarding anonymity and what that affords? (or any other attributes that you never would have conceived before beginning this project?)
PS: This project was born out of a big fluke. I mean, I wasn’t planning to make an anonymous project, get on the stage with a mask and play hide and seek. I got caught in a conflict of interest. I ended up in a situation where I was going to put out two albums in the same time for 2 different labels in Berlin. It was a highly pressurised circumstance and I wasn’t sure what to do to solve this and make all sides happy. So it just happened and as it later turned out, launching Post Scriptum project was a great idea.
Now, I let the music do the talking. You just come to a show, close your eyes and we are all fucking flying away to some other place. That is all that matters. I think the mask just helps me posses an undisturbed force.
This past weekend I was playing 2 gigs, with the mask on and without, and with the hood on, I was more focused on music, less distracted by the crowd.
Kn: Fear is an extremely complex emotion derived from the ego. You can’t be uniquely expressive if you’re afraid. It’s inherently this idea that holds us all back from our own unique potentiality. Would you say that being ‘anonymous’ has created a fearlessness in your approach?
PS: I think over time I tested my confidence and that is what helped me to overcome, rather my own limitations than fear. Being anonymous I have probably let myself emerge on the surface more of a rebel. What you call fearlessness – I call freedom, as never before as an unmasked artist I had felt any fear that could be blocking my potentiality in the creation process nor during live performances. I just let myself be, let myself go where I want to go, with a purpose to be free as much as all your circumstances let you be.
Another thing that is also important when it comes to approach was to take some different route into the unknown, against what is happening, and shape my own shit from scratch.
Kn: From that, we can presume that your real true self is flowing into the project. You’ve essentially created a project and channel where you’re creating music that feels very natural to you. How has that played an important role in the success of the project thus far?
PS: Somebody asked one day why I was trying to destroy my ‘career’ by making different music. And you know what? Actually making the same music was destroying me from the inside. My success is that Post Scriptum does represent the most sincere approach and emotion, my inner beast. I hope it feels natural as indeed it’s just me, my simplicity and complexity, light and darkness, my perception of the beautiful and crazy world we live in.
All this was sitting in me for years ready to explode. I needed to grow into it to understand it better and to get a bit more clearance into this idea of what the fuck I want to do.
Kn: There’s a particular musical contrast on the new EP which is very specific yet feels very natural. It’s a contrast of night and day almost. Another layer in the overall concept of the release. Industrial elements sit together harmoniously alongside the two Detroit influenced remixes, yet there is a common denominator that ties them all in together. It’s obvious that both avenues appeal to your creative discourse. Was this intentional or was it something that was born during the conceptual faze of putting together this record?
PS: Night and day…yeah. I just felt this record needed a balance – I couldn’t just kill you with dark paranoia of mine throughout the whole record, it needed a bit more light. Hence the remixes on the flip side are there to brighten up the dance floor – at least a tiny bit. As for motor city influenced remixes, my only intention was definitely to surprise myself. That is already taking place, and I think I’m going to push this beyond. There are some lovely messed up things being produced now and each record will shift into a different corner. I think this is the fuel that I’m getting from it. Also it’s a fuel for other people involved either spiritually or physically in the Post Scriptum project. This is a true drug.
Kn: Labels are effective vehicles for self released music. However what’s the narrative that you hope to communicate? Is this first release part of a much bigger narrative that you’re essentially communicating and where do you want the project to go?
PS: The first release has fuck all to do with where this label is heading. The idea of the first release was to draw the line from Post Scriptum 01 (the first track on PS 000 is a bit like a samurai sword chopping the head off).
See, I did enjoy making the Post Scriptum 01, but it was made nearly 6 years ago and released in 2015. During the writing of Post Scriptum 01, I was going through different life experiences. Yes it was dark and yes it was fucked up, but it was different. Now in 2017, I would say it is a different shade of black, yet dark enough to express anger as a feeling of strength.
Im not sure what I want to communicate with the project. Total freedom? Take it as you want. If it’s necessary, take it as a conceptual phrase like the first landing on the moon series with the closing concept of all passengers dying. Joking! I can’t tell you where this is all heading either as I’m just flowing with it. I’m on a rollercoaster, taking you for a ride. That I know for sure.
Kn: What’s coming up next for PS in terms of tours, releases, live shows and the label? A busy year ahead I’m sure!
PS: This year: whatever comes, not planning any tours, there are single events here and there. Usually deep with cool people, that understand you beyond the words. Nice inspirations for further sound explorations. Next year we may plan a tour. No rush really. Music first. I have a record coming out this summer on Sonic Groove records, it’s quite an exciting release as I absolutely love and respect what Adam X has been doing all these years. Then a remix of Subtractive Synthesis on Synewave records along with the originals and a Function mix is due soon. PS 001 is due still this year which will be a single 4 track release introducing the album to be released after. I’m sure it will be a busy year in the studio, doing the usual 10 hours plus per day, preferably at night if ears are still in good shape after some noise beating.
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George Alatakis, 7th June 2017