The Bromance young gun takes our quick-fire Q&A, revealing his love of detective stories and why he quit his last job to pursue a long-distance relationship.
Why music?
Why life? I don’t need reasons to wake up in the morning and have breakfast, or enjoy a beautiful day with the ones I love, and that’s just the same with music. It never was a conscious decision or a career plan, it just happened to be essential to who I am.
If you weren’t making music what would you be doing?
Writing detective stories. I’m a big fan of Dennis Lehane, Pete Dexter, James Lee Burke, Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler. But I’d need to be American.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Stop thinking too much.
What inspires you?
My surroundings, the city I live in, the ones I love. Every small aspect of my life impacts my mood and my music. I’m more influenced by the shape of the clouds over the river down the street than anything else.
Music never was a conscious decision or a career plan, it just happened to be essential to who I am.
Best club experience?
A rave. I love small clubs, but nothing beats the thrill of playing a rave in a cold and dusty warehouse, early on a Sunday morning.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Packing bananas on a timing chain.
How do you know when a track’s finished?
When there’s nothing left I can do to make it sound better. Then you have to accept it’s finished even though you always feel like it could be better.
When did you realise you could give up your day job?
I never really had a nine-to-five day job, but the last time I had a job I ended up falling in love with a girl who lived 900 kilometres away, so I left my job, my apartment, and everything else, packed my studio into the back of my car and moved on.
Which song do you wish you wrote?
‘Strings Of Life’
What’s the easiest way to make it in the music industry?
There’s no easy way. The only way I know is to stop trying to ‘make it’ and start trying to make music instead.
Recommend us a film.
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Recommend us a book.
John Steinbeck – The Grapes of Wrath
What or who is underrated?
Love.
What or who is overrated?
Fame.
What are you addicted to?
Nicotine and books (I can’t live without a paperback in my bag).
What do you lust over?
At the moment, a Roland System 100.
What's underrated? Love. What's overrated? Fame.
What one thing would most improve your life?
More time. I’ve got so many projects and ideas I’d like to try out, but there’s never enough time for it.
Collaboration: rich creative experience or pain in the ass?
It could be both. Sometimes everything falls into place so fast, and some other times nothing happens. I often find it harder than working alone, because you have to find a musical place where you feel comfortable with the other artist. When you find the place, everything’s easy and natural, but when you don’t it can end up being a painful struggle.
If you could only listen to one more track, what would it be?
John Coltrane – ‘A Love Supreme’
What one piece of software/kit could you not do without?
It would be a sequencer, no matter which one. It could be a tracker on Atari ST, Ableton Live on a MacBook, or the built-in sequencer of a Roland drum machine.
Art or money?
Art.
Strangest place you ever wrote a track?
In the truck I was living in at the time, parked inside of a warehouse.
Must-read blogs/forums?
Favourite label?
Night Slugs.
What’s the worst thing about making music?
The days you’re unable to make music. There’s no way to control that thing.
Tweet us a tip. What’s the best production advice you can give in 140 characters or less?
Use EQs. It’s the only thing you should use on every channel.
Maelstrom’s ‘Bricktown District’ from Brodinski’s Purple Ride mixtape is available below as a free download. Find him on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.