On your "namacalathus s" youtube channel, you have posted some pieces by Witcyst. Like Witcyst, you've had music released on the End Of The Alphabet record label. Since there seem to be some stylistic similarities in your music and album artwork and Witcyst's, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about whether you know Witcyst personally, what you think of his work, etc.
A:
I actually found Witcyst through End Of The Alphabet after we were on a compilation together on the label. I looked into him and, really liking his art, I spent about a month or two just digging through his blog, and now and then I go back and browse it still. He inspired me a lot but I dont know him personally.
Q:
I'm wondering what first inspired you to use noticeable artefacting/compression as a compositional tool in both your music and your videos. Are there other artists who used similar techniques that you see yourself as following in the footsteps of, or was it just something that occurred to you one day and you decided produced interesting results?
A:
I don't remember anything in particular that led me to do that, I think I was just messing around in GIMP about 5 years ago with the JPG export options and that's how I discovered it. I have gotten kind of attached to it now. It all looks better that way.
Q:
I have read (and I'm most definitely paraphrasing here so correct me if I'm wrong) that you are not completely opposed to the idea of performing live but have no plans to do it in the near future due to stage fright and the difficulty of replicating yeongrak material live. If, hypothetically, you were to put on a yeongrak concert, what would it be like? Would visuals be a large part of the show?
A:
I have a lot of ideas of what it could be like, if I could have an environment thats like the things I make in my art then that'd be a good environment to do a live show in.
Q:
Does using a tracker program like Renoise help your creative process or make production more efficient, or do you just use the program because you are more familiar with it and enjoy its user interface?
A:
I'd say its both. I have a nice Renoise theme I made that helps makes things more comfortable for me. I do like just being able to use the keyboard and having a built in sample editor and that kind of thing, everything feels more immediate. I don't know if its the most efficient because I've never used anything except GarageBand and I did two or three tracks in FMOD for r.
Q:
Your work evokes a lot of nostalgia in me, but in a way different from most other artists who use nostalgia to either generate happy, fuzzy feelings or a lust for the past. Your use of nostalgia to me seems to evoke much more bodily imagery and overall messiness that reminds me of childhood in ways that are sometimes pleasant and sometimes less pleasant. Is this your intention? What are your general thoughts on nostalgia being used as a tool to create new art? Do you feel you use it at all, and if so for what purpose?
A:
I think I do draw from it a little but I try not to think too much about it. I dont think nostalgia is that pleasant of a feeling really because it's dwelling on something thats not coming back. I guess how you feel about it depends on your current situation. I use a lot of lo-fi sounds and samples from PS1 era games a lot, which probably gives off that feeling, and nostalgia might be part of the reason I like using those sounds in the first place. I draw from a lot of feelings and the less pleasant ones are more intentional I would say.
Q:
When did you start making music? Did you play an instrument growing up, or did you mainly get into music through the yeongrak project?
A:
I started playing guitar in 2005 when I was 9, started making my own music on GarageBand in 2009 and went through various names up until I got to yeongrak in late 2013.
Q:
One of my favorite videos from your namacalathus s channel is "the end of time non violenceat the end of tome no dome". In the video, there are lots of yellow squiggles that resemble written language but are not actually language, along with a variety of almost recognizable figures and characters. Is creating a sense of mystery, similar to the Voynich Manuscript, something you actively try to do in your work?
A:
I like things to feel new and alien but have characteristics that are recognizable. A lot of the words I put on my albums covers I like to think look like stickers or graffiti or something, like it's dirty and vandalized and neglected, or the characters I put in art or videos to look like they belong there, like its a real world.
Q:
What music have you been listening to recently?
A:
Not much. I listen to proibidão pretty much all the time these days though. Right now im listening to Lamborghini Crystal.
Q:
What was it like working with goreshit on safety cuts and with emamouse on mouth mouse maus? How were you introduced to both of them and what was the process like? Are there any artists you would like to work with in the future?
A:
I'd known goreshit since about around 2012 when a friend introduced me to his stuff. He contacted me in 2014 asking if I wanted to do a split and we just made our tracks and then released it.
I think I found emamouse when I checked on uio lois soundcloud to see if he'd posted anything new that I might have missed and saw emamouse in his likes and thought the art looked cool so I listened. At some point I sent her a bunch of tracks that I hadn't released and I think are still unreleased and said to her she could use those and anything from my discography to make whatever out of them. I sent her another batch of things recently so we might be doing another one.
They're both really nice.
Q:
Is there anything else you'd like to say to the readers?