For somebody whose music so usually makes folks dance, it is ironic that What So Not is extra fascinated by the hidden choreography of our each day lives.
That is the inspiration behind his new EP, Motions, which he says is his try to breathe audible life into the sentiments, textures and different sentient phenomena that dictate our shared actuality. As you hear, you would possibly really feel the burden of a stranger’s gaze or the electrical cost of an unstated connection.
For What So Not, whose actual title is Chris Emerson, the EP is actually a dive into the quantum soup of existence, the place he crafts sonic blueprints of actuality’s uncooked knowledge. It reminds us that we’re all transmitters on this huge cosmic community we name life.
“The ideology behind this whole EP is the motions that are at play around us at all times,” Emerson tells EDM.com. “The cover art is actually going to be crashing into some water and watching the ripple effect of its wings pan out across the whole pond. And it represents how so many things are at play that we can’t see unless they enter another medium that we don’t even realize is impacting us. We don’t even realize how we are radiating to others, and it’s really a sonic exploration of those ideas—of the impacts we have and we receive at all times in our existence.”
By producing digital music by the attitude that we’re continually radiating, Emerson invitations us right into a world the place each motion and thought ripples outward and comes with their very own diploma of influence. Motions is the spellbinding soundtrack to this silent ballet.
“I think this is all just an evolution of my understanding of life, where I am with myself and where I am with my craft. I almost feel like this is 2.0,” he muses. “This is everything I’ve understood from times before and I think almost getting back to that core of creating with no judgment, creating what is just truly authentic, and then just letting it be.”
“So often in our careers as producers, we start to overwork things, we judge it too much and don’t just let it be what it wants to be,” Emerson continues. “And I think these are really records at the purest. I’m thinking, ‘What does this song want to be? What is this trying to pull out from inside of me?’ Letting it be that, and just leaving it be.”
Look no additional than “Tower In The Woods,” a surprising observe the place What So Not’s languid manufacturing entwines with haunting vocals by MNDR that seep into your bones like winter frost. With thick kickdrums that crunch by the combination like boots in untrodden snow, the duo explores the depths of isolation and paints a portrait of solitude so vivid you possibly can virtually see your breath hanging within the frigid air.
One other spotlight comes with “Realise,” a collaboration with French digital music virtuoso Habstrakt. Their frenetic drum & bass rhythm supplies a stark backdrop for noir-pop songstress Maiah Manser, whose elegant vocals evoke a way of each intimacy and vastness. “I can see the sun right in your eyes / Glitter like a million fireflies” is a hanging picture, superbly contrasting heat and distance.
That distinction is by design, based on Emerson, who says his objective was to primarily produce beats that hit laborious but additionally nest right into a extra emotive and dynamic place. It is a physique of labor that calls for consideration—not as a passive listener, however as an energetic participant.
“I’m trying to find this sweet spot where my music has that knock and that power, but also that beautiful, lush bed underneath,” he explains. “Maybe it’s just very strong, elastic-type transients hitting on all the drums, but then it nests into this beautiful, characterized world.”
Subsequent up for Emerson is a uncommon efficiency on on August twenty second at Cologne’s Gamescom, the world’s largest gaming conference, the place he’ll be DJing at a “secret dungeon rave” along side his favourite recreation, Diablo.
He is then heading to Australia to carry out on the viral Bunnings Warehouse Social gathering, which stems from a wild social media marketing campaign that referred to as for a DIY rave after legions of music producers created hilarious remixes of the family {hardware} and backyard firm’s jingle. The occasion will happen on Saturday, August thirty first within the carpark of Bunnings Warehouse Preston.
Aiming to supply assist within the midst of the Australian dwell music disaster, all proceeds from ticket gross sales of the Bunnings Warehouse Social gathering and the group sausage sizzle will profit Help Act, a nonprofit offering reduction and psychological well being companies to folks within the music business. Passes can be found now.
You could find What So Not’s Motions EP on streaming platforms right here.
Comply with What So Not:
X: x.com/whatsonot
TikTok: tiktok.com/@whatsonot
Instagram: instagram.com/whatsonot
Fb: fb.com/whatsonot
Spotify: spoti.fi/376MZPv
