'Sun in My Mouth' / Third Space
Following Third Space’s new release, Sun in My Mouth, on Nice Setting, I sat down with the wonderful Matt Sabbadini to chat about his creative process and development of his new label.
For those who haven’t heard, Third Space traverses a fluid landscape of harsh and mellow textures, breaking out in grooves; morphing into modular liquid-like dissipations. You can access Sun in My Mouth on all streaming services.
We’ve got some weird times on our hands, how are you going?
I am well! I have been focussing on juggling with this existential threat by trying to focus on new things – reading ignored books and trying out new techniques with music. And baking carrot cake. Striking the balance between being ‘productive’ (whatever that means) and just wanting to binge watch The Wire is challenging though. How are you?
Yeah, I’m well, just taking each day as it comes. Have you noticed a difference in your creative process since experiencing these drastic shifts in how your living?
Certainly. Most of my pre-lockdown works were guided by how I would eventually perform them in a live setting, ie, how I would use hardware to achieve a specific outcome quickly and easily at a gig. With the prospect of playing a live show now sadly quite far away, I have been able to try out some new (to me) production methods - focussing on using equipment I wouldn’t typically bring to shows. In doing so I have kind of opened up a new ‘style’ of stochastic-based percussive pieces (hence Part 1 and Part 2 from my latest release), borne from a few simple tricks in Ableton that are tricky to achieve with my hardware.
Beyond the pragmatics of equipment, I am moving toward a less ‘dark’ sound lately, steering slightly away from darker timbres and tones, and entering into the fluffy universe of pads and bulk reverb.
So, when did you first start composing music? Who are some of your influences?
I started making electronic music in early 2018 using a few digi synths and a sampler, though that was mostly focussing on learning the basics of synthesis and production techniques. Only until mid-2019 did I start taking production more seriously, which culminated in the release of my Anxious, Fast EP.
Regarding influences, I am really enjoying Caroline Polachek and her remarkable take on glistening pop, as well as a healthy balance of Puce Mary, Beatrice Dillon and T++. I try to be open to listening to an array of genres as possible - to not pigeon hole my references and understanding of the domains of genre. I hope this allows my productions to break down the borders between genres – whether this comes through for the listener is another issue though, and one I aim to keep pushing.
Given this, the artists I admire most are those who transverse genres (or better yet, ‘create’ their own) and are rarely stationary – such as Björk, Kali Malone, Beatrice Dillon, Pan Sonic + Mika Vainio, JASSS, Oren Ambarchi and Autechre. Importantly, their challenges to genre conventions aren’t just for the sake of it.
I think this appreciation of artists who dissolve genres has been underpinned by hearing sets from artists who present a whole swathe of music, re-contextualising records and readily chopping and changing between genres and moods. Thankfully Melbourne (and Australia too) is packed with artists and DJs who do exactly this, as well as promoters who are willing to take the risk to try something unique. I am immensely grateful for those DJs and curators who have shared their experiences and knowledge with me along the way - I am not entirely sure where I’d be without them.
Credit: Henry Rowe
Has your background in drumming impacted how you formulate and create sounds?
For sure - I remember performing a drumming piece as part of my primary school music class in Grade 5, in which I essentially just made as much noise as possible on a rickety Pearl drum kit for 15 minutes. It was great, I had fun, but I don’t think the audience did. I think that desire to create something with urgency and velocity has followed along into my recent works.
Given this, percussion plays a large role in the music I make, and I try to use some of my training to step outside the ‘dance music’ themes - such as 4:4 time signatures and a specific palette of timbres and tones. Importantly - not as some dogmatic anti-‘dance music’ approach, rather just to challenge myself and see where it takes me.
I can’t wait to see what comes out of your new label, Nice Setting. Has this always been something you’ve wanted to create? Fill us in on the concept behind it!
Thank you! I’m excited to see where it takes me as well. The concept of the label is to showcase a balance of experimental electronic music, complemented by contemporary classical/ambient pieces. The label references labels such as PAN, iDEAL Recordings, Whities and Black Truffle, as they all keep pushing boundaries of genre conventions as well as ensuring that each release tells a unique story.
It was borne from noticing that there are only a handful of domestic labels focussing on that arena – despite there being countless domestic artists pushing the boundaries of both experimental electronics and ambient, and for the most part being under-represented. If I could showcase someone’s musical idea that they never thought would be viable or ‘suitable’ to a label, I’d be really proud.
Amazing – and you have an upcoming release titled, Sun In My Mouth (love the name btw) – What ideas have you worked with throughout its development?
Thank you – it is named after the Björk song, one I keep going back to for inspiration. Anyways, the release was written over a pretty intense 4-5 week period in early 2020, mostly as a formalisation of a few songs I had played (and planned to play) at live shows. This period directly overlapped with the lockdown measures, so some songs were written with eventual performance in mind – others more focussed on headphone listening.
I wanted to create a release that was diverse and broad, but still focussed enough around one central theme to provide cohesion. I didn’t want it to be focussed on just one eventual listening context either, and I like to think some of the songs are equally suitable for the club as they the home.
Writing the tracks within weeks of each other helped create a similar sound palette – as I was utilising a similar workflow with a similar set of synths and effects, as well as listening to similar songs that I found especially inspiring.
I absolutely love 1:128 Delay; it creates such a beautiful overlay between rigid textual sounds and quite a lush-liquid-esque-feeling. Can you please explain how you navigate these dichotomies in your creative process?
Thank you, I really enjoyed making that one. I have never really thought about seeing those respective sounds as dichotomies, but it makes sense to categorise them like that.
I think some very interesting things occur when different colours and textures compete against each other in a song – it is just very easy to allow these respective poles to become so big that the point of the contrast disappears.
I’m conscious that my works are filled with excess, so 1:128 Delay was an attempt to strip everything right back to its bare bones and allow each element to come through in the mix – letting those poles stand on their own. More broadly, certain percussive elements carry more mass and weight than others, so I’ll use those either sparingly or in saturation can create moments of tension. I think toward the end of Zones 1 Through To 4 I got a bit carried away, effectively creating a wall of mush-sound.
Do you feel as though releasing music at this time will have an altered impact on the music community? If so, how?
I think the impact will be similar to pre-lockdown – everything is being displaced, repurposed and reinterpreted given venues are now closed. If anything, releasing music during lockdown could have a more poignant outcome, as more people could be digging through Bandcamp than ever before.
Rather than looking forward to potentially hearing a track in a DJ set in a club, that experience has been moved to hearing it on a podcast mix series, or in a digital club. Similarly, live performances have been displaced to the digital environment. The avenues for community building are still present, they have just moved into a strictly digital domain.
Whether these reinterpretations are equally as accessible and still carry the same meaning and poignancy as the venues, the band-rooms or the record stores is another question though – one that only time will tell. I think the resilience of the music community to quickly adapt and realign to the physical constraints around us is a testament to everyone’s deep passion, and should not be overlooked.
Listen to Sun in My Mouth here.
Interview by Stella Schiftan