Published: January 31, 2009 9:44 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight February 2009 Edition
Phileas
Phileas
Electronic music is an expression of one's soul. Our next interview definitely fits this definition with his unique brand of music. Phileas is taking music to a new level with his Spoken Wor(l)d project that will sure to delight new and old fans all over the world. In this candid interview, Phileas allows our Webzine to enter into his world. Enjoy!
Isaac: Thanks for the taking the time to complete this online interview. How do you sum up 2008 for Phileas?
Phileas: 2008 was a breakpoint year in my life. Half of my life I had devoted my energy to my official career, architecture, which I love, but always dreaming of the day I could take that step forward to embrace music, leaving behind the secure, the certain, the stable, represented by my work as architect. Traveling helped me a lot facing the fear of taking that step forward, and gave me the inspiration to create a work that could give me that final push. I baptized that project "Spoken Wor(l)d", and in 2008 it became my first album as a solo musician.
Isaac: What do you feel was your biggest accomplishment for 2008?
Phileas: My biggest accomplishment was being finally listened as a musician. To be able to transmit a little bit of pleasure, entertainment and joy to the days my listeners, but especially to make them think or dream about a fantastic world, about our "Spoken Wor(l)d". As I told you before, this project was conceived during many blessing journeys around the world. I met beautiful people those years, and soon I felt the need of capturing some of their beauty, as some kind of sorcerer who grabs a part of their soul and runs away with it. That part of their soul was their words and their languages. I talked to people, everywhere, and recorded these conversations, which would eventually be the feedstock of my music. So, "Spoken Wor(l)d" is, in some way, a work about human diversity and similarity at the same time. There lies the real accomplishment: when the listener, helped by my music, has, at least for a moment, a feeling of being part of this overwhelming cultural richness.
Isaac: Elaborate a little about whom were your biggest influences in the (electronic/dance) music industry and why?
Phileas: The idea of making an album using voice samples came to me basically from my fascination at listening to people speaking in strange languages. But I should not forget the strong influence I received from of a handful of revolutionary albums, like Jean Michel Jarre's "Zoolook" and "The Concerts in China", Kraftwerk's "Computer World", Laurie Anderson's "Big Science" and Vangelis' "Blade Runner".
Isaac: Let's talk about what you feel you will bring to this industry?
Phileas: "Spoken Wor(l)d" can easily become a life-time project. The implications in the concept are so vast that one only album can explore just a small part of all its possibilities and potential. I feel that more than music, my work could carry positive and constructive messages about the human race and cultural heritage. I call "Spoken Wor(l)d" a "Celebration of Human Speech and Language Through Music" and there is where music comes in. Music is the instrument for celebrating and praising. It's a beautiful means, but it inspires me to know that there is something else lying behind that.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one DJ (music artist), who would it be and why?
Phileas: I would really love to meet - and of course work with - the visionary artists I mentioned above. As a child, their albums simply transported me to fantastic places, and today I still owe a profound respect and admiration to their work.
Isaac: How would you describe your music to others?
Phileas: If you mean what it sounds like, I would say that the music in "Spoken Wor(l)d" has a flavor from the early analog electronic music (J. M. Jarre, W. Carlos, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream) spiced-up with more contemporary rhythm grooves (like those from Vince Clarck, Daft Punk, Telefon Tel Aviv). Now, from a more personal approach, I consider "Spoken Wor(l)d" as an up-tempo electro-pop album, at times euphoric, at times introspective, but always very melodic.
Isaac: What is your definition for Electronic/Dance Music?
Phileas: My vision of Electronic Music is an architectural one. I like to think of it as building a castle with sounds. There you have gravity, and therefore weight, heavy mass like low frequencies of sound, and light elements like high frequencies. You have repetition, or rhythm, in the windows, or the columns, or the stories of the castle, as you have it in electronic music, with loops, delays or repeated samples, everything under your own tempo structure. In your castle, as in your music, you can have big spaces, with high reverb and distance, and small spaces, with proximity and no reverb. The buildings have shapes, like the shapes you give to the waveforms (your raw materials) with filters and envelopes. Finally, your construction will have a beginning, related to the ground, the birth, an invitation, and an end, in relation to the sky, to the "time after" in music, the legacy of inspiration.
Isaac: What type of feedback have you received from your previous releases?
Phileas: "Spoken Wor(l)d" got greater reaction than I expected. Short immediately after its release, it gained recognition from the UNESCO while being included in the celebration for the International Year of Languages. Reviews were enthusiastic, but it seemed the public needed the live experience to fully embrace the project. Though I live in Paris, the only two "Spoken Wor(l)d" Live Concerts were scheduled in my hometown, Lima, with total success. At the end of 2008 the recording received a nomination for "Best Electronica/Dance Album of the Year" in the 8th. Independent Music Awards.
Isaac: What can fans expect from your latest CD, you are working on currently? What is the inspiration behind the CD?
Phileas: Currently I am working in two separate projects. The first one is some kind of continuation of "Spoken Wor(l)d" in the sense I will continue exploring human speech sonically, only this time most probably in a much more atmospheric and quiet mood. The second one is a very ambitious project, much more related to ethno-linguistics and anthropology, with a limited geographical range focusing on a high concentration of endangered languages. It will probably be accompanied by a documentary film. I will keep fans updated through my sites about these projects in the following months.
Isaac: Where can fans locate you at online?
Phileas: Everyone can visit me at www.phileasworld.com. Fans can, as well, join my Facebook and MySpace networks.
Isaac: What can fans expect from Phileas in 2009?
Phileas: I am sure this year I will have more opportunities to be in touch them playing my music live, hopefully across Europe. Meanwhile, I plan to keep working hard at the studio pulling out new music.
Isaac: Final words from Phileas …
Phileas: I would just like to thank you and everyone at Junior's Cave for giving the opportunity to new independent artists like me to reach new audiences. Great work!
