Interview: Psyk Announces Plans To Release Latest EP On Luke Slater’s Label, Mote-Evolver
Human EP is scheduled for release on June 22
Following last year’s Time Foundation album and the EPs Aracade and Distane, Spanish producer Psyk (a.k.a. “Maan” or “Manuel Anós”) has announced plans to return to Luke Slater’sMote-Evolver imprint with his latest Human EP. Like Psyk’s other offerings for the label, Human fits neatly into the label’s stylistic template of mesmerizing precision yet never forsakes individuality in order to do so.
With its crystalline mesh of bass kick and persistent 8th-note percolations, the opener “Human” immediately lays a foundation which will command listeners’ focus before a whole new substrata of strange are introduced. This same strategy is employed on the b-side’s “Powder”. An additional b-side, “Aumento,” features a gorgeous interplay between a high whistling oscillator and its lower pitched counterpart. For purchasers of the digital EP, a bonus mix of “Human” provides an encore performance of the lead-off track with an additional helping of deft filtering, insistent handclap and percussive depth.
Ahead of its release on June 22, XLR8R spoke with Psyk to learn more about the influences behind the Human EP.
Illegal parties in Madrid, your own label [Non Series] and your first LP [Time Foundation] on Luke Slater’s Mote-Evolver: can you quickly explain how it all happened?
When I was about 16 years old, we used to make raves near Madrid. It was the only chance we had to spin some records and even partying, as in most of clubs it was hard to get in due to the age restrictions. That is when I got really into electronic music.
Non Series was an important point of inflection in my career. It was my own thing and I wanted to make a platform with artists that I liked and the kind of sound I’d love to hear in clubs.
Time Foundation was also a very big step for me. I spoke to Luke [Slater] and we thought it would be nice to try something in a long format. Its an album focused just on club tracks. It was really interesting for me and was a big honor doing it in the label of legend Luke Slater. And, of course, it made sense to release it there as I was releasing my music there for a while.
Has it been a different process for the creation of the Human EP compared to your last work on Mote-Evolver and your album?
The idea behind “Human” was basically the same as my other EPs on Mote-Evolver. Maybe the album is a bit different for me, a bit cleaner and probably fewer elements on the tracks. But still, it is on the same line. The sound is a little different because I changed my studio recently, but I kept the same essence and the idea behind my music.
Roughness, repetitions, anxious sequences and minimalism are more and more present in your productions, as well as this last EP. Is it an aesthetic which serves to describe a utopia, a human feeling, or could it also be a look into the historical period in which we are living? How do you feel when you listen to your sounds again?
Well, that definitely might fit there. Anyway, I think my point of view is simpler than that. As I mentioned before, I try to do music that I’d like to hear in clubs and I do love endless loops, repetitiveness and minimalism. I think it is powerful and beautiful to listen to something that transmits something interesting with just a few elements. I’ve been always big fan of Rachmad, Plastikman, Basic Channel productions, so probably they also have been influenced my music and taste some way.
Psyk’s Time Foundation LP can be streamed in full below.