Melbourne based DJ & producer Dead Memories stands tall in the shadows, crafting his own blend of introspective techno with clear nods to IDM. Reigniting a once lost love with electronic dance music, the eclectic and enigmatic producer decided to put his past to rest and become something new in the form of Dead Memories. Now, back in full swing, the artist behind the project is celebrating the release of ‘August’ on Subsist Records, his first studio album.
Today, we catch up with Dead Memories to learn more about the project, his own personal origins, the release of his ‘August’ LP, views on music, and more.
Electronic Groove: Hi Dead Memories, welcome! Thank you for being here with us. How have you been doing? What’s it looking like in Melbourne at the moment?
Dead Memories: Thank you for having me. To be honest it has been bleak here, a real ghost town due to the pandemic. As you probably have heard, we’re just slowly coming out of the longest lockdown in the world. A lot of people have been affected in a negative way over the last couple of years. Hopefully, as a community, we are on our way back to some form of normality, and we can look after each other and lift each other up.
My partner and I decided to move to an acreage in a rural area about an hour out of Melbourne at the start of the year. We needed somewhere to breathe the fresh air and get our minds right. We still had the same rules as everybody else, but at least we had the space whilst locked down. I have my studio here, lots of animals, wide-open spaces, a creek, and wildlife everywhere. We are very fortunate to have been able to do this, as I know a lot of others did not have the means.
Electronic Groove: There’s a veil of mystery shrouding ‘Dead Memories’. How was the idea for ‘Dead Memories’ born? What does it stand for? Does mystery need to be ‘managed’?
Dead Memories: Dead Memories was definitely born out of a very specific idea. I have been producing electronic music under various aliases for around 15 years now. As with many other producers, in a lot of my earlier projects, you could hear me learning and trying to figure everything out as I went along. A kind of musical diary of my growth as an artist. As my skills continued to grow my productions became more mature and established.
For some time, I really fell out of love with electronic music. I felt like I had nothing new to say or add to the world as an artist. I took some time off and didn’t listen to much electronic music during this time. For a while, the only electronic music I was exposing myself to was music I was mixing down or mastering for clients. I think I have always had an eclectic taste in music and at this time was discovering and listening to a lot of other styles and expanding my tastes.
When I finally got the itch to create again, I felt like I couldn’t go back to the other projects I had worked on before. I wanted to start something new with a different approach.
The idea behind Dead Memories was to strip everything back and work with only a few select machines. To challenge me and see how far I could stretch these classic machines. After all, this is what the pioneers of early electronic music had to work with. In many cases, there was a drum machine, a synthesizer, a mixer, a recording device, and a couple of effects units, and maybe one compressor. They didn’t have the luxury of large studios full of gear, or endless collections of plugins, software, and samples. To me, a lot of the most exciting electronic music was written with these restrictions. That’s not to say that incredible tracks haven’t been made without these restrictions, but for me, this is what I wanted to try to bring back my creative spark.
I had no idea how it would turn out, but after a lot of experimenting, I settled on a 303, a 606, a field recorder, my studio mixer, one effects unit, one compressor, and a reel-to-reel tape machine. Using the computer only as a recording device to get the music into the digital domain.
I ended up writing 3 tracks that I was pleased with and sent those to Michaelangelo at Labrynth Records to get his opinion. He came back to me and was like ‘yes, we need to release these’. He mentioned something positive about the emotion in the tracks. That was the goal, after all, to create something with emotion with only a few pieces of gear.
The mystery surrounding the project was probably due to a lack of online presence and the music being out there and heard without a face behind it. I’ve never been particularly partial to giving interviews, and don’t use social media as often as most. I do have a Soundcloud account, and now an Instagram. That’s enough for me. I never felt like the mystery was something that needed to be managed. Though I do think it works well for some other artists.
Electronic Groove: How did you first get into electronic music and production? Was there a record or song that changed the game for you?
Dead Memories: Like a lot of other electronic producers, I grew up playing in bands during my childhood/adolescence. I always had amazing music around as most of my friends and family were music heads. Everyone had their own tastes and discoveries, and we all shared these with each other.
When I was about 15 years old, I started to learn about electronic music. I think it was initially the synthesizer and drum sounds in two albums that peaked my interest. These were ‘Closer’ by Joy Division, and ‘The Idiot’ by Iggy Pop. I had never heard a synthesizer sound like that before and thought it sounded cool and interesting.
By the time I was 16 I was already attending nightclubs underage and being exposed to more electronic music. I was living in Sydney at the time and was still in school. There was a real excitement in the air about the clubbing and music scene during that time, that there was something new being said.
During that time, I decided to get a set of turntables and was collecting vinyl with any little money I could scrape together from odd jobs. I learned to DJ and by the age of 18 was playing gigs regularly throughout Sydney. Everything kind of kicked off from there.
The natural progression for me was to start producing. I learned about audio engineering through study and practice and a few years later in my early 20’s, I was working with bands and artists as a producer and engineer while also DJing and making electronic music. I still have a studio where I can record and produce artists, but nowadays outside of Dead Memories, I mostly work on the post-recording process, mixing, and mastering for electronic artists.
Electronic Groove: Speaking about records…You’ve got ‘August’ out on Subsist Records! Congratulations! What’s the story behind ‘August’?
Dead Memories: Thank you. Writing and recording an album is a huge undertaking! I am so pleased with the positive feedback it has received so far.
I originally sent 4 tracks to Fon, label manager at Subsist Records, to see what he thought. He said he loved the tracks and asked if I would be interested in finishing the album and putting it out on Subsist.
I have worked with Fon and Subsist in the past with another project. They have always been on the cutting edge of techno and it has always been a favorite label of mine, so of course, I said yes. I continued writing and recording the rest of the album and ‘August’ is the result.
“The idea behind Dead Memories was to strip everything back and work with only a few select machines. To challenge me
and see how far I could stretch these
classic machines”
Electronic Groove: Sonic-wise, what can listeners expect?
Dead Memories: I wanted the album to be cohesive but have enough diversity on it to not get boring. The idea of the album was for listeners to hear it from start to finish. It has tracks that could be used in a DJ set or club, as well as ambient and slower parts, but the tracks have a cohesiveness about them that could only suit the album format.
I also really wanted to use the tape machine in a creative way. The album has a lot of strong dominant sounds, but there is a wavering texture and fragility to it. The feeling that the whole thing could fall apart and collapse into infinity at any moment. This was intentional and I achieved this via carefully balancing wow and flutter on the tape machine. Sonically the album is designed to sound raw and not too ‘hi-fi’.
Electronic Groove: Have you’ve got any personal favorites? Why?
Dead Memories: For me, it changes constantly and I’m proud of each of the tracks on the album. You could ask me this question today and tomorrow and you would get a totally different answer. Today I would probably say ‘The Walls Behind Us’, ‘Apostle’, ‘Floating In A Vast Abyss’, and ‘August’.
Electronic Groove: In what aspects of the record were you involved? How much effort goes into putting out something like this?
Dead Memories: Writing an album is a huge undertaking, it requires discipline and focus to keep your mind on the wider picture. It took many hours of work, was difficult at times but also very enjoyable. Once it was finished it was a great feeling.
I was involved in every aspect of the album except for the artwork, which was made by Malasombra, and the Mastering, which was done by Roy England.
Electronic Groove: If you could recommend a perfect setting for listeners to get into ‘August’, which one would it be?
Dead Memories: That’s up to the listener to decide.
The setting in which the album was written was during winter here. It was cold, so we always had the fireplace going in the house. Every evening I would set up my machines in my living room on a rug on the floor next to the fire, make a cup of tea and write.
“The album has a lot of strong dominant sounds, but there is a wavering texture and fragility to it. The feeling that the whole thing could fall apart and collapse into
infinity at any moment”
Electronic Groove: What’s next for Dead Memories? What new milestones are you looking forward to in the coming months?
Dead Memories: I have just jumped on board with Michaelangelo at Labrynth Records as label manager. Labrynth was started in 1999 and has released amazing music over the years from artists such as Stanislav Tolkachev, The Advent, Lewis Fautzi, Hector Oaks and the list goes on.
We are currently in the process of sorting the next few releases. The first of which will be a VA compilation, which includes a new track of mine. That will be followed by an EP from me, and the next will be another exciting release that I can’t say too much about just yet.
Electronic Groove: Thank you for your time Dead Memories! We wish you all the best for the future!
Dead Memories: Thank you EG. It has been a pleasure!
Dead Memories’ debut album ‘August’ is out now via Subsist Records. Purchase your copy here.
Follow Dead Memories: Instagram | Soundcloud
