In terms of perfection, we are all human and I think that sense of humanity and vulnerability is an important part of creating something. If you try too much to be anything other than what you feel a need to express, the bluff is fairly transparent. How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music?Īs an artist you have to be true to yourself and not think too much about these things. In Play Echoes, that was dealing with the emotions of packing up the house I shared with my family as a child. I guess for me personally by the end of a project, it has usually helped me find a sense of peace or understanding to something going on in my life. Something has to resonate or connect or create a feeling. What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art? On Play Echoes, ‘Sept Douleurs’ is named after the church in which I was baptised and came to express a spiritual reflection on family roots and heritage, a sense of longing to be closer to everyone, but it being impossible with everyone moving further away – and closure on leaving the home I grew up in. We left behind this multicultural urban upbringing for the Cotswolds, where I also lived with my grandparents of mixed European ancestry and Malaysian upbringing. I was born to a Belgian mother in London, where I was raised, christened in Charleroi, Belgium, and surrounded by French speakers throughout my childhood. Home and identity are complicated for me. Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please. This is something that happens more organically in my film work than solo work and allowed me to invite performers into my sound world and to understand their own sound and value in terms of personal expression and what that can add to something I am trying to sum up myself. With my latest album I am very glad to have had the opportunity to expand my sound with other performers. How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?ĭevelopment is also such a subconscious process, it is very hard to sit back and reflect upon. When I reflect on something I have written, there seems to be a lot of hidden meanings and relationships that I didn’t necessarily think about whilst writing so the process is obviously doing something I don’t know about. I think if I thought about these things too much, my music would be very academic. It’s hard to remember what I am experiencing when writing and hearing things that are working. To create a piece of music is a very subconscious process. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity? When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. I think genre styles help the listener more than the artist, but I know I really loved some of the minimalist classical works alongside my love for artists like The Prodigy, Moby and Fatboy Slim. That’s when I scored my first films and started collecting a few interesting instruments to see what sounds I could make with them. I started producing more in my 20s and really enjoyed exploring putting sounds together. I later started clarinet and loved story telling in music and music in film. There was always music at home, radio or tapes in the car. My mum first inspired my love of piano, playing with me on her lap until curiosity took over to play myself. When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it? She is also on Instagram, Soundcloud, and twitter. If you enjoyed this interview with Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres and would like to stay up to date with her work, visit her official website. Current Release: Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres's Play Echoes, a collaboration with Her Ensemble, is out November 18th 2022 via Nils Frahm's LEITER.
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