17.7.12

Introducing Witchchild...

Today we've got Witchchild in to deliver a, frankly stunning, guest mix and drop a few words about his music. Read on, and check out the mix at the end, or download it by clicking here now. Approach it with an open mind, and you'll find what is in my opinion, one of the best mixes we've had yet...

By the way, he has no Soundcloud page, because fuck Soundcloud. Mysterious....

In fact, I'm actually gonna drop the mix right at the top here, so you can hit play and listen as you read. Check out the mix and tracklist at the bottom.


NT: Hey man, give us an introduction to Witchchild...
W: Hi there!I’m Kevin, 20 years old and I live in Holland. I study Sound Design in Rotterdam and I’ve been producing music under different aliases since a couple of months now.

I’ve always been wanting to make my own music and I think I made my very first tune in 2007 or 2008 in Reason, but because I really wasn’t happy with how it sounded and was extremely impatient I gave up on producing immediately after that.

Then in January this year I got in contact with a producer from Amsterdam and we really got along well. After a while he kind of pushed me into picking it up again and I decided to do a remix of one of his tunes with different software and was actually very pleased with how that turned out so that’s how it all started, really. Been doing it ever since.

Me and him are still great friends and I really am very thankful for what he did. If it wasn’t for him I definitely wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing right now.

NT: Obviously I know of your other aliases, which I won't reveal. What made you take up Witchchild? Is this a full time thing now?
W: It actually happened kind of by accident to be honest.I had this sample from a film that I really liked and wanted to use in a tune. And at first I was basically just planning on using it for a tune for my other alias; a beat-driven, sub-heavy tune.

So I had been working on that for a couple of days and tried various different things, but I just couldn’t get it to work properly. Then one late night it hit me, I realized that I was doing it all wrong and that this didn’t need a beat, that just wouldn’t work.

So I started stripping it down, removing the drums, and after a couple of hours I had finished this tune that was totally different from anything else I had made at that point. And that’s how it all came about, really.

I’ve also got such a different approach to making these tunes than I have with my other alias that I can’t really say that it’s a full time thing. With Witchchild it’s not that I sit down and think “Alright, I’m going to make a couple of Witchchild tunes tonight.”. It really depends on whether I feel it’s the right moment and if I'm in the right mood and mindset or not. Which, I have to say, doesn’t happen that often unfortunately; in the 2 months that; I've had this alias I’ve only made 4 or 5 tunes.So it really is more of a natural process than purposely sitting down to produce a tune. From time to time it just happens.

NT: Your tunes seem to have taken on a far, far darker edge. Who or what are your influences when you're producing?
W: Well, to be real honest with you, I don’t really know… There is of course this one producer that comes to mind, and I think we all know who I'm talking about here, but everyone seems to mention him when they’re asked who they’re inspired by and in my opinion no one has ever come close to his level of production and neither will I so I'm not going to name him.

The only thing I want is to have some emotion in my music, so as long as I feel that a tune brings up some sort of emotion in me I know that I’m doing the right thing.

NT: What are your plans for Witchchild, if, of course, you have any?
W: Well, I don’t really have any set plans for the future that I want to stick to. Mostly because, like I said, with Witchchild it’s more of a natural process that I have no real control over, so I feel that making big plans for the future is a bit pointless. However, I was thinking of maybe doing a limited vinyl release some day. With 4 tunes on a 10” or something like that.

But I have yet to look into that so we’ll see. Maybe one day… Hopefully.

NT: Tell us a little about your selection on the guest mix...
W: Well I really wanted to use tunes by producers that I personally really like and that possibly some people hadn’t heard of before.So I started off by writing down some of the producers who’se music I wanted to use.
I really love Ignis Divine and Grouper and I had never used their music in a mix before so they were on the top of my list.Once I got that list done I went through their music and wrote down the tunes of which I thought would fit the overall sound of the mix that I had in mind.

I also really wanted it to have a proper beginning, to start off slow and easy instead of having a beat from start to finish, so I knew that I needed some ambient tunes for that and in my opinion there really was no better way to accomplish that than with Ignis Divine.

All in all I think it turned out quite well and I hope that I’ve opened up some people’s ears and introduced them to new producers and their music.I hope you will all enjoy the mix.

NT: And finally, if you had to pick your three favourite "Night Tracks", what would they be?
W: That really is a tough one…
I think I’d go with these three at the moment, but (apart from number 1) I’m sure that I would say something different in a month from now.It’s hard to narrow it all down to just 3 tracks haha!

1. Massive Attack vs Burial – Four Walls (I’d rather say anything by Burial though)
2. Desolate – Heroic Death
3. Grouper – Alien Observer

NT: Thanks for your time dude. Again, if you didn't check the mix out up there, check it out here (or download here)...

Ignis Divine - Nascent Requiem [Section XIII˙.˙COMA]
Ignis Divine - At The Propylons Of Shambalah [Section XIII˙.˙COMA]
Hecq - Giants [Hymen Records]
Grouper - Dragging The Streets [Yellow Electric]
Oneohtrix Point Never - Ouroboros [Editions Mego]
Desolate - Synaesthetic [Fauxpas Musik]
Jouem - Eldarion [Mojuba]
Jouem - Certainty Of Salvation [Mojuba]
Sangam - Headlights In The Distance [Black Hymn Records]
Witchchild - Final Promise [Unreleased]
Ignis Divine - A Dream Of Liberation [Section XIII˙.˙COMA]
Grouper - Disengaged [Grouper Self Released]
Jacaszek - Goldengrove [Ghostly International]
Witchchild - The Suffering Of Mankind [Unreleased]
Witchchild - Bleak Reality [Unreleased]
Witchchild - Broken Promise [Unreleased]