With the Lost Time LP release just around the corner, Matt Preston (Phaeleh) is busy on the road touring North America. We were able to get an exclusive chance to speak with this music connoisseur courtesy of trend breaking event throwers, Euphonic Conceptions. The first track from what is sure to be a stunning LP is ‘Icarus’, an retro future inspired track that takes you down a long windy path through a neon landscape. The track showcases Phaeleh’s serious producing style, focused and driven, you can get a sense of the dedication that goes into each on of his productions. Check out the music video for ‘Icarus’ and the rest of our interview below.
RR: Your next LP Lost Time is less than one month away! What can we expect from this upcoming release?
Phaeleh: Well it’s a funny release for me, as it’s more like ‘best of’ compilation from a few years back where I spent every waking second trying to write material for a label I was working with at the time. So it’s quite a contrast to previous releases. The album I’m mostly known for is Fallen Light or even the ambient album Illusion of the Tale, the writing of tracks was finished 2 or 3 months before release, whereas the material on this release, one track aside, is mostly around 3 years old now. I guess it’s more diverse than other releases and does feature a lot of the styles I’m known for on one release. People seem to be liking the first two singles/videos, so I’m hoping they like the rest too.
RR: How would you describe your unique sound and the inspiration behind it?
Phaeleh: I’m the worse person on the planet for describing my music, but I guess I’d say it’s emotive electronic music that features a lot more live instrumentation than people tend to realise. I’ve always tried to write from the heart and try to make something that listeners can actually connect with. In terms of inspiration, I’ve always said the ups and downs of life tend to be the biggest influence, and my more popular tracks have always been written after some traumatic event in my personal life. I’ve tried making music when in a good mood. It’s awful.
RR: Your track ‘Icarus’ has a really interesting music video. What drew you to all the neon colors and cityscapes?
Phaeleh: Well that side of things are more down to the video maker, but I agreed with Jason who made the video that the track did conjure up visual associations with the whole Akira/Blade Runner/Tron futuristic dystopian neon vibes, so let him roll with it. Sometimes it’s good to play up on the cliches and more obvious associations, as people have probably already made a subconscious connection so you’re not starting with an entirely blank canvas so to speak.
RR: Seems like your current tour is taking you to some esteemed festivals, is there one you are most excited to play at?
Phaeleh: Well I played a really good show at Shambhala back in 2014, so I guess that’s the one that stands out in terms of wanting to do something special. I’ll be honest, the last few months have been pretty hectic for me, juggling a house move, the album and other things behind the scenes, so if I’m honest, I’ve not really had much time to think about upcoming shows compared to normal.
RR: Any crazy tour stories?
Phaeleh: I think the whole touring scenario is crazy, especially in North America due to the distances covered. I think it’s hard for someone who has never done it to really understand the physical and mental exhaustion that’s involved with flying most mornings and living on about an hours sleep every day, whilst also having the energy to play a show and also chat to the fans before and after the sets. I try my best to be as professional as possible whilst on tour, so my focus is on not missing flights or not falling asleep before I’m supposed to go to a club, so by most standards I’m at my most boring whilst on tour unfortunately so in terms of specific stories I’m going to have to let you down I’m afraid.
RR: Do you prefer smaller or bigger venues?
Phaeleh: Smaller venues every time. I don’t mind bigger shows or festivals, but I find it a lot easier to make a connection with the music and the audience at smaller shows. Also at bigger shows I find you can hear people talking a lot more than the music, which is an instant buzzkill for me, so I’d always rather play to 50 people than 5000.
RR: You performed with Gladkill, Spoken Bird, Mindest, and 2birds recently. How did you all come into contact?
Phaeleh: Well like the videos, this is down to promoters. For most my shows outside of the UK the first time I hear the other artist’s music is when I’m at the venue. Luckily, a lot of the promoters in the bigger cities understand their local scene a lot better than someone who is only going to be in town for less than 12 hours, so they pick some great artists whose music works really nicely with my own.
RR: Who are your current top three emerging artists?
Phaeleh: I struggle with this question at the moment as I’m quite out of the loop and due to a busy year haven’t had as much chance to listen to demos and promos as I might normally do. I think I mention Rhyming in Fives a lot, as I love his stuff. But I can’t think of anyone else at the moment to add to that, but I’m hoping before the end of the year is out to try and catch up on new music some more.
RR: I saw pics of your live set up from your shows at London on your Twitter last year. Will you be using the same setup for this upcoming tour?
Phaeleh: Sadly not. Despite this recent setup being a scaled down version of the previous band show, my agents on both side of the pond have pointed out that without a label offsetting the costs and losses, unless I want to bankrupt myself in record time, I can’t really take that on the road properly. At some point if I win the lottery I would love to take a similar setup out on the road. We’re looking into taking a smaller ‘carry on’ setup on the road in the future though.
RR: Are there any nerve racking moments that come with using a live set up?
Phaeleh: Not really, my roots are more in live band work and live electronics. DJing only ever happened for the convenience factor. I don’t live in a house filled with vinyl, or spend any time really doing it outside of shows. But I do really engage more with live electronics, and I find it genuinely exciting preparing for it and overcoming any tech issues. If I had the choice I’d only do live shows when billed as Phaeleh, and keep the DJing back for off the grid parties and more fun events. So if there are any millionaires out there who want to bankroll me, get in touch. 😉
There’s still a change to catch Phaeleh on tour:
Sep 7, Sonia, Cambridge, MA
Sep 8, Solasta Festival, Sneedvill, TN
Sep 15, Harvest Festival, Toronto, Canada
Connect with Phaeleh:
https://facebook.com/Phaeleh
https://twitter.com/phaeleh
https://soundcloud.com/phaeleh
https://phaeleh.co.uk
Connect with Euphonic Conceptions:
https://facebook.com/ECpresents
http://ecpresents.com
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