Eryk Kowalczyk, who is best known by the alias of Xilent, has risen up in the electronic music scene over the past few years to become one of the most promising artists within the bass music genre. Having beguiled many with his distinctive sound, Xilent has already garnered a large and dedicated fan base, and has become renowned for his consistent deliverance of innovative, and non-conformist EPs and remixes.
Much to the delight of his fans, Xilent has recently dropped his first full-length album, entitled We Are Virtual, and needless to say, it does not disappoint. Comprised of fifteen tracks, including a handful of collaborative tunes, this LP is clearly representative of his production abilities as well as his easily discernible style. Quite remarkably, Xilent manages to create a delicate synergism between growling bass lines, and silvery melodies within each of his tracks, making for a truly unique album.
We were fortunate to have had the chance to ask Xilent a few questions about the release of We Are Virtual, which can be found below with the responses. This LP can be streamed above, and can also be purchased via Beatport or iTunes.
1. Your debut album We Are Virtual has received a widely positive response from fans thus far. Did you have a particular vision in mind when creating it? Do you feel that you were able to fully actualize that vision?
“The moment I sat down to make this album nearly 3 years ago I knew I had to make it into a proper experience for the listener, which would include everything I’ve been known for until then. This means it had to mention the human value ideologies that I live by, as well as the melodic/glitchy style that spans across the 5 or 6 genres I usually write music in. Long story short, the vision of the album was to push a possible idea of all humanity being nothing more than a simulation – and a lot of the tracks on ‘We Are Virtual’ mention this, subliminally or not.”
2. What did you feel was the most significant challenge you faced when putting together your first full-length album?
“I have to admit that the creative process wasn’t a problem, but there were two major challenges that made the finalising of this album an absolute nightmare. One – I switched PC’s halfway through the production work, which caused a lot of the original project files to be not compatible with the new operating system and software privileges, etc. I essentially ended up with half the album exported and self-mastered, and half the album still in raw form. So two, equalising the whole thing to sound concise as a final product was really difficult. Definitely a lesson learned!”
3. A handful of tracks off of We Are Virtual feature some diversified collaborations with artists such as Five Knives, and Diamond Eyes. Is there a particular producer or vocalist you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
“When it comes to collaborating, I can’t wait for my ongoing track with BT to be finished. He’s been a major inspiration to me ever since I can remember my name. Working with vocalists and raw vocal tracks is a pure pleasure for me. I would kill to work with Ellie Goulding again as I fell in love with her voice when I had the opportunity to remix ‘Figure 8’ for her.”
4. What do you look to for inspiration? Are there any producers in the scene today that you look up to?
“These days this changes monthly, though what I always leaned towards was emotional and powerful arena music, such as trance. Apart from BT, there’s always that part of my brain that tells me “this synth from 15 years ago sounded really well on that Chicane track – let’s try something like that”. So trance artists from the past such as Tiesto or Paul Van Dyke, breakbeat artists such as The Crystal Method and later even synth-pop bands like The Birthday Massacre – always have a special place in my heart. As for producers who look up to me – I’ve always heard great words of encouragement from really talented guys like AU5, Fractal and Prismatic to name a few. The style they tend to write music in speaks to me in a major way and I think if you like my music, you should check them out.”
5. Many fans enjoy watching you work through your livestreams on Twitch. Can you explain why you feel it is important to let them be engaged with the process?
“Since the beginning of Xilent I’ve always kept everything quite secretive, from white aviator shades through cryptic messages to never revealing any of my production setup or techniques. I think it was time for a step up, especially after the debut album launch. Many have been demanding to know how the album and everything preceding it came to existence and I think they deserve to see a bit more about my life behind the glasses and the way I make my music. I think Twitch is the best way to occasionally show that side of things.”
Connect with Xilent:
https://www.facebook.com/Xilent
https://twitter.com/Xilent
https://soundcloud.com/xilent
https://www.youtube.com/user/XilentOfficial
http://www.xilent.com/
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