Alparr Interview
In this exclusive Music Mondays interview we got the chance to speak with Alparr. We discussed everything from their latest releases, sound design and much much more.
2/23/24
Rei Low: What was the thought process behind writing BOXCUTTERR?
Alparr: Armored Core has just came out, and the aesthetic of that game brought me back to Drum and Bass music. I was super into it. I was like, “It would be really funny if I did that.” So, I basically wrote a song how I would normally write a song, but I used an Amen Break. I made the BPM 170.
R: Did you run into any challenges using a break? You usually don’t use them as part of your songs.
A: I’ve done it a few times before, but it’s not really part of the Alparr sound, the Alparr aesthetic.
R: It’s on the grid more than your other tracks. Was that because of the DnB influence?
A: I had to do it because I wanted it to be danceable. Alot of my songs aren’t. I think this is the single I dropped after NINETEENN.
R: What is the ideal environment to listen to an Alparr song?
A: Hell or maybe just like a warehouse with the type of strobe lights that make you see in frames. You need to have your all into it- absolute energy.
R: It’s almost more like a noise show than a bass show. Do you have any sound design secrets your willing the spill to the public?
A: Get the most out of one sound. It’s important to have sound design sessions, but alot of my songs are just one sound- it’s just how i’ve processed it. Honestly biggest sound design tip: Limit yourself.
R: One thing I’ve been writing about recently is music which is minimal in instrumentation but maximal in delivery.
A: Yes. Also, one thing is to have a massive library of sounds.
R: How do you see the relationship between your music and your visual artistry?
A: That’s a good question. They’re happy together. They’ve got a house and two kids. It’s very cohesive, very hand in hand. My visual stuff is about to get alot crazier. That’s all I can say. When I make a song, I have to think about a place, and that place is usually the ocean. Alot of my visuals of stolen ROV footage of whale bones that I’ve fucked up in After Effects.
A: The ocean is completely separate. If your at the bottom of the ocean you completely separate from everything else.
R: There’s parts of the ocean we haven’t even explored yet.
A: It’s not even about that though. The biggest thing for me is to ignore everything else. My biggest philosophy about music is if I’m writing a song, I cannot think about how people will react to that song. It is only about.
R: So it’s like you floating in an ocean alone, and all you have is a speaker and a daw.
A: Yea a speaker and a daw, and you're in the ocean. I think it’s important to write music only for yourself.
R: I agree with that. When you get caught up in what people will think about it, your deviating from your creative vision.
A: Yea, and not only that. Concepts in music- you need to ignore those too. I’m not saying don’t learn those- please do. I use music theory. I know the grid, but I don’t let them affect me when I’m writing a song.
R: What video games if any influenced you?
A: Bloodborne- aesthetic, mood, everything.
R: Have you used Bloodborne samples in your music?
A: Yea, I have a couple times.
R: What influence does anime have on your art?
A: I love Evangelion! I saw it in middle school. I was playing Bloodborne in middle school. I think there was a time when I was only watching Evangelion and playing Bloodborne. That’s definitely what fucked me up. Besides Evangelion, I watch alot of anime.
R: Name five anime.
A: Guren Lagen, Evangelion, Mob Psycho 100, Cowboy Bebop, JuJuitsu Kaizen.
R: Certified. We’ve talked about the ocean, is there any other moods or emotions that come up when your writing?
A: Whatever emotion I’m feeling at the time. I like to think of music and sound itself as a different form of energy you put into yourself. Really, whatever I’m feeling at the time. When I was a kid, I spent alot of time in my room alone listening to music. There’s a certain feeling- like you dance like no one is watching.
R: Where do you see the Alparr project going in the next two years?
A: Lots of live shows, that’s where I see the Alparr project going the next couple years.
R: A performance aspect?
A: Definitely a performance aspect because I’m nineteen now. I can see the world. Certified adult.
R: Speaking of listening to stuff in your room alone, what were you listening to when you were younger?
A: I had to be elementary school-
R: Did you have streaming when you were in elementary school?
A: No, I was like Youtube. Like looking it up.
R: My brother came in with his iPod and he said, “You have to hear this drop.” And it was Flux Pavilion, I Can’t Stop.
Both Laugh
A: He was like, “This is the sickest drop.”
R: Your little mind blown as an elementary schooler.
A: I think I was into Skrillex, Deadmau5… stuff you would think I would be into.
R: I think most under 13 year olds were listening to the same dubstep stuff like Nero, etc.
A: Yea Nero is crazy. Knife Prty and them. When I heard Flume S/T the first time, that was a game changer. I remember finding that.
R: That blew my mind too honestly. It’s the way he took the tropes of bass music of the time and made them just gorgeous.
A: There’s a song on his 2016 album called Wall Fuck and you’ll see that had a huge effect on me. After Flume, I found out about Sophie. MSMSMS- that song I learned metal makes good sounds too? Then I got into Soundcloud, and that’s when I had the biggest inspirations.
R: Who are some people in the Alparr Soundcloud Universe?
A: Blood of Aza, JHL, FITNESSS, Lung and S280F. And Heaven Sight, my dubstep project with Neir. There’s another inspiration I haven’t reality talked about, and that was Burial.
R: Was it Untrue?
A: It was Untrue, and there was another project he put out Anti-Dawn. Currently that is my favorite piece of music to have happened. I feel like Burial’s music to me is, “How can you make something this sad?” Since, then I’ve stripped my music back a little bit.
R: I feel like with BOXCUTTERR-
A: BOXCUTTER is so fucking maximalist.
R: It’s maximalist draws from a sound palette that’s well defined.
A: I think the biggest thing if your getting into music is to have a sound palette. For me it’s Silent Hill 2 and sounds from video games I use all the time. Take a couple days to be in Ableton, and make some sounds you really love. You don’t need new sounds for each project.
R: This is something that I’ve told people new to producing, if you want to find your sound: make your sounds. You don’t have to synthesize them, but your sound will emerge from that.
Stream Alparr: soundcloud.com/alparrmusic
Written By: twitter.com/_rocktimist