On May 22, the French producer VanMahner's debut album "Landing Is Done" was released on Lazerdiscs Records. The beginning of a new musical journey that promises a lot of spectacle. But before we immerse ourselves in the wonderful world of VanMahner, first time for an interview!
Victor, can you please introduce yourself?
Hi! I'm Victor VanMahner, thank you for the interview, it gives me great pleasure to respond.
Where to start? I bathe in the music since my youngest age, and through various prisms (public, organization of events, musician, dj and composer).
I like originality, I am mainstream phobic, passionate and creative, I have my cinema subscription and I also like new technologies and to travel.
I grew up in France with a great Italian influence. I spare you a adolescence composed of organ, guitar and concerts. My first contact with a sequencer to produce electronic music must coincide with my first steps on the Internet. I had to ask Google "how to make electronic music", it was in 2005.
I was at a turning point, the rock band I played in came to an end, everyone was going back towards their life, I wanted to continue the music, even if it meant making it alone.
So I learned to record, control synthesizers and transcribe my ideas more fluently on a computer rather than an instrument.
At the same time I took a liking to this culture, vast and constantly evolving, without confining (lol) myself to a genre.
I made my way with all this baggage, practically alone. This is a bit how I got there today.
Today I take part in Strasbourg's underground nightlife. I had the opportunity to produce music for various projects, and new ones are arriving.
You just released your debut album called ¨Landing Is Done¨. Well done, I like it very much! Are you excited, now it has been available for everybody?
I am so proud to present my project to all earthlings. It had required a lot of work, I hope that the listeners will appreciate my universe and that the story begins in earnest. This is only one of the multiple stages, the album is already in progress, I am thinking in parallel on how to set up the live show.
What is the concept/idea behind your album ¨Landing Is Done¨?
¨Landing Is Done¨ could not be better named, being the 1st official release of my project, having crossed for many years the different strata of "the musical universe", the EP marks a start.
Here is what I want to offer, my influences and the sound that characterizes me. The journey may have been very long, but necessary to reach this level of maturity. Now I'm here, ready to introduce my universe to humans.
Which song is most special to you on ¨Landing Is Done¨ and why?
Difficult question, but my heart would go for Messages, it is full of Moog synthesizers, the construction is complete, the melody does not leave indifferent. It bears this title because we quickly understand that "the thing" that emits these sounds is trying to communicate with us.
We could also talk about Alien on Tinder featuring Luka, it was audacious for me to propose an original title with voice. I wanted to see this title included to add accessibility to the EP (it must be admitted that it sounds POP compared to the rest). I am pushing Luka to take holidays in order to move forward on a side project together, she has a real talent and we worked really well together. But after all, if these 6 titles are present it is because they are special, each one has it´s history.
In the past you did also remixes for RAMMSTEIN, Die Antwoord and others. If you can choose a new artist or band to do a remix for, whom will these be then?
My way of working for remixes is special, I only base myself on vocals of music which nourished my culture. I then recreate a new music from scratch with my codes, my mark.
When choosing the title I also make sure that it has not already been the subject of other occasions, always with the aim of offering new content to listeners.
Currently I have in mind to propose my version of "Freed from desire" from GALA, the voice is magnificent and unifying.
Also, I rarely use voices in my titles, so remixes are a way to offer songs with vocals.
What other musicians do inspire you?
I like lots of artist, diverse gender, In flames, Rammstein, SOAD, (breaked loud stuff), Deadmau5, Carpenter Brut, underground things like neurofunk / Dnb / Psytrance. But also softer styles, reggae / Dub / Trap / classical music.
If you had to choose only one it would be JUSTICE. I followed this group from the start on Myspace, I love all their titles and they are complete with a wonderful philosophy.
What are you further plans for this year, though life is not normal nowadays due to COVID-19?
Everything will depend on how ¨Landing Is Done¨ evolves. It is still too early to predict that, but the idea would be to decline the EP live with VJ, hybrid drummer, Luka and maybe guitar players.
Offer a show in line with the world of EP.
Until then, we hope this pandemic is behind us, I promise I have nothing to do with it!
What do you like most about the ´80s?
For me, in music, it is above all the decade where artists have started to make the best with synthesizers, the technology starts to become part of pop culture (video games, gadgets etc.), the human being showed a lot of creativity over this period (just to remember the number of tubes that were created in the ´80s).
Otherwise, I did not experience this period, but I have certain vestiges, such as game consoles, instruments or music players. From my point of view it is a pivotal period for culture and which still influences many people today (me too).
And finally, any last words to the synthwave community?
I hope to tickle curiosities, that my 1st EP pleases, and that our paths will cross one day to dance and headbang. Stay as amazing as you are, follow me on the social media this is just the start!
Thank you...
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