My first interview in 2021 is with the French producer Macrowave. In November Macrowave released his debut album "Ultimatum". An exciting and dark album that fits well with contemporary developments in society. This year promises to be a good year for Macrowave, in which he will certainly not disappoint us with new work. Time for an interview!
Killian, can you please introduce yourself?
Hi, I'm Killian, alias Macrowave. Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to express myself. My journey started 10 years ago, when I published my first track on Soundcloud. At this time I did not care much about song structure or any other technical aspect, I just loved creating music that tells a story, and was already inspired by dark atmospheres.
I released a first unsigned EP in 2012 and a second one the next year on Badd Records. With the help of the label, I started playing live shows in France with my friends Hantise (aka Elevn and Coldforms now), and it was a great experience that I'll never forget. After the last remix I made for the Tokyoite Naeleck, I wanted to take time for myself and work on my own album, which would be more cinematic and less club oriented.
How do you look back at 2020?
2020 had a lot of downsides, but it was the year I came back with new music after several years of experimenting. Being locked down made me think about the things that really matter to me, and music is one of them. I really hope we can get rid of this pandemic soon and get our liberties back.
In 2020 you released your debut album called ¨Ultimatum¨. I like the dark atmosphere in combination with different styles of electronic music. How was it to work on this album?
The dark atmosphere is something I can't avoid in my music. I tried producing in a lot of genres before finalizing this album, to get out of my comfort zone. I wanted this album to carry a message, a warning about the current ecological situation. It can be a challenge without lyrics, this is why I used various styles of music, to express different feelings.
After all these years without releasing anything, I doubted a lot about my work, and feared that this album would be negatively perceived.
It was also important to me to keep this project really personal and to make everything by myself, the production, mixing and mastering (and I spent way too many hours for that), visuals and promotion.
I made a lot of mistakes on the way but also learned a lot and I now feel a lot more confident for the future.
What is your favorite song on this album?
Every song on the album is there for a reason, but my favorite may be Reborn, which is the album ending. To me this one carries a stronger message, and more emotions than the others. It also symbolizes my comeback into music. And lastly, it is the only one with real drums, played by Harm Peters and recorded by my friend Ruben De Vleeschauwer (aka Rubauwer).
What equipment did you use to produce ¨Ultimatum¨?
Nothing crazy, I use Bitwig as my DAW and an Arturia Keylab midi controller to find and record my ideas. My favorite virtual synthesizers are Synth1 or Tal-Elek7ro for a powerful lead or bass, Nusoft Noisetar or U-He Triplecheese for unique sound design, JP6K for retro sound emulation and VSCO2 Orchestra for violins and cellos.
Can you share some of your plans for this year with us?
I plan to release several two or three track singles along the year, which will be a mix between dark synth, electronica and ambient music. I'm also working on the music for a French video game and would like very much to make a movie soundtrack.
What are your favorite releases of 2020 (you can choose from any genre)?
I think the albums which I listened to the most are "Myopia" by Agnes Obel, "Armajet Soundtrack" by Noisia and "Room with a View" by Rone.
What do you think about the current state of synthwave and where do you think it will be going?
I think the synthwave community is full of passionate people, and is growing everyday. So a lot of unique artists emerge, alongside artists who try to conform to all the synthwave codes.
I am pretty new to the community (mostly thanks to my track Dystopia) and I am more into the dark synth side than the retrowave, but already met a lot of amazing producers who have a lot of projects for 2021, so I'm quite sure synthwave is going to live and evolve for many years.
I wish there were more synthwave events in France though, when you don't live in Paris it can be hard to find shows, but hopefully this will change soon.
And finally, any last words to the synthwave community?
Thank you for being this nice and open minded, and I really hope that my music will find its place. See you soon!
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