I recently had the fortune of conducting an interview with talented ambient downtempo musician Michael Sundo a.k.a Vonoom via Facebook. Vonoom's music has always hit a chord with me with it's warm dubby bass lines, psychedelic filters and crisp percussion. So let's read on for a look at the life and times of this psychedelic ambient wizard.
PA :
How did you get started making music ? Do you come from a musical family ?
V:
I began making music back in 2003 as a natural development from my interest in DJ'ing psytrance. I loved the vast possibilities of sounds that synthesis provides, so I began to experiment with programs like Propellerheads Rebirth, Fruity Loops and Reason. It took a long time, however, before I really began to grasp what was going on instead of pushing buttons until happy accidents happened. I never really had anyone to show me the ropes, so getting to where I am today was a long process. It took many years before I began to be satisfied with my sound. My family is not really musical as such, but I was introduced to psychedelic trance by my brother, DJ Akindo, who is still an active DJ.
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| Vonoom - Michael Sundo |
PA:
How would you best describe the kind of music you make ?
V:
Hmm that's a tough one. When people ask I usually say psychedelic chill-out for lack of a better label. I like to think that I have a fair amount of variation in my tracks, and I like to experiment with different ideas and atmospheres. Overall, my goal is to make positive music that puts a smile on your face while making sure that there's enough chunkiness to shake your ass to.
PA:
Did your early psytrance productions have an influence on the kind if psychill /psybient/ downtempo music you create ?
V:
I suppose it probably did. For the first few years of my experimenting it was mostly psytrance that I was attempting to make, but my creativity was a lot stronger whenever I was working on something that wasn't psytrance. I found psytrance to be too restrictive, the bass had to be a certain way, the kick in 4x4 and so on. You can of course break with these formulas, but I found myself just repeating what I'd already done or heard before, so I felt the need to do something different. My many years of listening to trance have definitely had an influence on the way I look at melodies and track structures though, so yes, it has had an influence.
