Symbiosis Episode 49 - Phasen - Unnamed Label Showcase mix

I got an email in February this year from Ryan Parmer, aka Phasen. He had seen the Electricwest mix on Overlap and wondered if I would be interested. Suffice to say that I was blown away by his unique sounds; a mix of electronica, idm and techno.

Palmer is from Orlando, Florida, USA and he first released music at the age of 17. Now just 20 years old, he has released over 15 albums and many remixes for labels like U-Cover, Boltfish, and I Absentee. Recently his sound has shifted more towards techno, and as a result 2010 promises new releases on Lex Loofah’s Red Robot Records and Dublin’s highly-respected Nice & Nasty imprint.

Check out the interview below and his Unnamed Label Showcase mix, exclusively for Symbiosis.

Cheers,

Simon

Recently Released-

Phasen- Selected Remixes: 2008-2009- Unnamed Label Records
Tony Craig- Kode 6 (Phasen Remix)- Dublin Xpress Recordings

Forthcoming releases-

Temptations EP- Red Robot Records
Live Fast, Die Old LP- Nice & Nasty Records

So tell us a bit about your musical background. How did you get into the type of sounds you are producing today?

Well, I’ve always loved all types of music. Growing up I had a piano in my house that I spent many hours on, but it wasn’t until I was 10 that I began playing trumpet and baritone, getting music lessons, and actually studying music. In my early teens I started guitar lessons and taking some music theory courses, and by age 15 I had a huge desire to try my hand at making songs like the electronic music I was getting into at the time. All of my early music was very much in the melodic IDM or down-tempo styles, with the earliest being downright terrible! At first I had only free programs, so I had to create by copying and pasting individual notes I had sampled into Audacity, manually manipulating the pitch of each note, and doing some pretty nasty math to keep it all in a musical tempo on a chronological scale (needless to say the tempos of 120 and 60 bpm got used a LOT). I quickly got tired of being so limited by my software, so I picked up a copy of Ableton and some midi gadgets and fell in love with music production. Since then I’ve slowly added more of a techno and house feel to my music, to the point where that is almost exclusively what I record.

How have your working methods and equipment changed over the years of producing music?

Oh sure. I’ve lost nearly all of my ability to play brass instruments. I can’t read music in bass clef anymore. I’ve sadly even let my guitar playing go a bit out of form. I focus fully on keys and drum pads now. As for my equipment, I’m really satisfied with Ableton for software, a large midi keyboard, and a drum pad. Anyone with those three items can have a lot of fun making tunes.

You have released a lot of music on net labels. Is that a specific philosophy of your’s and a believe in giving music away for free?

Yes and no. I released a lot of music on netlabels initially since that was the only way to share my music. I needed a lot of practice before a commercial label would invest the time and money to release my music. I still contribute to compilation series that are on netlabels and I remix for free since I think it is the best way to widely spread music. However, releasing on commercial labels doesn’t make much money either. So much music is stolen that it seems almost pointless to waste time and investment money with commercial labels. If anyone can download copyrighted music freely from what.cd, soulseek, limewire, etc., why not just use a CC license and give away the music for free with almost no investment cost? Giving music away freely is simply more practical to me, not necessarily more desirable.

Outside of music you were studying to be a foreign news correspondent – are you still planning on taking that path?

Actually, no. I began college as a Journalism major, but I quickly found out that it wasn’t for me. I’ve finished my degree in Anthropology already, and next year I will complete my education with another degree in criminology at the University of Florida. I’d like to work with a medical examiner or a law enforcement agencies’ crime scene squad as a death investigator. Both often are seen as morose jobs, but I find death fascinating. It’s the one thing all humans have in common yet almost never talk about. Sometimes I wish I had majored in music though.

What’s coming up for you music wise in the next 12 months?

As far as Unnamed Label goes, French duo Aniline are set to release their full length album ‘Pixelated Orchestra’ this summer. We have a few demos we are considering for the next release as well. Personally, I am preparing my first full length album since I switched to the tech house style. My album ‘Gainesville’ will be out digitally on Dublin Xpress Recordings in the fall of this year, so I am very excited for that. I seem to always have a remix or three to work on at once lately, so my solo work has been taking a back seat. In 2011 I’ll have my first track released on vinyl as well. I’m very pleased with that, especially since that particular track is a remix that Quantec did for me under his Monoaxial alias on my own label. Quantec makes the most lovely dub techno, so this is a real honor. After that, who knows? I like to always keep things changing stylistically. I want to attempt to create an ambient album in 2011, but my first few attempts have revealed that ambient music is surprisingly difficult to properly produce. Only time will tell…

Symbiosis Episode 49 – Phasen – Unnamed Label Showcase mix

“At the beginning of 2009 I launched a record label with fellow producers The Chief of Thieves (aka Mark.Nine) and Five Step Path, Unnamed Label Records. From the start, we knew we wanted to be highly selective about what music we released. We stuck to it, releasing only three albums in our first year of operation.

This mix represent the past, present and future of Unnamed Label Records. These tracks range in origin from Friendly Strangers, the compilation we started with, to the LP from Purse Candy, and most recently the annual Selected Remixes from my own Phasen project. In addition, I included two unreleased tracks. The first is a remix I did of Aniline, our new signing who are slated to release ulr004 this summer. Later comes new artist Phorce with his remix of “Walking On A Dream”. Phorce is Aaron Randall, a super talented guy from Orlando (my hometown) who has been working with Purse Candy and the vocalist from Mirror Pal, Drew Yardis, to create some absolutely killer tracks. Their work has definitely caught my eye so hope for a release from them as well in 2010.

Basically I am inspired by a wide range of music. I think that shows in this mix. It’s varied. But, more importantly, it is all music I love. To me it’s just good, and as subjective as that may be, I hope you all agree.”

Artist- Title (mix) / cat#

1. Purse Candy- Your Heart Is Sold (The Chief of Thieves Remix) / ulr002
2. Itokim- Between The Visible And The Invisible (Phasen Remix) / ulr003
3. Koen Park- American College Football Program / ulr001
4. Aniline- Brunswick (Phasen Remix) / uls002
5. Purse Candy- We Don’t Have The Heart / ulr002
6. Lackluster- Why / ulr001
7. Empire Of The Sun- Walking On A Dream (Phorce Remix) / n/a
8. Phasen- The Man With Two Watches (Nachklangmusik Remix) / ulr003

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Download the mp3.

www.myspace.com/psychedelicpsound
www.discogs.com/artist/phasen
www.unnamedlabel.com

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