Set and Setting with Dorian Concept | AD 245
Oliver Johnson aka Dorian Concept will release his new album What We Do For Others on 28th October on Brainfeeder Records. It\u2019s the third studio album by the Austrian producer and synthesizer savant, famed for his singular, beautifully detailed sonic tapestries and wild, utterly joyful live keyboard jam videos.
What We Do For Others is a relaxed, quietly confident and intimate record, founded on delightfully loose arrangements, feedbacked soundscapes and blessed with snatches of cryptic vocals that are presented more as additional instrumentation rather than lyrical phrases. All the elements and layers were recorded without interruptions and deliberately not edited. \u201cI think that's why this record has something of a \u2018band sound\u2019\u201d says Oliver. \u201cIt's me playing all kinds of different key- instruments, singing and using fx-units to create these freeform compositions.\u201d
The title came to Oliver in a dream and stuck with him. \u201cOne thing I often find interesting about my creative process is that when I believe to be making something that others could like, it tends to not really connect with people,\u201d he says. \u201cWhereas when I get to that special place and just work from my gut \u2013 the music tends to often speak to the outside world naturally.\u201d
Johnson says that he tried questioning his internal voice of self-judgment and temper his constant urge for improvement during the making of the album.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Dorian\u2019s earliest memories of being introduced to music through film soundtracks such as Batman Returns (1992)
- Sound synthesis
- The earliest influences on Dorian
- Dorian being influenced by Dj Spinna\u2019s \u201cHeavy Beats Vol. 2\u201d in his youth
- Experimenting and improvising with Micro Korgs
- Dorian learning how to play the piano around the age of 6
- Prepared piano
- The importance of having teachers that can nurture one\u2019s individual creativity
- Connections between music and video games
- 8 to 16-bit music used in early console games
- Psychedelics
- Set and setting
- Questioning one\u2019s perspective on using time
- The intentionality of decisions made throughout one\u2019s life
- The compulsion for creating art
- Dorian\u2019s reasons for choosing to become a professional artist
- His new album \u201cWhat We Do For Others\u201d
- His track, Survival Instinct being the \u201cheartpiece\u201d of his album
- Drawing parallels between creating a sculpture and creating music
- Presenting complex points of view to a wider audience
- Commercialization vs. arthouse creations
- Breaking rules and questioning the process
- Paradigm shifts in one\u2019s own unique consciousness
- Dorian creating lo-fi music videos for himself with the use of archival footage and processed through Blender
Artists Mentioned:
- Dimlite (Musician)
- Mike Slott (Musician)
- Tupac (Rapper)
- DJ Spinna (DJ)
- John Coletrain (Saxophonist)
- Edgard Var\xe8s (Composer)
- Aphex Twin (Musician)
- Little Snake (Musician)