King Tormentor: Infidel Interview #9
First I just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. With this interview let's just start with a bit about yourself. What's your name, where are you from, and how old are you?
Thank you for your interest in my music! My name is Toni Tapper, 26 years old, I was born in Turku, Finland and now I have lived in Tampere, Finland for four years.
After listening to your music I've noticed a tendency for you be drawn towards the harder edged sound, but with a strong fusion of dance sensibilities thrown in there. Is this a deliberate sound, or is it just something you naturally fall into?
I have done softer electronic music before, mainly dubstep, but always listened to harder music. About a year ago I decided to start a new hardcore project and it was a natural choice to add a little twist of dubstep to the tracks. It was also something that I haven't heard before.
Would you say that your choice to pursue music has changed your life since you started? Would you say that creativity has evolved you spiritually, emotionally, or logically? What are some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your musical career?
Maybe. My life has not changed much due to the music producing because I have done it mainly as a hobby. However, this last year as King Tormentor I have had much more serious attitude to producing and biggest challenge I have faced so far is how to get name and audience.
Have you had any particular moment(s) that you would like to share, that you would consider to be a crowning achievement in your musical career so far, or moments that you would say truly continue to inspire you to pursue your artistic path?
This interview is so far most important milestone for me! The amount of positive feedback and play counts had surprised me completely and it helps me to continue in the musical path. Also to get my logo designed by a talented graphic artist has been major thing. You can find my logo designer here: https://www.fiverr.com/idesign_4u
Are there any bands that you would say are your "core" or "prime" inspirations when making music? Are there any new bands that you are currently really vibing?
My biggest idol and source of inspiration is definitely a true master of hardcore, Angerfist.
When it comes to non-musical media, what do you find yourself most inspired by, and what about it draws you to it as a source of inspiration?
Most of the ideas come in mind when I’m at my daywork as a timberman. When I’m working alone, I have time to run ideas of new tracks or how to continue ongoing projects. Raging scenes in movies can be also very inspiring.
What are your thoughts on genres in general? Do you find them creatively helpful as a template to work with? Or do you find them restricting? Or possibly somewhere in between? Now that the internet has caused so much crossover in music, would you even say genre labels are relevant any more?
It is little bit confusing nowadays with all the genres, sub genres and sub genres’s subgenres. I have made the genre jungle even more complicated with one new genre when I have introduced the corestep, combination of hardcore and dubstep. At least I have never heard about it before I started to call my music with that name.
Are you musically self taught? Or have you had mentors along the way to help you develop? I know a lot of people, including myself, have used a video tutorials to learn new tricks. Any particular online entities you'd wanna give a shout out to?
I have learned most of the things by myself during the 15 years I have been producing. And listening and being open minded for different kinds of music teaches a lot.
When you make music are you primarily a hardware or software oriented musician? Are there any particular instruments, programs, or effects that you would say are vital to you making music?
The most important companion to me is Native Instruments Komplete 10 Ultimate that I bought a year ago. My favorite vst plugins that comes with Komplete are Massive, Damage, Session Strings and Action Strings. I also use a midi keyboard to create melodies. And of course when it comes to hardcore, the distortion filter is in heavy use.
Do you spend a lot of time crafting your own sounds? Or do you value song crafting and effects tweaking more? Or do you find it's a balance between the two? What's your relationships with presets?
I mostly make or modify all main sounds by myself because it is important to me to have that recognizable trademark sound, but pads on the background or hi-hat loops etc. can be presets.
Is collaboration something that is actively important to you? Do you have any individuals you are particularly successful, or unsuccessful, in collaboration with? Has there been any collaborative based songs that you would say stand out to you?
In my experience collaborating with other artists has been very rewarding. As King Tormentor I have had collabs and will have more with Fuck The Industry. And I am open for any new collab suggestions. For now most important collaborative based song that I have done is still unreleased track called King Sound.
Are live shows an important part of your career? Or are you predominantly a studio musician? If you play live shows do you find the atmosphere changes the way you approach music? If not, do you have aspirations to play live shows in the future? If you do play live show, or want to play live shows, what sort of themes or aesthetics are you drawn to?
I hope that live shows will come important in my career some day. First I need to buy a dj hardware and learn to use it that I can perform a live sets someday. I have played a couple pre-recorded sets in ug gigs with small crowds many years ago.
Other then the genres that you are most typically known for working with, and being inspired by, are there possibly guilty pleasure bands or genres drastically different your usual repertoire that find themselves working their way into your inspiration?
Definitely orchestral music. It is very inspiring to lay down and listen to massive cinematic music with headphones.
What do you see in the future for your creative output?
I will keep producing distorted beats and hope to get full album done during this year and hopefully someday get signed to a record label.
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
Thank you for the interview! I want to thank everyone who have listened my music! If you haven’t already checked my tunes, you can find them here: https://soundcloud.com/king-tormentor If you like my tunes, you can like my page in facebook https://www.facebook.com/kingtormentor
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