Alaukiki: Infidel Interview #31
First of, just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. Could you start off by giving a little information about both of you to the audience? Whatever you feel comfortable with, but name, age, what instruments you can play, and where you live would be pretty standard?
David: I live in Spain and I'm 43, I play guitar and bass but alaukiki compose with synthesizers and DAW Logic plus plugin synths, apart from hardware.
Daria: I am 30 years old, and I live in Ukraine. I play ethnic instruments: vargan, kalimba, darbuka. To create music, I use mainly my laptop, DAW and vsti plugins. In last Chakras album I used ethnic Instruments guimbarde (vargan) and throat singing. Also we are using in our project Sanskrit mantras.
How do you enjoy where you live? Is their a vibrant music community for you to indulge? Would you say you find that your local scene influences your attitude and/or creativity?
David: Currently not participate in any musical community in the area where I live, I'm a musician home studio, my influences are everything I hear and makes me vibrate, so many that it is impossible to list them, I hear almost everything….. from industrial noise to classical and Baroque music, from IDM to punk, psy, DNB, dub, rocksteady, 50s rock and roll, 60s garage, shoegaze, tribal, Indian, concrete music, field recordings, experimental music and….
Daria: I live in Ukraine. There is a complete mess probably the last thousand years... The last few years we have a difficult war in the east of the country and the economic crisis. I think this is a good enough reason not to attend parties and festivals. The best and strongest people die there every day. I lead a secluded life. Meditation, yoga, and prayer give me inspiration and positive vibrations.
What drew you to start creating music yourself? What does your band name mean or where did it come from?
David: For me music has been everything, since I was 11 or 12 years old began to feel that the language of sound / music attracted me, it is an exciting dimension.
Daria: I have always been a creative person. I sought to develop and express myself through different forms of art. When I was fascinated by yoga and spiritual practices, I was faced with the fact that my perception was transformed to level of vibrations. Then the music was the best way of self-expression. I found word alaukiki in Indian tantra. Alaukiki word translated from Sanskrit as an invisible, transcendental love. Alaukiki is also the name of God, one of His qualities.
What would you say are your favorite themes and topics to write about? What draws you to those themes?
David: In alaukiki so far we rely on drawings of mandalas, we try to create a musical representation of the design / image of these mandalas, so does the chakras, and in the future will come other influences.
Daria: I think it is worth mentioning our project alaukiki closely associated with Hinduism and Vedic knowledge. We strive to create a healing and and harmonious space of sound.
What would you say would be you short term, and long term, goals for your band? What do you see in the future for your creative output?
David: My only goal is to keep making music that means something to me, keep discovering new paths / states / emotions.
Daria: For me, music is a way of spiritual growth. I am residing some practice, stages of my life, then I I transform my experience in music. It gives completeness and possible to move forward. Also, this is my way to share my spiritual experience with the world, to inspire people.
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?
David: Well, meet and start making music together has been important, we have visions and ways feel the music, and it is interesting to see how one continues the music that the other has started, it is always amazing to see what the other party does with your ideas and vice versa. The other important point related to music when I started listening to electronic music and has decided to buy my first keyboard, for me it was a "re-evolution" because the possibilities opened up before me were endless and exciting.
Daria: I am not a musician. I do not know the music literacy. I am a bachelor of applied mathematics and computer engineer. For me, always music was searching for myself, searching expression. I invent my own language, a way to express my experiences and inner peace. For me music production is an art, an act of free creation, devoid of any boundaries. It is always improvisation and meditation. I was fascinated that process.
Are live shows an important part of your career? Or are you predominantly a studio musician? If you could play a live show anywhere in the world/do a tour anywhere, where would it be? Is doing live music something that you envision for yourself in the future? If so what are some of the images, themes, or ideas you might have for said future live set?
David: I'm studio musician and at the moment do not plan to do lives, but would be exciting and fun, maybe in the future.
Daria: I never knew the studio instruments. All I have are my headphones and a laptop, and a set of virtual tools and libraries. I have no ambition to call myself a musician. I am engaged in free creativity for its own sake, for the sake of the knowledge of the Great Creator of all things through my small act of creation. I am open to any ideas and coauthorship. I do not have any plans for the future. The future is always open for me. I live for today, improvising.
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?
David: Undoubtedly, music and way of living changed my life and continues to be that around what turns my life. Yes, of course that there has been an evolution at all levels, spiritually, emotionally and logically. The biggest challenge is always trying to transform what you feel or think about sounds and music.
Daria: I have spent many years of my life trying to understand the secret of the music. I studied all styles of music, also for many years I had been engaged in dances. My experience has led me to the fact that music is all around us. I find music and harmony in the world around me. Best music for me is the singing of birds, the murmur of the river, the rustle of the trees, the sound of rain, urban landscapes, the noise of the subway or the noise of the crowd in the market. The world is an inexhaustible source of inspiration. I would call it ART of listening. To do this, you need to be quiet inside, then the world opens its harmony and beauty.
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?
David: Mainly make music alone, but collaborations are always very interesting, now in alaukiki but in the past I have worked with other friends in musical projects and all have been fruitful and interesting for me.
Daria: Alaukiki project was my first collaboration with David. It's a fun and amazing process. We have never met each other in real life. We are bearers of different cultures and languages. Music is a union of hearts, something beyond words and logic. Especially clearly evident in the process of co-creation. I have always been pleased with the people who are on the same wavelength with me, who can understand and share my ideas. And over time, people appear next to me who are inspired by my creativity. Thus are born the joint projects. There is something special about our cooperation stuff. This song is a prayer for peace in Ukraine. It is noteworthy that this collaboration with the Russian music producer Alex Baranov (chill-out project Mahaon). Sometimes it happened that while working on some songs I received as a present recorded vocals that came to this song. It's funny and a little magical moments :)
When you make music are you primarily a hardware or software oriented musician? Or do you do a fusion of both? Are there any particular instruments, programs, or effects that you would say are vital to you making music?
David: Currently software use, Logic DAW and lots of plugins, also have a groovebox Roland MC 505, module sounds and effects, keyboard and I recently purchased a sampler Elektron Octatrack which is very interesting creative possibilities, I have in mind to buy more hardware, perhaps a Elektron Analog Rytm and Analog Keys. Both software and hardware have different ways of composing and it is good to mix the best of both "worlds".
Daria: I am in love with Cakewalk Sonar X3 Producer. I like to work with smart tools. Then I do not bother on the technical nuances, and enjoy the process. So the new album, I used only two VSTi: iZotope BreakTweaker and Komplete Reaktor 6. They are my favorites at present. I am very satisfied with it.
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?
David: Video and photography.
Daria: I am inspired by the holy books. Knowledge and synthesis are the engine. Also many thanks to artists, which draw a mandalas. Without them alaukiki project probably did not take place. Each of our song is directly related to the image. This is a direct source of inspiration for the creation of musical space.
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
David: Thanks for interview, enjoy music.
Daria: The motto of alaukiki: It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Always focus your energy on the positive. Peace and love. Thanks for attention to our music.
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