Rhett | Inside the mind, process, and creative space
Emercive artist Rhett – Photo by Shane Fester, 2020.
Hey Rhett, it’s great talking to you! You’ve released on Emercive Recordings before, taking part in our ‘Converge, Vol. 3’ compilation. Nonetheless, we’re glad to see you back with your new body of work. Was there a particular reason you decided to put together the tracks you did for ‘All Ocean’?
All of these songs, they were written a while ago, but they were all in the same sort of burst, and written at the same time. I think it’s interesting to hear them all together. I know the trend these days is to release things as a single, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea, but I just thought these tracks as a unit work well together, so why not release them together... you know.
Why did you decide to title the EP ‘All Ocean’?
That idea was originally going to be the greek name for that, which i can’t remember. It’s an idea of a planet that is entirely covered in water. It’s not such a deep meaning, but I thought the sound of the record sounded like that idea. Also, I thought the cover for the record that my brother took kind of lends itself to that, seeming a bit like a water-world type situation. I hope that the art, the name, and all the names of the tracks evoke a similar feeling and give it that cohesiveness.
Rhett’s debut emercive ep
all ocean
now available worldwide
Would you say that is an active decision, or does it come passively through your creative process?
It’s definitely active once the songs are written. Once I had the tracks assembled, we went out and wanted to take a photo for these tracks, and it should be something that would fit with them specifically, while giving them names that would work. All these songs had stupid working titles that exist on my folder in my computer, but these ones actually make sense for the mood and feeling in each track.
Taking a look at your previous releases on mau5trap such as ‘Substruct’ and ‘Hollow Earth’, what do you think happened in the way that you make music which evolved from that point to what you’re doing right now?
I think when I wrote those songs for ‘Substruct’ and ‘Hollow Earth’, I was aiming toward a specific goal. With these new tracks on ‘All Ocean’, I just sat down with an open mind, and just said “oh this idea is good, this works for me, I’ll take some of this, then do that.” I wasn’t so concerned about putting it into a certain box, and was not thinking about who
I’m delivering it to. That was the biggest difference I would say, as I was not concerned about who was going to hear it in the end.
Over the past months, do you feel as though you’ve been able to create more or less given the pandemic, or has it in general affected your productivity?
Because I work from home, it didn’t really change my schedule a lot, but I think leaving the house less in general changed my mentality a little bit, so I don’t know if my output changed, but maybe what I’m working on has changed. Also, My reasons for doing what I’m doing have changed maybe a little bit too. I think it allowed for some introspection, since before this, I was really trying to go out and get gigs, and the stuff I’ve been working on hasn’t been as much for that, when before I would want to make a track that I could play out. Maybe that’s a bit of a mentality change there.
In Toronto, there’s a collective of people and community that share a passion about what they do in music. Being a person who lives there, has that made you more motivated to work on your own project? How has it affected you?
Oh definitely! All of the Toronto guys, in times when you could do this, we would go hang out and have dinner and a couple of beers while chatting. I think that’s very motivating since you’re all working toward the same goal, and I think that’s super valuable. You have similar problems, and something I’ve figured out about myself, is that it’s good to talk about the problems that you’re having, and it’s very helpful to have people who understand them when you do. I’d say it’s a huge benefit. The rising tide lifts all boats, that’s the goal. Something that I’m not good at is being self-motivating, and I struggle with that. Finding those motivation moments can be difficult, but again it comes back to the group, like talking to those guys, being inspired by them, and sharing work back and forth is something that creates a drive.
What particular music or moment pushed you in the direction of wanting to create yourself?
The time that happened for me was a long time ago. It was the anniversary of its release, the Burial ‘Untrue’ album, and I remember specifically that I probably just finished the college I was going to, and a friend told me that I have to listen to it. It blew my mind! Up to that point, I would listen to electronic music as a fan, but never considered making it
myself. When I heard that, I wanted to be able to do that, and that started a slow movement which was obviously a long time ago.
When it comes to making music, what part of the process do you like the most, and what part do you dislike the most?
What I like the most is coming up with a really cool idea. The first time you hear that loop and think it’s sick, then you try to figure out how to make it work in a song. That’s the part I really like, but the part that is work for me, is finishing the arrangement, putting in the little details, the mixing. Stuff like that can drag on just listening to them in places like cars or headphones trying to get them right. It’s frustrating for me, but deal with it so I can do the cool part.
How does your environment affect your productivity or inspiration?
I think it’s huge to live and exist in the neighborhood around us, it’s very inspiring to me! In terms of the working environment though, I’m comfortable at my desk, and couldn’t take my laptop and headphones then sit on my bed and work. I’ve never tried it, but I think my little office is very important to me. Also, the external stuff definitely effects, like when I go on a trip or small day away, I try to bring my audio recorder to grab snippets and sounds so I can work them into ambient noise or background, like what I did on ‘All Ocean’.
What do you think about collaborating with people? Is it something you particularly enjoy?
Oh I like doing it. It most often makes tracks better for sure, think it’s fantastic, and want to do more of it! I’ll do it all day!
What are some artists that currently inspire you to make some music?
Well I recently curated the Artist Selects Emercive playlist which you can find on Spotify, and that’s basically what it is, stuff I’m listening to right now like Oneohtrix Point Never’s first track off his new album. That’s the guy who also did the score for Uncut Gems for Adam Sandler. I kind of would have liked to experience the score raw without knowing that he did it before watching and listening, but someone informed me beforehand. Another thing I’ve been listening to a lot is the livestream by Four Tet. I’ve been going in there every morning and night, and it’s pretty neat.