Varien – Mutiny

By starrymag | May 4, 2017

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) I would describe my sound as “hybrid electronic” – many genres and ideas blend together in unique ways that always aim to surprise and push the envelope of sound.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) I listen to so much music, that this question is always hard. I would say overall though, that my sound is highly influenced by video games such as the Metroid series, Shin Megami Tensei series, etc. and artists across all genres – Dream Theater, Shpongle, Opeth, Devin Townsend and so much more.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Mutiny.”

 

A) I wanted to take the best parts of synthwave and the 100bpm midtempo industrial sound, and marry them. There’s a lot of cool overlap with the more dark, cinematic side to 80s aesthetics and synthwave, and the heavy electronic industrial sound, so linking them together was very easy!

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) I believe that the song reminds a lot of my fans of the EP I did with 7 Minutes Dead, Mirai Sekai. A lot of people really love when I go there with the pulsing bass and heavy synth work.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

A) My songwriting process is simple, be inspired. Consume art of all types – books, illustrations, films, etc. and then use that as a jump-off point into transforming those ideas into music. I usually look at art on Reddit or ArtStation for at least an hour every day before producing.

 

Q) Will there be an EP or full album coming in the near future?

 

A) Longer bodies of work such as EPs and albums are always on my mind – that’s the best vehicle to tell stories. Right now, I’m doing a ton of singles.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I’ve been flirting with the idea of collaborating with Imogen Heap. I think we could make something very high art.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) Very into Crywolf’s latest EP, Skeletons. It’s so well thought out, vulnerable and real. Not to mention as I get older, I appreciate folk and acoustic music more and more. It’s a straight 10/10 for me!

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) Thank you for supporting me all of these years and all of the years to come!