AÑO: 5 | NÚMERO 46
THE 13th UN A R E V IS TA IM A GINA RIA
SEARMANAS MUSIC AS RITUAL
MUSIC AS RITUAL [ Interview With Niabi Aquena from Searmanas by BenjamĂn York. Photographs: Marcos Morteia, Alice Teeple and Boris Gas. ]
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We had the pleasure of having the debut album of the project "Searmanas" that hides the producer Niabi Aquena. Project that experiments with electronic sounds that take us from ambient to noise controlled by means of hardware, all under some voices used not as lyrics but as ritual sounds, except in the two singles advance "Undo" and "Sea". In July the self-titled debut album will be released under the label Cleopatra Records. We went ahead of that edition and chatted with Niabi to start beating the output of his work.
Hello Niabi and thank you for answering our questions. To begin with, how and when was the idea of Searmanas born? It was right after Valentines Day, 2016. I was beginning the process of exiting my band at the time, having realized that I needed my own form of expression that wasn’t tied to another’s ideology. It was a pretty depressing time for me, I don’t like change as much as I knew that the situation I was in with my band at the time was toxic and unaligned. Sitting with a couple friends they asked me for adjectives for the sort of feeling I wanted to encompass. I kept going back to the idea of music as ritual/ as ceremony, the act of creating with intention and grace - I knew I wanted to express a feeling of reverence and, if lucky, transcendence. That, to me, is how music feels - at least the good stuff - transcendent, and I wanted my new solo project to feel that way, I wanted people to feel something from listening to me - something that wasn’t ironic or silly, but timeless and with absolute sincerity. Of course “Rituals” and “Ceremony” were already band names, so I had to get creative. I’m half Irish, so my friends and I looked up the Gaelic word for “Ceremonial” and Searmanas popped up. As soon as I saw it in front of me I knew. Searmanas was born that cold sad night after Valentines day 2016. Born out of necessity, desire for better, integrity and a lot of pain.
We have had the advancement of the self-titled debut album, the single "Undo". Why did you choose that track as a single presentation? The majority of my album is unvocalized composed electronics with the exception of “Undo” and “SEA”. “SEA” is my next single dropping June 5th. I wanted to introduce myself with tracks that have words. I think that people have a better time relating to songs with vocals. “Undo” is what I consider to be my ambient pop song [haha] - it’s the most traditional in terms of musical format on the album. It’s also an incredibly genuine track. Presenting my first single that didn’t hide my voice behind a ton of effects, with the lyrics as honest and raw as they are, I felt was an important foundation to set not only for my listeners, but for myself. Your sound experimentation goes beyond the classical instruments, having been trained as a classical pianist. What is it that has awakened in you to look for new sound structures? I started producing electronic music 10 years ago. In the 90’s and early 00’s I found myself gravitating to techno and house, going to raves in Washington DC/ Baltimore. It was a beautiful time, that is also when I discovered ambient music. Prior to going to raves until the wee hours of the morning, I was studying music theory, classical piano and voice. I guess there were a number of circumstances
that led me to wanting to start making my own electronic soundscapes, the initial number one action began with me collaborating vocally with electronic musicians. I worked on a number of tracks with different producers until deciding to work on learning the technicalities of electronic music production myself. I knew that my background of years studying music theory was a good base, and I believed I could do it once I learned the ropes. There was a music school in Brooklyn that had classes for electronic music production and I make the leap learning the ins and outs of the program Logic, which is what I use to record in today.
definitely Aphex Twin. His “Selected Ambient Works 85-92” [both volumes] are still my favorite. I love techno and I adore ambient music. He embodies both, melding the two genres with gorgeous complexity while still being experimental, unafraid and noisy. I’d absolutely die to meet him one day. I also am in complete adoration of Jóhann Jóhannsson, the Icelandic composer. He recently died, February of this year. I cried all day that day. He was someone I really looked up to and hoped to one day meet so I could tell him how much he meant to me and what an impact he had on me as a composer. I love how his music combines traditional orchestral elements with Without placing ourselves in absurd contemporary electronics. comparisons ... what artist has guided you towards this sound direction? Soon we will have the debut album under Without thinking too hard about it - the label Cleopatra Records. What can
you tell us about the writing and recording process? I recorded everything in my Brooklyn apartment with the exception of the vocals for “Undo” which was recorded at The Glass Wall by Joshua Valleau. The Glass Wall is a boutique recording studio and also where I mixed the album. As it goes, some of the songs took months to discover while others were literally written in one session. For instance “Page 1” was written in one night, it just flowed, I don’t really know if I was even there - I mean I was obviously, but the night that track was written, I was certainly just a vessel for the message. I always work at night much to the dismay of my downstairs neighbor - I hate having to wear headphones to work, so restrictive, but night is my time and when I am most alive. After the mixing process with Josh, I took the songs to Black Knoll Studio where Rafael Anton Irisarri did an
amazing analogue master of the album. Up until the mixing and mastering of the album, no one had touched the tracks except me. Shout out to Josh and Raf for being amazing partners in the journey. Do you plan to make a promotional video for "Undo" or another song? Yes! “Undo” has a music video that will be released right after my album drop on July 6th. The video is filled with Goddess and Pagan symbology. It was shot in Rio de Janeiro, my director lives part time in NYC and part time in Brazil. We flirted with the idea of shooting in LA - but given the video concept, the fact that my director owns his own RED camera in Rio, and inexpensive production costs Brazil became where we ended up for the two day shoot. The video explores the cycle of life, growth, pain, healing surrender, and rebirth. The importance both universally and
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individually of ceremony, order, understanding, growth and chaos... space, time, and moment. You belong to the Brooklyn-based media collective CHASM. Tell us what this is. CHASM is an event series that is curated by my friend Julia Sinelnikova aka The Oracle. Julia is a multi-media artist who creates these dreamy, other-worldly structural environments of refracted light, holograms and video. The CHASM collective encompasses a showcase of innovative visual art and sound. I’ve been involved with several of the events as a musician, adding my sonic landscapes to the physical environments created. It’s a lot of listening, and beautifully collaborative. True Brooklyn heart is what CHASM is. Where can we find Searmanas? The usual places! Here are some links… https://twitter.com/searmanas https://www.instagram.com/searmanas/ https://www.facebook.com/searmanas/ h t t p s : / / o p e n . s p o t i f artist/2k94sp3GqPwAbv0IuaNAjk?si=YY3ccZuVTgeZjzP7GQf0Gg https://soundcloud.com/searmanas https://searmanas.bandcamp.com/releases https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/searmanas/1378526812
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What are your plans for this year? I’m going on tour! My album release is happening in Detroit which, although not my home state, is pretty exciting. The month of July I’ll be traveling all around the US playing tracks from my album in different cities and towns. Keep up with me on social media, I’ll be posting a lot to Instagram. Once I’m back in Brooklyn, I’ll be working on my next release. I’ve already been writing what will be the next one, just not sure if it will be a full album or and EP. Time will tell. Stay tuned… Do you feel like telling us something you have not asked? When I began the journey of discovering who Searmanas is and the sounds that define her, I decided that I wanted to go all hardware, all analogue, with no computer to back me up while playing live. Having no computer as a safety net was both freeing and tremendously terrifying as I’d never performed in that manner. There is such warmth in analogue, such a distinctive feeling and sound, I’m so glad that I stubbornly pursued the idea and never looked back. I recently found myself starring down the rabbit hole of modular synthesis and got my first case. I’ve been learning how to shape sound in a more organic and tactile way, learning how to patch the frequencies to form completely bespoke sonics. This idea was born once I learned that I’d be touring. I had to figure out how to maintain my sound by using less gear than I usually do when I perform locally. So I’ll be touring with just my case, mixer and vocal processor. It’s been a fun challenge figuring out how to make it work in a somewhat consistent way. The thing about modulars is that it’s difficult to re-create your sounds, it’s never the same which can be both frustrating but also super rewarding as there is constant discovery. Thank you Niabi!!
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The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA