POINT OF VIEW INTERVIEW #59 + GUEST MIX
ELECTRONIC ARTIST/DJ: SLOW SHUDDER
From her hometown, Miami, Florida, Amanda Mayo aka Slow Shudder, breaks through with music that resembles lighthearted emotions and beautiful delicate production. With collaborations with artists like Demoda and SAKIMA, Slow Shudder completely transports you with her feathery voice and precious lyrics. Also, self-producing tracks of her own like "Diffuse" released via Unspeakable Recs, or "Things to Forget" released from NOt LIke That, Amanda writes music that uses self-expression as the main center piece. Her lyrics are saturated with complete honesty and life's undeniable vulnerability. When you swim within her songs, you pick up elements of R&B, pop and electronic gaps bridging together. Now residing in the grand city of Los Angeles, we already anticipate for the next great works she will deliver! For this interview, we are blessed with an upbeat guest mix by the amazing Slow Shudder and below read all about her views and inspirations on the music she creates. Enjoy!Also, catch Slow Shudder at Paper Crane and Fanservice's LA show on August 27th! Details here!
Follow Slow Shudder on:
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Question 1: What got you into making music?
I can't remember the exact moment I got into making music since it's been a part of my life since I was really young. My grandpa was a jazz pianist and music professor - when I was a toddler, he showed me how to use a little Casio keyboard with drum loops and synths in it.
I started getting serious about singing when I was about 8 years old and performed in theaters and choirs in Miami throughout my childhood. I moved to NYC to attend NYU for Music (Vocal Performance) when I was 18.
While I was in school, I got into music production when I had to go on vocal rest temporarily. I started playing around with glitching my vocal recordings in Logic Express to keep from feeling creatively stifled. I switched to producing with Ableton in 2010, which I still use now, and learned how to DJ the following year.
I got really serious about production when I moved to London in 2015 to go to Goldsmiths, University of London for a Master of Music degree.
I learned so much and met amazing tutors & collaborators who really inspired me, plus the studios are amazing - modular synth heaven! I feel like that's where I found my focus and sound as Slow Shudder.
Question 2: What people intrigue you or inspire you to pursue music?
I've always been inspired by the intricacies of personal relationships, whether they're my own experiences or those of others. I love getting to know people and my lyrics are often influenced by conversations I've had with everyone from my family & best friends to total strangers.
Right now, I'm very musically inspired by Elohim, Billie Eilish, Kid Froopy, Lorde, Sinjin Hawke, and Oliver Tree.
I'm also often inspired by poetry and books. I love the Brain Pickings newsletter. Some writers who come to mind are Adrienne Rich, Patti Smith, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Oliver Sacks.
Question 3: How would you define your style of music?
I produce and write at the cross section of left field electronic, pop and indie dance, with hip hop and R&B influence.
As a DJ I'm drawn to everything, what I play is inspired by the setting and crowd. For my gigs over the past year or so, I've enjoyed mixing club styles - esp nxc, jersey, footwork, and rave - with a more commercial hip hop, R&B and pop.
The mix I made for Melting of Age includes a bunch of my friends' and collaborators' tracks, lots of Paper Crane and Moving Castle artists in there!
It starts off indie dance/pop and then gets a bit electro house-y then into heavier pop bass music, a little wave (the new wavemob compilation is amazing) and finishes with some nxc and cute club. I was in the mood for a bit of an eclectic rollercoaster haha!
Question 4: What influences your style of work?
My general state of mind and location definitely do. The music I made in NYC while I was also balancing a full-time job in music licensing was so different from what I made as a grad student in London. I just moved to LA like a month ago but I can already feel myself pulled in new directions and I love it.
Question 5: What is your favorite track that you have produced so far?
Ahhh it's so hard to choose a favorite! Three beats probably tie. All unreleased and super experimental with processed vocals that I think are really interesting.
I made one in London in a couple of hours after coming home from a night out - one of those moments where I felt like the beat made itself and I wasn't thinking too much, just recording how I felt at that moment.
The other two I made recently when I was temporarily living with family for a few months in Miami and was experimenting a lot with sound design and new approaches to beat-making. I plan to release them all eventually :)
Question 6: Any goals or plans in mind for you as an artist in the future? Anyone who you would love to work with?
Right now I'm just working on getting into the scene here in LA. Lots of writing sessions and producing. I'm working on an awesome DIY turntable called Spinbox, founded by my friend DJ Questionmark - hoping that continues to do well and grow.
Also been figuring out DJ and live gigs here - looking to be able to tour sometime soon, that'd be a dream come true.
So excited for my DJ set at Los Globos at the end of August for the Craneservice show hosted by Fan Service x Paper Crane. Stoked to share a lineup with 2ToneDisco, Hikeii, Madnap, DNZ, and Metsä!
I have a lot of releases coming out over the next few months which I can't wait to share - collaborations with Marcioz, SAKIMA, and Luis Crucet.
Last week I released a track that I co-produced with MIMRA called "He's All Yours" which is totally different from my other stuff, and I love it!
Finally, the remix I made of my song with DeModa, "Downtown Glow," is coming out within the next week so keep an eye out for that too!
(Tracklist in Guest Mix Description)
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