Bluetech’s evolving sound distills rivers of flow into audible drops of bliss, reflecting a highly evolved emotional state of being, rich with audible references to psychedelic states of insight and cosmic awe, without even saying a word.
Part 1 : Alignment
Evan- infinite thanks for taking the time.
Many artists work listening to Bluetech. Another way to cognize this is that the sonic vibrations emanating from your mind are transmitted into the ears of many beings around the world who influencing a vast range of experience crafting. How does this make you feel?
Evan: I’m incredibly honored by this process actually! It’s been amazing to see that so many visual artists have involved my music in their process. It feels like a right continuation of the energetic streams though… I operate as an instrument for something higher, channeling the flow, and I’m blessed that the flow continues to expand and move through others.
When did you start playing music? Who was your teacher? When was this? What is your background in traditional music theory and performance? And how do you perceive it has advanced your current music trip?
Evan: I was obsessed with music at a very early age. I used to sit behind the entertainment unit with headphones on listening to classical music. By 5 or 6 I was all about the piano, and learning to read music… exploring Mozart and Beethoven. I studied piano for many many years. I think that the classical background has influenced my present work in that there is an unabashadly melodic sensibility that I never really stray from.
When and how did you experience an awakening of your musical flow?
Evan: As I said, I’ve always had a deep connection and relationship with music. By junior high or high school, I had found that there was a living stream inside of me, and used it to play improvisational piano. That connection to the living, organic, raw energy of creation has stayed with me.
Where was your first live show, and what did you play? How did you start touring? What methods do you use to play live? How interactive is the live mix? What software do you use, and how do you compose sounds out of sine waves?
Evan: My first live show in the current downtempo incarnation of Bluetech was at an event called MystikAlchemy in Los Angeles. I started touring out of necessity really… I had just finished a record, and needed to play it to people and get that real time interaction. My live set up is a laptop running Ableton Live with a host of VST fx, and MIDI controller. I use Ableton like a dub mixing console, routing things to effects in real time, filtering, etc. For my production process I use Cubase SX, and do most of my sound design in Reaktor. Any sound can be extracted from a sine wave, which is a pure wave. If you start with a 440 Hz sine wave and a little creativity, you can arrive at just about any sound you imagine in your head. Oftentimes the process of editing, effecting, altering, etc. arrives at something entirely different than what you originally intended, but equally interesting!
Tell us about your last few months of touring. How did you enjoy it and where did you all go? How do crowds in different countries respond to your sounds?
Evan: Hmm.. a cool story. It’s all cool really. Getting to interact with so many different people all over the planet is really amazing. The crowds in North America in general are much more interested in dancing to chill-out than in other countries. Outside of North America people relax in the chill out. Here, and the West Coast in particular, people go ballistic and get their groove on to this music.
Sines and Singularities – Cover Artwork by Sijay
What sort of distribution will your new album Sines and Singularities have – where can we find it?
Evan: Sines and Singularities is out now. It can be found in the US at www.nativestaterecords.com and internationally at www.aleph-zero.info. It’s also available in many stores in Japan, UK, etc.
Where did you create most of the tracks for Sines and Singularities? Over how long of a period were the tracks created? How is this album unique from your past work?
Evan: This album is unique in that it’s a little more dance oriented. This is because most of it was written while on the road, and I was creating tracks which would work on the dancefloor. These tracks were created over the period of a year.
How did you approach Sines as a album, and what is the common thread?
Evan: I didn’t think about it too much. I just wrote when I was inspired, and when I had time!
I noticed an unhinged volume of unheard of music in your collection. Could you recommend some hot acts out there which we might not have heard of?
Evan: I actually post a nice list on my Rotations on www.nativestaterecords.com of stuff I am listening to.
Part 2 : Enter the Lovely
What is your internal experience of dance? What is your favorite music to dance to?
Evan: Favorite music to dance to? Oh my, I’m not sure I have a favorite. It totally depends on the setting, and the experience I am having. Sometimes dub music just rocks my world, sometimes I crave purely rhythmic minimal techno. It’s constantly in flux….
How often do you listen to your own music? … how does it affect you?
Evan: Not so much actually. The first few months after I release a record, I listen to it and try to experience it as a listener, and not as the creator of the music. It’s really amazing to get to a point where it’s just music that happens, not music that came through me.
You often speak of healing- healing through creation, healing through the individual and collective perception of harmonic vibrations, I imagine. What in us needs healing, and how do you aim to aid in the process?
Evan: I think that answer changes depending on who you ask. The only answer I could give is my own personal answer, and the things that need healing in me. I guess the biggest thing I am trying to heal is the misconception that we are seperate. This leads to judgment, and many dark paths… If we begin to recast the myth with ourselves as infinite reflections of the source, then our behaviour changes from a place of selfishness, to a place of community. I aim to work on this process in myself, and use my music as a tool to bring people together.
Now this question is really wide open, so feel free to go off- where has your life lead you? Given this is just the beginning- what do you see on the horizon for the wider society, our community and the face of your music?
Evan: My life leads me ever closer to the center, like a spiral. The more I look outside for answers, the more disillusioned I become, until my gaze turns inward, and the mysteries begin unfolding inside of me. I don’t want to speculate about the world at large, or the community at large. I think as long as we seek connection, relationship, and deeper connection with everything than things will evolve organically. For myself, all I can do is trust my path, and continue to be open to the music that arises out of that experience. I’m beginning to feel a shift brought on by age, which is not scary to me, it just feels like a deepening of self, and an opening of deeper currents of energy to draw on for my music. On the surface level, I really want to spend more time outdoors exploring the natural world and developing my connection to it.
Would you have any regrets about life if you just suddenly died in this moment?
Evan: No regrets. Everything is a lesson. I trust that my life has a purpose higher than my eye can see.
Thank you Evan, really appreciate it! Well there you have it folks – you heard it straight from the man himself, Evan Bluetech. You can check out his website, and ponder the depths of his artwork here ›› Bluetech Online