Interview with Daedelus
Daedelus looks like he stepped from the pages of something by Alan Moore, ready to take your mind on a sonic trip through time and space. He's quietly been one of the leaders of LA's famed beat scene, inspiring both the crowds getting down at Low End Theory and the producers who hang near the stage, nodding their heads in that way music makers do when they hear something interesting and want to express appreciation. His latest LP, Labyrinths, is out now and you can buy it directly from his record label here. We reached the artist in Berlin via email for this Q&A...
What's your favorite taco spot?
A tie between Mariscos Jalisco and the seemingly shuttered El Atacor #11
What brought you to LA? What keeps you here?
I'm born and raised in Santa Monica, living and still loving in Atwater. But what keeps me here are the constant surprises just around the corner and in every mini-mall.
What's the most beautiful thing in the world?
Sunset over the Pacific or the graffiti hour (just before dawn) as Los Angeles still slumbers.
On stage, you radiate a certain sort of frenetic calm. Are you actually calm?
When it's happening and if it's a good night there isn't any thought, the time just rushes by. I don't feel a separation of the dance floor from stage. We are all in it. However an event with difficulty is all work, and requires constant plate-spinning attention. Both end in sweat, so they might be indistinguishable to an onlooker.
Do you want to escape the Labyrinth? Should we?
When did it begin? Where will it end? I've begun to think of it less as a maze and more just how we move through our environment, our carriage and countenance in the face of everyday and extraordinary adversities.
When and where are you most happy?
Making music. Not that it's a lasting happiness, just a place to visit.
Do you have a lucky number?
Often 4, but sometimes it's whatever fortune provides. I can be very superstitious if actual spirits feel like visiting.
A recent photo of you evokes Caspar David Friedrich, do you feel an affinity or kinship with his art, is it related to what you're doing with music?
Less him per se, more of the age. His work and others of the Romantic school harken something just out of reach and very foreign to our very modern whiz-bang. I've a preoccupation with the Victorian and their age of invention. We have far more wonders now but they feel far less wondrous. Why is this?
When you're making music, how much do you think about how a particular tune will move a crowd?
I've been pursuing an idea for sometime now that an album is for listening, deeply and alone. While a live set is tailored to be (a)loud and with movements in mind. I like how this album is puncturing my notions, so yes! I love the idea of Special Re:Quest up-rocking, and War Drums juking.
If you could construct your own theme park, what would it have?
"A world of pure imagination" would be a good start. That and rollercoasters like Tatsu.
You've produced music in many genres, but if you had to invent your own genre name, what would it be?
I've used Romantic as a label on soundcloud for a while, but is largely just to keep the conversation away from expectations like EDM, and Electronica provide. Anyways thats for you writerly people to dream up, musicians just want to make without burden, otherwise music would be so heavy.
Describe a few of your collaborators using emoji:
Teebs: ♈️🔮
Seven Davis Jr: 🙇🌌
Laura Darlington: 😻🔪
Zeroh:👹🌀
Got any shoutouts?
I'm in Berlin at the moment, and it's cold and dark. So shouts to home where it may well be dark but not this way. See everyone soon 🙌
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