Interview by Katja Schifferegger
image by Ekaterina Shchukina
In terms of live performances, electronic acts can be pretty boring sometimes. This is not the case with Moscow‘s Anton Maskeliade, who creates the music and visuals for his sets with his whole body. Using an AKAI MPD32 controller, Maskeliade connects his Leap Motion Controller with Ableton to control the flow and synergy of music and visuals. With this so-called leap motion gesture control technology, Maskeliade makes the whole live set interactive. „Musical improvisation is a big part of the performance“, says Maskeliade, who calls himself an „ephemeral artist“. After winning the Contemporary Art Awards for achievements in the field of electronic music and releasing his debut album „Subtract the Silence of Myself“ in April 2014, it‘s the live performances that makes Maskeliade an outstanding artist you should definitely keep an eye on.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How would you describe yourself and your music? And what are the musical inspirations behind your productions?
My name is Anton Maskeliade. I am a distant relative of Mark Twain and one of the first artists in the world who plays music and videos with gestures. I call my music „ephemeral music“ – music of the moment. Because each gig is unique, full of audio visual improvisation and never sounds similar. While recording I operate according to the principle of ‘first takes.’ In other words, I always leave the initial, roughest pieces of a composition in the final edit. Its also a part of ephemeral philosophy. My most important inspiration is YOU. And everyone and everything I can see, hear, feel or touch.
What software/hardware do you like using to make your music? Can you talk us through the making of one of your tracks?
I am using gesture controller – leap motion that allows me to manipulate sounds and visuals through my movements without touching anything. Also I‘m working with the live sampler Korg Kp3 and an AKAI midi-controller. The creation of each track begins with the lyrics or a guitar/piano melody and then it grows up in assistance of rhythmic, acoustic and ambient layers that are all recorded from the first takes.
My most important inspiration is YOU. And everyone and everything I can see, hear, feel or touch.”
You control not only the musical streams with this technology, but also the visuals. How important is visual identity in your work? How do you approach this?
When I was a child, we had a VHS cassette with some American cartoons from the 1920s and 30s. I found that old-fashioned style of animation both intriguing and frightening. There was something genuinely scary in both the story-lines and heroes. One night I was watching the same films and the TV caught fire and I was really scared. In short, I ran across that animation cassette not long ago, and now the cartoons accompany me on stage as a visual backdrop. I‘m playing with them by creating new shapes, glitching them and putting visual effects that are synchronized with the music effects and all my movements. This kind of experience I guess helps me to close my childhood‘s spooky gestalt.
You also perform a lot in galleries and other art spaces. Is this because you see your music as kind of performance art that needs to be put in such a setting?
My shows are certain interactions between me, video and audio streams. There is no differences which element of my performances is most important and I see here a big advantage when the spectacular act can be read as art performance or musical gig or dancing act or brand new technology exhibition or something else. I‘m trying to play at any place no matter where I am invited to, because music is art and art should be everywhere because this is exactly what enhances peoples senses and expand their minds. And this is the most significant thing ever that an artist could do.
What are you currently listening to?
Max Richter, Guided By Voices, Majical Cloudz.
What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given to you?
“Failure is a badge of honour.” (Charlie Kaufman: Screenwriter)
www.facebook.com/maskeliade
soundcloud.com/maskeliade
Anton Maskeliade will be performing live at the Waves Vienna Festival on Friday 2nd October
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