In the wake of their newest release, we delve into a unique musical landscape forged by the collaboration between LA-based producer Tim Enso and the New Zealand band, Beacon Bloom, which consists of Ryan Ferris, James Allen, and Joss Doge. Their union was born from a shared vision, catalyzed when Enso was seeking a vocal talent for his music production. The result is the transformative Fallen Flower EP, released on Purified Records. The title track, ‘Fallen Flower,’ invites listeners into a realm of emotional melodies, electronic music, and evocative vocals. As Tim Enso puts it, “The result was a transformative collaboration that I’m immensely proud of, blending our talents to create an emotive and captivating musical experience.”
Blending Enso’s soft instrumentals and synths with Beacon Bloom’s gentle vocals, the single is a journey for the senses that carries you away, a perfect track for solitary drives into freedom, and for the creation of fond memories.
In this interview, we connect with Tim Enso and Beacon Bloom’s frontman, Ryan Ferris, uncovering insights into their creative process, their view on the music industry, and their future aspirations.
Hello Tim and Beacon Bloom, it’s a pleasure to have you here with us at C-Heads. To start this interview, where are you both joining us from today?
Tim: Hi! I live in Los Angeles, California.
Ryan: Hey there, we’re here in Christchurch, New Zealand.
How did the collaboration between Tim Enso and Beacon Bloom come about? And what inspired you to work together on the Fallen Flower EP?
Tim: The collaboration between Beacon Bloom and me came about when I was seeking a vocal talent for my music production. Being familiar with Beacon Bloom’s artistry, I was drawn to their unique style and knew their vocals would be a perfect fit for my sound. We connected, shared our artistic visions, and were inspired to work together on the Fallen Flower EP, exploring themes of transience and beauty. The result was a transformative collaboration that I’m immensely proud of, blending our talents to create an emotive and captivating musical experience.
Fallen Flower has an amazing blend of Tim Enso’s production style and Beacon Bloom’s vocals. How did you approach the creative process for this track, considering your different musical backgrounds?
Beacon Bloom: When Tim sent over this tune James and myself immediately loved it – the production was top notch, and Tim’s sax playing adds something quite special which isn’t often done so tastefully in deeper house music – a really evocative piece.
The melodies started to form pretty quickly, and we workshopped the lyrics with another creative, Olivia, the theme and lyrics really came together. From there we recorded and mixed the vocals in our studio here and that mixdown is what you hear on the record – I’m (Ryan) on lead vocals, while James adds ethereal, sparkly harmonies that we recorded with a tube microphone.
Can you tell us more about the meaning behind the lyrics and the overall message of the Fallen Flower EP?
Beacon Bloom: This track explores the interplay of opposite energies and to us it has a darkly seductive feel to it which are reflected in the lyrics.
As Tim mentioned earlier – the Fallen Flower EP captures both transience and beauty – the two are always interlinked.
“As an artist, I believe music plays a transformative role in society. It has the power to inspire, heal, and bring people together.” Tim Enso
The release will be dropped via Purified Records, Nora En Pure’s well-known label. In today’s music industry, how important do you think a label is in terms of offering opportunities and visibility for artists?
Tim: Labels, like Purified Records, remain important in today’s music industry for artists by offering opportunities and visibility. They provide a platform, distribution network, and industry expertise, amplifying reach and credibility. However, with the rise of independent options, artists have more choices. The importance of a label depends on an artist’s goals and desired trajectory. Finding the right balance is key for creative freedom and career success.
Ryan: Agree with Tim – there’s no real rule, but we have found that working with labels like Purified has given us a lot of benefit – it feels like a well balanced relationship for which both sides can give a lot.
Labels aren’t for everyone – but it can be quite hard to build an audience as a solely independent artist, at least in the beginning.
We are very grateful for all the amazing work Purified does.
Tim, your song “Circle of Life” on the EP creates a soft and dreamy sound. Do you think this emotional music is a reflection of you as someone who often gets lost in thoughts and feelings?
Yes, the soft and dreamy sound of “Circle of Life” reflects my tendency to get lost in thoughts and feelings. Music is my way of expressing and exploring emotions, and this song captures that introspective journey. It’s meant to evoke introspection and connect with listeners on an emotional level. Thank you for recognizing the emotional depth in my music. (smiles)
Tim, in a previous interview, you expressed that “music is my life.” As the years have passed, do you still feel the same deep connection and passion for music in your current journey?
Absolutely! My connection and passion for music remain as strong as ever in my current journey. Music is still my life, and it continues to inspire and drive me every day.
“As far as I can tell, humans are still much more interested in a human story than that of an AI.” Beacon Bloom
Tim, as a producer known for pushing sonic boundaries, how did working with Beacon Bloom inspire you to explore new musical territories?
Collaborating with Beacon Bloom has been a remarkable experience, and I’m eager to continue our artistic journey together. The musical synergy we’ve discovered has left me craving future collaborations, as we explore even more exciting and uncharted creative territories. The prospect of further collaborations with Beacon Bloom fills me with anticipation and the desire to create more magical and boundary-pushing music together!
Beacon Bloom, in your opinion, how do you think the music industry will evolve in the coming years? What trends or changes do you anticipate?
That’s a biiig question (laughs).
The obvious one is AI, which is going to change music creation from less of a skill to more of a matter of taste. This trend has been going for years – music in the 50s, 60s, 70s had no tuning, very little post editing for timing etc and audio engineering was an extremely deep skill. That’s partly why so much of that music is so magic – it’s very real.
Now there are so many tools that make it easier to create music without having to be a perfect musician (vocal tuning for example) or even to have any musical skill. That doesn’t mean music made like that is bad – it’s the music itself, and how it resonates with people that matters, and so we’re going to get a looooot of new music, made very quickly and easily.
Those that will be successful will have to have exceptional taste, and be able to tell the best story – they will still need to woo an audience.
As far as I can tell, humans are still much more interested in a human story than that of an AI.
So we’re going to get much more fierce attention competition, and artists looking to grow will need to lean into audiovisual content as much as possible – we are currently doing this.
Music industry side, we’re going to get a lot of very interesting new IP laws, live music and experiences (I think) will become even more important than ever, and we’ll likely see AI antithesis movements much like Punk – towards more live improvisational, raw and imperfect music. Probably a very good thing for genres like Jazz, Blues and Folk.
These are interesting times, but despite the panic people are having I’m still very confident in the power of music.
“We do our best to make our full live show a true journey across the spectrum of human emotion.” Beacon Bloom
Beacon Bloom, as musicians, you have a strong connection with your audience. What do you want them to take away from your live performances?
We do our best to make our full live show a true journey across the spectrum of human emotion – we aim for our shows to be danceable, but equally as moving to simply watch and listen. We want to get the crowd on a singular level – for them to leave the outside world for a few hours and be taken away.
Beacon Bloom, can you give us a glimpse into what we can expect from your upcoming debut EP?
We have 4 very contrasting tracks – the opener is almost deep disco, the second we’ve been told evokes a late 90s rave, the others have warm moments and magical, ethereal breaks.
Each will have strong audio visual elements – our lead single ‘Real’ will have a full length psychedelic western music video accompanying, which is currently in production.
To both of you: As artists, what role do you believe music plays in society?
Tim: As an artist, I believe music plays a transformative role in society. It has the power to inspire, heal, and bring people together. Music provides a means of self-expression, reflection, and connection, transcending boundaries and fostering empathy. It can challenge perspectives, amplify voices, and spark change.
Ryan: Music is a human universal- every culture on the planet has its own music, and it is expressed by birds and other elements of nature. To me this speaks to it having a deeply important role in our time here – that it can reliably change emotions and provoke insight and change in people makes it a truly magical phenomenon to me.
“Music is still my life, and it continues to inspire and drive me every day.” Tim Enso
To both: How do you deal with pressure?
Tim: To handle pressure, I make sure to take care of myself and keep things in perspective. I find techniques like deep breathing and meditation helpful to stay calm. I also lean on my loved ones for support and talk openly about what I’m going through. Breaking tasks into smaller steps and focusing on the process rather than the end result helps me stay grounded. By staying positive and taking things one step at a time, I’m able to effectively deal with pressure. And I also like spending time outdoors. It rejuvenates and energizes me.
Ryan: Holding down good food and lifestyle choices, and sleep, are key to handling pressure, as well as insights from philosophies such buddhism and stoicism help a lot.
We tend to work well under a deadline and the right amount of pressure – something happens in that state which squeezes creativity out, and I’m always trying to remind myself to enjoy the process.
To both of you: Love and relationships often serve as inspiration for artists. What is the most important that influence your music?
Tim: My music draws inspiration from a variety of sources, but the most important influence for me is the raw and honest expression of human emotions. Whether it’s love, heartbreak, joy, or introspection, capturing the depth and complexity of these feelings drives and shapes my music. It’s the universal language of emotions that serves as the foundation for my heartfelt compositions.
Ryan: So we are currently building out a Beacon Bloom audiovisual universe (think something like Marvel but not superheroes) – with its own characters and storylines. This universe and its aesthetic are reflected in our music videos, and increasingly across our socials, so a lot of what we write ends up coming or playing to that.
We also resonate a lot with what Tim is saying here. We also love exploring the theme of human emotion as well as belief – to me it’s fascinating what people believe. That along with emotive stories bring an endless amount of inspiration.
Fallen Flower EP is out now: purifiedrecords.lnk.to/FallenFlower
Follow for more:
www.instagram.com/timenso
www.instagram.com/beaconbloom
