Northern Lighthouse - Interview
Our new Artist Spotlight goes ambient!
In our new Artist Spotlight, we welcome Northern Lighthouse! Northern Lighthouse creates electronic music using samplers, guitar pedals, modular synthesizers, and drum machines. Born in Bologna, Italy, he also lived in the UK and Belgium and has performed live in various countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Belgium, and Singapore.
Question: So, let’s start with your new record – Argentiera. Do you want to share with us the story behind this album?
Northern Lighthouse: The first time I went to Argentiera I was a teenager and I was fascinated by this sort of ghost town. The second time I fainted because it was too hot. The third time I decided I wanted to make an album dedicated to that place. Each summer I recorded sounds, I met people, I took photographs with some expired film rolls and I searched for every bit of info, books, maps and photos I could find on that small and almost-abandoned mining town in the isle of Sardegna, Italy.
Argentiera is a weird place, a small town where until the 60s, a group of people speaking different languages and dialects lived together far from any other town, in a rocky headland. They were isolated but they had all the essentials such as shops, a cinema, a school, an infirmary, a canteen, and accommodations for the miners and their families. I also self-published a book of photos and thoughts which adds information about the history of the town. I want people to experience its story through my eyes and ears. I didn’t want to create a documentary but a story made with music, sounds, words, and visuals.
Q: You mention that a big source of inspiration is traveling, lighthouses, and history. How do you translate those images and places into your music?
NL: My music is a result of my fascination for isolated places, maps, fog, and lighthouses, together with the nostalgia for the past, for the places where I grew up and those I visited as a student like the cold and windy coast of Northern England. It is a trip in time and space with a lot of Saudade, a nostalgic and melancholic state you can hear in my sound. I have been living abroad since 2010 so that helps. I like the idea of having a concept behind every song or album: a place, a story taken from a book, a documentary or article, something from history or geography, or from my own personal life. Then I try to translate it into sounds.
Q: Your sound is really driven by ambient soundscapes, field recordings, and lo-fi textures. What draws you to this certain type of sound?
NL: I like sounds that are imperfect, not clean, cold, and plasticky. They need to sound like they come from afar. This is why I add a lot of effects to every melody or rhythm I create. I often use reverb with a bit of distortion and amp simulators. This adds a shade of roughness which I love. I listen to a lot of hardcore and post-rock and I play the drums and I see I’m slowly going back to those heavier sounds even while playing chilled electronic music. And it reminds me of the tapes I was recording with my friends in the basement where I had my drums set. Field recordings are essential to add something unique and personal to the songs. Argentiera contains sounds that I recorded while walking among the abandoned buildings of the mine as well as short sound bytes from interviews with locals. Without these sounds, it wouldn’t be so connected to the history and geography of the place. Another thing I did was re-creating the sounds that can’t be heard anymore, like the heavy machines and the drill used by the miners, the elevators going down the mine shaft, or the sound of the church bells.
Q: How do you feel about the music industry lately as a touring artist? Today, anyone can record and release music from their bedroom, but, in your opinion, what it takes to “make it” as a musician? What lessons did you get from your journey?
NL: Tough question. There’s no right path or status to reach. It’s competitive and it requires patience and a lot of networking. Social media are great tools for meeting people and sharing music, however, Instagram, Bandcamp, and YouTube are echo chambers. A lot of people upload videos when they buy new gear and they want to see what others bought. Everyone can self-publish 10 EPs a year, but no one will listen to those. It’s difficult to reach out to people who just want to listen to music instead of other synth nerds looking for tutorials and gear. Another challenge is the time that needs to be dedicated to finding gigs, recording music, and producing content for social media. Days are not long enough. Last year I gave priority to playing live and I stopped feeling the pressure to jam in front of the camera every week just to have a video to share online.
Q: OK, let’s now talk about gear! Can you guide us through your live setup?
NL: It changes everytime and I try to bring less and less gear with me. When I played in the US I managed to fit everything into a small backpack. The crucial thing is that it needs to be easily carried around when I travel by train or plane. My set is currently made of two 4ms Eurorack cases with Bloom, Godspeed, and Sealegs for the slow and more ambient parts, Ramples to launch pre-recorded loops, some FX, LFOs, mixers, and input/output modules. As a keyboard synth, I use the organelle connected to either a guitar pedal like AC Noises Ama or Chase Bliss Dark World or directly into Mutable Instruments Clouds. For my field recordings, rhythms and song stems I use 1010music‘s blackbox sampler. I sometimes bring OTO Boum as an end-of-the-chain compressor, saturator, and filter.
Q: Taking a track from your studio to a live show takes a lot of work, what is your approach to incorporating a song into a live set?
NL: I export loops and stems and I launch them during my set, in between improvised parts. I also like playing with effects, filters or playing on top of the loops with the organelle. This way you’re not just DJing your own tunes, but playing a full live set that is always a bit different.
Q: Desert island piece of gear?
NL: Maybe my drums or the organelle and a looper.
Q: Your absolute favorite effects pedal or module?
NL: Intellijel Sealegs has everything I like: drive, noise, tape-like warble, and different types of delay and reverb. What else would I need?
Q: How do you usually start a song?
NL: I usually start with a drone or an arpeggio, then I look for a combination of notes and I build on top of that with different instruments as well as field recordings trying to recreate the atmosphere and feelings that are in my head. I save the project and then I listen to it days later and I might delete most of it or keep working on it. This could take a couple of hours, days, or months. I focus more on creating a specific sound and an atmosphere I like rather than finding the perfect melody and I prefer repetitions instead of random generative music with just rings into clouds. I don’t want to create elevator music for a yoga center.
Q: Who is your biggest musical inspiration? There can be more than one.
NL: Loscil and Fieldhead were the first ambient artists I saw live. At the time I was mainly listening to rock music and it was all so new for me! A recent work that I loved is Dawson City: Frozen Time, a documentary by Bill Morrison about the discovery of 533 nitrate reels containing numerous lost films that were preserved by the icy Alaskan weather. The film features old footage of the gold rush, archived sounds and photos, interviews, and a melancholic musical score. I love these multimedia projects giving a second life to past events and preserving culture.
Q: Dream festival line-up that you would love to be a part of?
NL: Not sure about the names, but I would love to play in one of these festivals where you are surrounded by nice and friendly people. People you can have a chat with and share tips, contacts, and organize events together. Here in Belgium, some musicians are a bit cold and competitive, they play and then leave. I miss the solidarity and mutual support that I was used to while living in Italy.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve got on making music?
NL: Read books, and watch films. Listen to different types of music, do what you like, and don’t copy other people you see on social media. Focus on creativity, not on the gear you have. Ask yourself why you want to make music. Who is it for?
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