Photo by Leah Gair
SAVANT said it best when he described his musical process as such… “Imagine you have a backyard pool, and you fill that shit with music, and you stir it up like a cocktail. Then you reach your hand in and pull out a bunch of ideas, styles, genres and you make it all together. That’s how my brain works; it puts all this different crazy shit into this pool.”
That is the best way to describe the experience of his music live. It’s like diving head first into that pool of lights, color and sound. You can’t help but get swept up in the infectious atmosphere. The “Vario” virus swept the dance floor as people dressed like, Mario, Luigi, Zelda and other video game characters and danced into the wee hours of the morning. Heavy, metallic bass filled the room and resonated in your chest.
Aleksander’s stage presence is electric and demanding. You can feel his excitement and the love he feels for his fans. Donning his trademark Guy Fawkes mask, Aleksander becomes his true Savant, partying with his fans whilst working his ass off to give us that infectious sound we so badly crave.
For those of you who were at the show, you already know it was AMAZING. While we’re on the topic, let’s give a huge shout out to our friends at BassFace and Big Bass such a stellar event. The venue was great, Pampanga Banquet hall is spacious, making way for the arch of video screens surrounding the stage. Raised platforms with neon hoop dancers dressed as a very enticing Mario and Luigi duo. The fans couldn’t have been more appreciative, this having been Alexsander’s second public show in North America. He loved the atmosphere and was very excited about how energetic and inviting his fans were.
Photo by Leah Gair
I had the privilege of an interview with Aleksander after his performance. With nowhere else quiet to go we took refuge in the kitchen (also doubling as the coat check). Aleksander is so full of energy and was still in his zone, he described his brain like a “snow globe” that has just been shaken. After a quick debrief we got to business. The following is my interview with Aleksander Vinter, who we all love and know as Savant.
Q: What is your creative process for making music?
A: I have to be happy; when I’m happy I have no trouble making music. I don’t think when I make music it just happens. It’s all intuitive, like when you close your eyes and dream, everything comes natural.
Imagine you have a backyard pool, and you fill that shit with music, and you stir it up like a cocktail. Then you reach your hand in and pull out a bunch of ideas, styles, genres and you make it all together. That’s how my brain works; it puts all this different crazy shit into this pool.
Q: Of the many different genres of music you have made, what are your favorites?
A: That’s the thing, my favorite genre or song would be the song that contains the most genres possible, changing constantly.
Q: What genres are you interested in trying next?
A: Country music probably, I have tried that, we just came from Atlanta and I was influenced by some Atlanta hillbillies. Whenever I meet people that aren’t into my shit I want to prove to them I can make music. They don’t think people who do techno can do music and I hate that shit, and it’s not true. Give me a piano, guitar, drum kit or whatever I will kill them with that shit. I haven’t worked with an orchestra yet, although I have written a lot of symphonies. I have not had the opportunity to work with them yet and hear it being played to me with a big orchestra.
Q: I heard you have recently been working with Infected Mushroom?
A: Yes recently I worked on a track with them for their new EP. Our track is a mix between Pystrance and Dubstep, it’s so intense and layered, it has 80 layers of music.
Q: What makes you happy?
A: Love make me happy, yeah know, not sex love, love, love, like when people care. When you feel an unconditional love for everyone, yeah know. When you don’t hate anyone, that’s when I love making music, when I love everyone.
Q: Do you feel that unconditional love from your fans?
A: Yeah, now it’s getting crazy though, super crazy, I’m really trying to get my head around this stuff. The first really crazy guy I met was in Switzerland. He came up to the stage and gave me a ecstasy pill, then he gave me his necklace, and then he gave me another ecstasy pill, then he started to undress. (Laughs.)
Then in Vienna I have these dudes come all the way from Germany, that’s like an eight-hour drive just to see me live. They printed their own shirts from one of my songs “No time for pussy”. It had princess peach crying on the front and at the bottom it said GAME OVER. I gave that to my girlfriend, suiting as shit.
Q: How has your production techniques changed over time and with new technology?
A: Oh yeah, the thing is, when you have an instrument like a guitar, that is simple stuff. But when you plug that guitar into the computer, you can do ANYTHING you want with that stuff now. The software now can do so, so many things. It’s not what you can do, it’s what you can’t. The list is very small.
Q: How long, on average, does it take to produce a track?
A: Well, I was in Thailand in December; I had a really good time there, I think I made almost a whole album while I was there 6-10 tracks. About 3-6 hours for standard EDM track for me, but an album I will usually spend weeks on because I want it to be perfect. I work on all of the songs at the same time, like I have the album laid out in my head a-z. Like when you listen to old rock albums like AC/DC Back in Black, stuff like that. You have a feeling, listen to the whole album from a-z every track has its moments, its groove and feeling. It escalates and goes back down, it’s dynamite, groovy. I have moods in my head, I want to fill those quotas, and then it becomes a symphony or an album. No planning, no fore thought, its like jumping off a cliff, you just do it.
Q: What is your favorite program to use? How do you use it differently than other musicians that makes your music stand out?
A: I use FL Studio, they have actually sponsored me, now I am a power user with them. They emailed me and said hey dude we want you to represent us.
Below are a few more tunes for free download. Find hundreds more here.
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Links:
savantfans.com
Savant on SoundCloud
Savant on Facebook
Savant on Twitter
