Artist Spotlight: Active Surplus talk creativity, friendship, and releasing their first EP on Pacific Rhythm
Image Credit: Michelle Chiu
“We were always just chillin - we were homies. Homies first, and then we just happened to love jamming.”
Active Surplus, the collaborative project from Toronto duo Evan Vincent (Emissive) and Ian Syrett, is a product of friendship. As most good things do - one of the most exciting new electronic projects began completely by chance. The two met at a house party in 2014, while studying in London, Ontario - they happened to be the only people in the room who listened to techno. After many years of hanging out and jamming together - they’re convinced to now be approaching thousands of hours of face-to-face time (re: the 10,000 Hour Rule) - this May they released their eponymous first EP on Vancouver label Pacific Rhythm. During a Zoom call one warm quarantine evening, I chatted with Evan and Ian about everything from the ins and outs of producing music with a friend, to piecing together years of work for their debut record, dreaming of hazmat suits to bring back clubbing, and their parallel love for both Baltimore house and roti.
The EP is a compilation of four tracks weaving together groovy, chilled-out electro melodies with chopped breaks referencing the percussion of Jersey club Bmore house. The intro track, “Yaye”, sets the scene with an addictive vocal chant over very danceable, choppy drum samples, and gentle chords characteristic of the West Coast sound throughout.
This unique combination of influences was what turned years of jamming and experimentation into a distinctive voice. “We got to the point where we realized we had a LOT of music - and we just sat down one day and we were like, okay, let's actually start putting all the loose ends together. Who does this energy speak to - what sort of cultural movements are inspired by this and are informed by this?” One particular movement seemed to really resonate with them - and suddenly the rest of the pieces fell into place.
Evan: “We started chasing down the Bmore [Baltimore] sound pretty heavily. Finding ways to flip that into what we were already doing. And I think that's really the one thing. It's really hard to have cohesion - especially when you have a lot of ideas. Having something that's the glue that puts it all together as a theme can be really hard to grasp.”
“So yeah, looking towards Jersey club and the Baltimore sound, it was a really nice way to get a lot of the tracks gelling together conceptually. But it’s something that we kind of jumped on to - we really started absorbing it later. Initially [the tracks] had more of an electro vibe.”
A good thing about working with a sample-heavy sound is the ability to move the samples around and change the direction of the tracks - and upon receiving positive feedback on “Yaye,” the duo figured they were onto something.
“We can take different worlds and combine them. It's kind of like collaging - that's usually how I think of it. You're taking all of these different elements and finding ways to get them to say something as a collective whole.”
Ian: And this is our first EP, right? So this was our first crack at sending a message out there - and we've got tons more material that we're going to keep working on. The theme for the first EP was definitely very B’more heavy, for sure - that was the vibe that we were feeling at the time.”
When asked why they decided to release on a Vancouver-based label, Active Surplus described working with their friends at Pacific Rhythm as a natural fit for this record.
Evan: “My favorite labels are the types that have a narrative. We were racking our brains thinking, what's our influence, what are our favorite labels? And then who do we also have a connection with? You know, because you want it to be natural. It's awkward when you're shopping records and you don't know [the label] - music's a very personal thing.”
While Evan works as an audio engineer and producer, Ian’s day-job is that of an audiologist. I asked Ian what it’s like to be so immersed in working with different aspects of sound - both hearing and music:
Ian: “It's definitely influenced the way I think about sound, for sure. It has more of an influence on some of the experimental stuff - I've tried a few things as far as more out-there sounds. I studied psychology when I was in undergrad and I was going to go into research in psychology. I was really interested in music, and I deejayed when I was younger - a lot. So [audiology] was a logical step for me to combine my love for sound and music with my background in psychology. As far as whether it influences actual musical material, maybe in some subconscious level - of just incorporating things that I've learned in school and in work.”
“I'm thinking about sound at work all the time, so I'm never that far away. There's similar language going on - both professionally and in my creative pursuit. It definitely makes it easier for me to work at the hospital, and then afterwards Evan and I jam for like - seven hours. Evan comes over, we jam and eat a roti, get back in the studio - eat lots of roti (laughs).”
“I love jamming and working with Evan because he's really proficient and creatively [he’s] really fun to work with. When I work on my solo project, I can sit there and work on the same sample for like three hours - whereas when I'm with Evan, I'll work on it for five minutes, and I'll look up, and he'll just be on his phone and I'll be like, ‘Oh yeah, shit, somebody else's time matters too’. It's easier to keep track of what the goal is when you're working with somebody else.”
Evan: “I'm guilty of the same thing - I'll be tweaking a filter for 45 minutes and it's like, you have to think about what the end pursuit [is], especially when you're with somebody else. I think it's easier to reach a manifested concept when you can be like, ‘this is working,’ or ‘maybe let's try this,’ and you can kind of work back and forth instead of just going in blind.”
Ian: “And lately, like for the past like two years, every time we jam we're making a track - or at least finishing something. So you spend enough time together, and eventually you finish each other's sentences. You don't have to go searching for the medium where your interests meet. It just sort of happens. It's more intuitive.”
Of course, what’s a Zoom call these days without mentioning something about the pandemic - I asked Active Surplus what advice they’d give creative people to stay motivated during this time of isolation:
Evan: When you find yourself with all this time, remember to take care of yourself and be easy on yourself. Also, this is an opportunity to actually just really explore the creative ideas that you're into because there's no more impetus to do just what's cool, or what's what people want. Now's the time to do exactly what you want to do and figure out what your voice is, and what your message is and what speaks to you.”
“Even if you're just making music for your own enjoyment, good. Find the thing that makes you feel amazing. As much as I love going to a club, and dance floor material, producers will feel like they need to make stuff that will get played to get out there - and to have their stuff in mixes. I think we'll see a lot more music of people just exploring sounds, trying new things. Exploring new directions, expressing themselves, expressing their frustrations. And getting into new ideas.. We'll see a lot more albums in the next little while.”
“You have time and you sit home; you can sit and listen to a record for an hour - it’s not like you are strapped for time anymore.”
...and then the conversation went a little beyond advice...
Ian: “You have to build a club where there's a tunnel that goes from your house to the club, but you're in your own little thing, and everyone's in there, and you can dance, and then there's another tunnel that brings the drink or whatever into your hands. And then you can jam with speakers inside each tunnel. And then when you're done, you're just back in your house.
Evan: “I think I saw this thing online - hazmat suits for clubbing - like you have your little cigarette…”
Check out Vitamix on n10.as radio and catch Active Surplus’ guest mix with House of Delancey on Noods Radio on August 29th at 20:00 GMT
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