Hidden Element creates music that works in all settings and transcends genres. His openness to a wide range of sound is what has both made him a widely loved favourite, but also someone who operates in his own parallel musical world. We had a chance to talk to him, so enjoy your reading and check out his latest releases.
Hi Hidden, thank you for answering our questions. I'd like to start by asking you about your technical approach to creating music. What gear do you normally wear?
Hi and thanks for having me. Mainly I make tracks using only Ableton. But i love having fun with my small collection of hardware stuff. I have a few Korg synths: Minilogue, Microkorg & XD. Plus i have Octatrack and a few guitar pedals like Eventide H9 with great reverbs and TRex Replica Delay. Im not a hardware geek but sometimes it helps me finish the tunes.
I also have a pair of Mackie HR824 first generation - i just love how they sound.
And yeah, that’s pretty much it.
What aspects does the equipment you use that you like bring to your production?
I love using simple/cheap synths. Something that i could plug into my mixer and have a good time with it. I’m often recording the synth notes and bring them to Ableton Sampler. I find that technique quite useful. I used this method a lot in my latest ‘Cycles’ EP - pads, bleeps and stuff.
What can you tell us about the latest work: "Cycles"? How was it born? Why did you want to broadcast?
‘Cycles’ is the third and last part of EP trilogy before the LP. You could see the beautiful Ukrainian landscapes on every EP artwork created by CREVV team. ‘Cycles’ have a strong tracklist. I’m really proud of these tunes.
And also I’m really happy to have such strong remixes on board. I always been in love with Throwing Snow’s music. I follow him for about 10 years or so. There’s an interesting thing about trilogy - it begins with ‘Sound Of’ and ends with a remix of 'Sound Of' by Throwing Snow and thus the cycle comes to an end and the storyteller is back at the place where his journey initially began. Sick! I love this concept! I think you should start listening from the beginning of EP trilogy to better understand the music progression in ‘Cycles’. Your EP "Cycles" is having a very good impact. What were you inspired by to create it? How do you turn your inspiration into a mechanically produced track? I wrote these tracks between 2017 and 2020 incl. one year of living in the United States (from 2018 to 2019). In this regard, tracks like ‘Final Approach’ and several others were written during my difficult adaptation period in California. This piece of work reflects my personal process of finding myself. I was inspired by things around me - with my homeland, my family, my friends even ill-wishers. Im trying to be thankful to everyone and everything that happened in my life. I think it makes sense - i produced these tracks with that feeling. How has your sound evolved since you started? Damn good question. The first Hidden Element release was back in 2011. Hidden Element was founded as a duo, btw. Early HE tracks were kinda DnB/Autonomic influenced. I explored 170/Jungle stuff a lot. This led to the releases on MedSchool, Alphacut, Pinecone Moonshine and many other. Nowadays tempo of HE is slower around 125-130 bpm and it’s more simple, more holistic i think. Im still using breaks a lot, heavy subs but I’m also loving the melodic moves in my tunes. Where is the sound of Hidden? Somewhere out there (Hi Corporeal Face) <3
Comments