INTERVIEW: Zar

Zar joins us for an artist interview, his recent EP Practice Makes Miracles is one of the more unique records we have heard this year. Featuring a long form arrangement to be enjoy in parts or as a whole. Lets find out more about Zar.

What's the most profound musical experience you've ever had, and how has it influenced your creative output?

Probably when I was about about 13. I always joke that this was the moment I got “corrupted” but I remember it so distinctly. I was getting ready for school, made some cereal, sat down to watch some tv and at the time MTV2 was still going, they used to play mostly rock etc. The video for Little Sister by Queens of the Stone Age came on, and I was just totally mesmerised, had never heard anything like it before and it completely shook my young tiny world at the time! I became completely obsessed. It sounded like nothing I had heard of at the time. It influenced my creative output really by always keeping in mind the ideal of trying not to sound like anyone else, be as original as possible, it’s really stuck with me!

In your opinion, what's the most underrated electronic music subgenre, and why do you feel it doesn't get the recognition it deserves?

Probably Musique concrete, but the more I think about it I think it’s pretty rated amongst certain circles…I don’t know!

Can you tell us about a particularly memorable gig you played, and what made it stand out for you?

I play drums in a punk band called The Sex Patels – our first show we ever played was off of the back of not releasing any music, purely on the basis of the entire band were made up of south Asians playing punk and rock, you don’t see that often. The audience were mostly south Asian too, again something you don’t see ever really! It was a sold out show and just the vibe was electric, felt like making history! At the time it was during the party gate scandal in the UK surrounding Boris Johnson, and the atrocious record of the Home Office with Priti Patel being Home Secretary, so we were really criticising the Tories. It felt like this conjuring of collective rage the nation was feeling. Great show. Ever seen a Sikh man with a turban in a wall of death? Me neither, until that day!

Another memorable show was when I DJ’d at Ministry of Sound with DAYTIMERS, the DJ booth was really high up so I couldn’t really see the audience well, but I could hear them chanting along to some of the house tunes I was playing, properly electric and joyous vibe! I recorded the set and it’s on my soundcloud, you can hear the audience going crazy during points, so cool to experience!

If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it

be and why?

Jimi Hendrix. The guy was just oozing creativity, feel like I could’ve learnt some universal truths from him.

What's the most unusual sound you've ever used in a track, and how did you go about incorporating it?

I do this quite a lot in my productions, I mask the sounds though so you can’t tell what they are. A couple that come to mind are the sound of a Golf Ball falling on ice, and an owl laughing.

How has your musical style evolved over the years, and what factors have contributed to those changes?

I started off playing more rock and punk, but as times gone on I got really into Hip Hop, and then jazz, then electronic, and all the other incredible musical genres that come with digging for records from around the world. My productions started off in Hip Hop, then moved more into cinematic dance ideas rooted in UKG, House etc. I think just constantly discovering new music all the time and finding new feelings to explore have contributed to the evolution. I’m not done yet!

What's your creative process like, from start to finish, and how has it changed over time?

Ah i don’t really like thinking about “the process” it takes the fun out of making things. I’m pretty anti formulaic stuff, I don’t want to fall into patterns, want to keep things fresh.

In your opinion, what's the biggest challenge facing the electronic music scene today, and what steps can we take to overcome it?

A few things. Reliance on social media for promotion. Unfair pay from streaming services. A drastic rehaul of society and culture will need to overcome these things. I don’t have the answers, I just know that I don’t like these things.

Can you tell us about a particularly challenging moment in your career, and how you overcame it?

Releasing this EP! Hardest thing I’ve had to do musically. I got too wrapped up in caring about what other people were going to think of it. I’ve been working on it for 2 years. I nearly didn’t put it out, but I’m so glad it is coming out. I overcame it by just having a sit down by myself one day and really just soul searching, assessing why I was putting it out, why I made the project, why I think it’s important for people to hear it. Ultimately, I decided that none of that matters, and I wanted to do this for myself, even if it “fails”. I made this for me and that’s enough!

How do you see electronic music evolving over the next decade, and where do you see yourself fitting into that picture?

I see electronic and pop continually crossing over. Pinkpanteress being the biggest example of this. I think genre blending will continue. I ideally would like to see some cool fresh takes on how rock and electronic can fit together that doesn’t come off as cheesy. Maybe I could be that person, I don’t know. But will see how it goes!

What's next for you?

Practice Makes Miracles is out on the 16th March! In the meantime, I’m sitting on a bunch of new tunes ready for a new home, or I might release some myself in the meantime 😊 have my first live solo electronic show coming up in May as well as an exciting DJ show with details to be announced soon!

LINK: https://linktr.ee/ajdzar