‘New EP’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest EP release. Up next is William John Philipson, a local composer and sound designer, who recently released an EP with Auckland vocalist Lily Jackson of BewyldabeasT.

When/where was the new EP recorded?
The majority of the EP was recorded in the kitchen of my flat. Since many of the tracks on the EP are electronic or synth based, they could be created on my laptop. We recorded most of the vocals in a single morning.

Who produced/engineered the EP? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
I produced, recorded and created the music at home. I had written various chord progressions, beats and motifs, which Lily Jackson then improvised the vocal lines over. With the exception of the second track, Tomorrow Will Be Incredible all of the vocals on the EP were improvised by Lily. After Lily recorded the vocals I would chop, change and rebuild the tracks to interact with the vocal lines.

Does the shorter format of an EP give you the option to experiment in any way with your sound or with different forms of songwriting?
We certainly did get the chance to really experiment with ideas and styles that neither Lily or I had tried before. But when we first started making the music we had no idea that we making an EP. By the time Lily headed back to Auckland after spending a week down in Wellington we had nearly enough material to release it as an EP, so we decided we would do that. Recording the last few tracks took a lot longer as we had to wait about six months for me to travel up to Auckland to finish them with her.

Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
Most of my equipment is pretty simple, but this is the great thing about electronic music, anyone has access to the tools to do it. Mainly I used my MacBook, a basic interface, and a single microphone. I used a couple of different guitars, including a fretless guitar on the track Metamorphosis. This was achieved by ripping the frets off a cheap guitar with pliers. I made good use of the SoundMagic Spectral plugins, which was made by the legendary Wellington composer and software programmer Michael Norris and are free on his website. In particular, his Spectral DroneMaker is incredible and is must have for any musician into electronic or ambient music.

Is there a particular track or theme that the EP was formed around?
The EP was formed essentially by accident, I had been looking for a singer for a few compositions I had written, and I heard her singing and for fun I got her to try to improvise some vocals. I was instantly blown away and knew that we had something really special in these off-the-cuff performances. Because of the way the EP came together many of the songs are completely different styles and genres. The first few are nineties reveal trip-hop, by later we go through swing jazz, art rock and even modern classical. Because of this, the theme of the EP became change, transition and progression. We settled on the butterfly album artwork to reflect on this constant metamorphosis of genre within the EP.

Where do you see the EPs place in growing an audience online? Do you see it as a progression towards an album or a separate entity?
I certainly would love to work with Lily again to make another EP. But we live in different cities and both have other projects. I am sure we will get another chance to do some more music together at some point in the future.

Which digital platforms is it available on?
It is available on all of the big ones, iTunes/Apple Music, Spotify, Bandcamp, YouTube and Google Play.

Are you doing any gigs or promotion for its release?
No, we are not. But if you are in Auckland keep an eye out for Lily’s band BewyldabeasT.