‘New EP’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest EP release. Up next is k2k, whose new EP Sugar was released on the Margins Label late last month.
When/where was the new EP recorded?
The EP was recorded over 8 months, pretty sporadically. I’d take a break for a month then spend a week maniacally trying to finish a track. I’ve always found it pretty hard to fit music around working full time, but I just ended up making it piece by piece in the evenings and weekends. Malibu/We Down For were made in Wellington and the last track Pacha was made when I moved up to Auckland.
Who produced/engineered the EP? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
I wrote and produced the EP, and the masters were done by Luke Rowell (Disasteradio). I made the music at home, on a laptop, using lots of VSTs. I’ve bought a bit of gear but I’ve found that when I’m working to get ideas out it’s easier for me to play around on Ableton that set up a bunch of gear. Normally by the time I’ve got all the gear working I’ve lost my train of thought. Since moving to Auckland I’ve set up a music studio with some friends, so everything is set up all the time and you just need to plug in and play. Hopefully I’ll be incorporating more physical instruments into my music in the future.
Did the shorter format of an EP give you the option to experiment in any way with your sound or with different forms of song-writing?
I honestly just released an EP as I’m super slow at making music. It’d take me 5 years to release a full length! Each track is pretty different but there wasn’t a general theme for the EP. With ‘Malibu’ I wanted to try and make a track I could fit into one of my DJ sets. With ‘Pacha’ I wanted to make something a little more chill and paired back. ‘We Down For’ was made in this long rambling process of playing with an acapella for weeks, and eventually finding a vibe I liked.
Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
I used my laptop, paired with a lot of VSTs and samples, and midi controllers to write the synth lines.
Is there a particular track or theme that the EP was formed around?
Nothing that was preconceived before I started making the tracks. I’m influenced by the music I DJ – lots of house, disco, boogie. I always tend to use 90’s RnB acapellas as that music is what I grew up listening to.
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’ve noticed EPs getting more and more popular. Or maybe they’ve always been popular and I’m just a bit late to the house/techno game. An EP fits on a record, is a smaller, more digestible form of music and is easier for musicians to release if they’re not super fast at making tracks. Most of the electronic music I listen to now is released as a single or an EP, although I still really appreciate the format of an LP for ambient music or a more conceptual album.
Which digital platforms is it available on?
Bandcamp & Soundsloud.
Are you doing any gigs or promotion for its release?
Potentially a few gigs later in the year for the release. At the moment I’ve got quite a few gigs planned but nothing specifically for EP promotion.