by Abstrakt Reflections | January 20, 2010

AR: Hello Zach, besides your MySpace and the release of “Mourn”, nothing much is known about your project, Apparent Symmetry – may you introduce yourself!

Zach: Apparent Symmetry is a new project. It was started about a year and a half ago. I didn’t put it on myspace until May of last year. My own personal music has been going in this direction for the last 6 years. Before that I worked on trance and club music, which had a big influence on the downtempo/electronica stuff I was making. It ended up being really repetative and boring. After I found Tympanik Audio, that was really what pushed me to do more with my music. This is the result.

AR: Yet the fact, that your debut album “Mourn” is officially released, what are your expectations?

Zach: I don’t expect anything. The fact that all of this is really happening still blows me away. Abstrakt Reflections has really done a lot more for promotion than I thought they would, and a lot of other people seem to be on board, which is great. They’ve also really been trying to make it all as easy on the artists as they can. I just hope I can come up with something good by the end of this year, so they’ll let me release through them again.

AR: What has inspired you the most in creating music yourself? Can you explain this choice of artistic expression?

Zach: Well, life …and boredom. After high school, I was givin` a demo copy of Fruity Loops 2… and I was off… it was how I spent all of my free-time. After years, it just became a part of me. At first it wasn’t really about expression, I was just trying to make something that sounded cool. It also relaxed me quite a bit. It wasn’t until after I actually felt comfortable working with software, and understood what Fruity Loops and Reason could do, that I started trying to put emotion into it. It’s been about 6 years sense I’ve started trying to get my feelings out through music. And at this point in time, I still don’t feel like I’ve got it yet. Most of my time is spent tweaking nobs and trying to get everything leveled and EQed right. I’m thinking about moving over to hardware. I like the idea of creating things on a whim, which usually doesn’t happen with software.The choice to have music as my source of expression came after first trying a journal, and poems. Poems turned into lyrics, lyrics eventually turned into songs. Music was the only thing that left me feeling like I had made progress with my own emotions.

AR: How do you go with writing and composing your music?

Zach: Usually I’ll start with a basic pad and work from there. I make most of the synth/pad lines in Fruity Loops, and then move them over into Reason, where I put pretty basic drum patterns to. Then I move the drum patterns into Fruity Loops, and add FX through there, then import them back into Reason. To keep it from sounding too Fruity Loopish… I do try and add bass and backing synths/pads inside of Reason as well. I use lots and lots of refills, and VSTs. I wish I could say I’ve got a big bank of drum samples, but I usually end up making the drum/percussion sounds after I put the pads/synths into Reason, and working with the bass. The sort of bass pattern or pad I use will almost always end up influencing how the drums turn out.

AR: Are there any musicians that have had a direct influence on Apparent Smmetry or have directly inspired your music?

Zach: Well, as for the Apparent Symmetry project, the main influences have been Subheim, Access To Arasaka, well actually, the whole lighter side of the Tympanik Audio catalog. Klyxn, Sadore, and In A Mindset have inspired songs. I started using pianos more when Emily (Sadore) complimented Desert Sunrise on IDMForums… and Lisa (Klyxn) was, for some reason, always pushing me to continue on with music. Lamentation was written right after she passed away. Apart From This Life is an older track that I completly replaced all of the percussion in after listening to In A Mindset over and over. There’s a lot more music that I’ve listened to over the years that has inspired me to make music with feeling… Stabbing Westward would be a big one, Christopher Hall’s lyrics and voice has always gotten to me… it’s hard to name a few, because along the road to finding these great artists, a LOT of music and genre’s were explored, and I’ve picked up something from almost every artist/group that I listen to.

AR: What do you think about all the internet music communities, netlabels and so called “social networking”?

Zach: I personally love all of it. There’s so many great artists popping up, especially these days, 5 or 6 years ago, I was really put off of IDM and Electronica music because of all the 8-bit stuff floating around netlabels, and archive.org… not saying it’s bad. It’s just not my taste… but here recently, over the last 3 years or so, some really great artists have stepped out of hiding, some great netlabels have put some great artists together. It just seems like right now is a really good time for IDM/Electronica/Ambient/Rhythmic Noise.

AR: Will we be able to catch you live at a show someday?

Zach: Maybe. I’d really like to get hardware…, and a laptop. Money is a big issue when it comes to live shows. At least for me. So when I say maybe, I mean maybe in about 5-6 years. I’d have to be done with school. I’m also plagued by stage fright. I’ve DJ’d a couple of times at bars around the area and I’d get so nervous, I couldn’t beatmatch… after DJing in my bedroom for 8 years or so… I couldn’t freaking beatmatch to save my life on stage. But it’s definitely something I want to work towards doing.

AR: What are your future plans? Does Apparent Symmetry plan on a follow up to this stunning debut?

Zach: Future plans? Well I’m going to school right now, and working, and trying to find a comfortable place within my wife’s family. It all got really, really hectic around the end of last year, I had decided to call it quits with music… but then realized that I’ll never be able to stop. Music is too much a part of my life, and has been for a long long long time. Even if people say I suck or hate my music, I’ll still work on it. So yes, I do plan on having a follow-up album completed sometime this year; probably at the end of year, in December. I hope I can explore music, and myself more while making it, and that it ends up sounding better than Mourn.

AR: And last, is there anything you would like to share in parting?

Zach: Just thank you to everyone that’s givin my music a chance, and thank you to Abstrakt Reflections for giving me this opportunity.