Ni Moya | Interview | New Album, ‘Reverie’
Three years after the release of his self-titled debut album, Ni Moya, bassist and singer of Naxatras, releases his sophomore album, ‘Reverie’ via Same Difference Music.
‘Reverie’ is a work of psychedelic electronic music, characterized by deep interiority and post-rave aesthetics. Four extensive compositions of impressionist ambient, in the footprints of Brian Eno, Terry Riley, Steve Hillage and Ashra, born out of hardware improvisations on analogue synthesizers, samplers and sequencers. Music rich in textures and timbres, minimal but lush, intended for transcendental daydreams.
“The sound is influenced by 70’s early ambient and kosmische musik”
Your project Ni Moya has been making your latest album, ‘Reverie’ for quite some time. What was it like working on the album and how much time and effort went into it?
John Vagenas: It’s funny, because the songs from this album are actually quite old. I first started working on them around 2018, so it’s been half a decade, which to be honest is also quite scary. I was still living in my previous house and all of these songs came out of improvising on hardware equipment. Then I released my debut LP in 2020, which comprised of material that preceded the ones from ‘Reverie’. During the first wave of the pandemic, while in quarantine, I found the time to elaborate on these ideas, adding extra layers with some new synths and stuff, then I had plenty of time to work on mixing and mastering. I didn’t want to rush things.
What kind of equipment did you use and how would you describe the sound and overall vision you had with it?
The first jams were on mostly the same gear I had for my first album, that is a Minibrute, an original TR-606 and a boutique JX-03. I ran those through sequencers, like Beatstep and Keystep and various pedals for effects. Later on I got a Minilogue, a Roland SH-101, which became a personal favourite, and an Electribe sampler, so I expanded the sound with those too. There is very little computer work involved. You can also hear some reversed guitars and bass, processed vocals and even a Christmas tree music toy in there. The sound is influenced by 70’s early ambient and kosmische musik, built on analog synthesizers and drum machines, but also some 90’s psychedelic electronica. The core idea was to build on minimal, repetitive structures, but make them feel vast and lush through textures and soundscapes. It’s an album to be enjoyed in quiet, when you’re daydreaming on the couch on a hazy afternoon, it will reveal its surprises through deep listening.
Would love it if you could expand a bit more in-depth on the influences that are clearly coming from the 70s.
A huge influence was Steve Hillage’s ‘Rainbow Dome Musick,’ the serene liquid vibe and all these little crystal sounds are exactly my idea of electronic psychedelia. Then there’s Terry Riley’s ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air,’ so there’s two rainbows. This is a work that’s really ahead of its time and Riley’s minimalism is a school on its own. Brian Eno definitely has shaped my attitude towards art in general, especially his first ambient albums. Ashra, Neu and other German “krautrock” acts were influences as well. But there’s also a 90’s vibe in there, a bit of early Aphex Twin and Autechre.
Do you believe that less is more when it comes to your solo project and music in general?
Yeah, at least that’s how I work intuitively. The amount of channels I had working on this album is shockingly low to most of my friends who produce electronic music. They use 100-200 channels, I use like 10 or something! Maybe that’s something I inherited from our first albums with Naxatras, where we recorded on 2-track reel-to-reel tape, so what you play is what you get, no overdubs, no overproducing. But, of course, it depends on the style of music. If you produce techno or psytrance, for example, you have to use a lot of channels in order to create tracks that stand equally next to other contemporary artists, it has gotten a lot more complex than the 70’s.
What are some future plans? I guess you’re heading for a tour with Naxatras?
We just came back from a gig in Athens that went incredibly well. Another great band from Greece called The Steams played too, I’m sure you’ll dig them if you haven’t heard already. Now we’re leaving again this week for our Parallel Realms tour in Europe.
What’s new in that camp?
After the tour, we come back home to work on our next album, which might be released next year, if everything goes according to plan. We already have ideas and half-formed songs and the ones that’ll go in this album have a common denominator that is the eastern and world music influence, along with a growing interest in electronic music. There’ll be a larger part for synthesizers this time, it feels like it’s gonna be something like Ozric Tentacles meets Altın Gün.
Would love to hear about the making of ‘IV’…
It is definitely the album on which we worked the most. The addition of keys and synths opened new doors to us and we wanted to have more layered arrangements this time, including percussion, strings and field recordings. So we also recorded differently, it was our first album that wasn’t recorded on tape. But we still aimed for a vintage 70’s prog sound, because our main influences were Camel, Eloy, Wishbone Ash, Rainbow, all these amazing bands. It’s a concept album with a fantasy story, there’s a Moorcock influence in there, especially Elric and Corum. The story telling aspect is loose, the listener can piece together the narrative through the lyrics, artwork and some lyrical texts included in the gatefold vinyl edition.
What about the three track Bandcamp only release of ‘Live in Athens’…
This is a side release that was a last minute call, because we would release these live versions as videos from our album presentation in Athens last year. So we said, why not make them available as audio too? But now that some time has passed, there’s a possibility to make a full live album release out of it, add more songs and cut it to vinyl. I hope this happens soon, because we don’t have any live albums on wax and the sound in that one came out really cool.
Any last words?
Just want to add that ‘Reverie’ is available on limited edition clear vinyl (only 200 pieces were pressed) through Same Difference Music. I have another LP and two EP’s finished and mastered, one of them will probably be released in cassette form soon. Thank you so much for the interview, I hope to see you and many readers in our next shows!
Klemen Breznikar
Ni Moya Facebook / Bandcamp / SoundCloud / YouTube
John Vagenas Instagram
Same Difference Music Facebook / Bandcamp
Naxatras Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / YouTube
Space Between Us Recordings Facebook / Bandcamp
Ni Moya | Interview | John Vagenas
Naxatras interview
