Simon Peter's "You Don't Send Slow Waves Anymore" was featured in Balearic Breakfast's 161st episode. I met Simon for a chat about his Music!
1) When listening to several of your tracks, we're surprised by how many variations you include: sonic, structural, and pictural variations. These changes make your tracks living pictures in which the listener can lose himself, yet you always pick him up at the right time. How did that specific way of putting music together come to you?
This is an interesting and very pleasing analysis of my music; thank you, Artur!
Overall, I take an explorative approach to my compositions – I never have a clear vision of a track at the outset.
In terms of structure, I don’t worry at all about following any particular rules. It's probably true that my tracks tend to have extended passages in which listeners can immerse themselves (perhaps a feature of much ‘Balearic’ music?), introducing a new element, variation, or section before the track starts to feel too repetitive or drawn out. When producing a track, I largely avoid using loops, and I like to include a lot of variations throughout to help the tracks feel organic and somewhat live-sounding.
2) « You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore » was played during the 161st episode of Balearic Breakfast, and it perfectly showcases the plurality of your music, where sound effects reproduce nature’s sounds (when you don’t use real nature sound to enhance your musical visions...). I feel this sonic picturality is nicely translated in the track’s titles, too… How do you choose them, and when does that occur in the creative process?
I tend to settle on a title once a track is completed or nearly completed.
I prefer abstract over descriptive titles as this leaves more to the imagination, and it's not always easy to come up with a track name that I am satisfied with. I remember that I was struggling for the title for ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore’. I ended up using an online song name generator, which, with some prompts, came up with ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves’. I added ‘...Anymore’ to it to make it feel a bit more emotive and wistful. I really like this title – it fits the track but is slightly odd.
3) According to you, what is the hardest step when working on a song? What are you avoiding to do as a producer at all costs when producing music joining the “Balearic realm”?
The hardest part for me is turning a musical idea into a complete track. It is one thing to come up with one nice chord sequence or musical phrase but quite another to develop that into a fully formed composition.
When it comes to producing Balearic tracks, I suppose I am just trying to ensure the Simon Peter tracks have character and some level of musical intricacy. I try hard to avoid my tracks sounding generic or cliché.
4) Colleen’s show, Balearic Breakfast, is all about sharing the music we love, and members of the Family proposed their own sets when Collen went on tour. You also love to share your musical influences, be it through playlists on Spotify or through mixes you craft. One of these musical influences can be found in Japanese Music (Shu Suzuki even did a wonderful remix of « You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore»). What is it in the “Japanese touch” that makes it so Balearic?
Perhaps it’s more the case that in recent years, Balearic DJs have found Japanese music to be a treasure trove for Balearic nuggets. Certainly, a range of Japanese music can be considered Balearic – from City Pop to new age/ambient, minimal electronic stuff, or the (sometimes good, often dodgy) Japanese reggae versions of pop songs.
I’ve been listening to certain Japanese artists for a long time (Cornelius and Susumu Yokota spring to mind), and, in fact, this Cornelius track (Point of View Point (Yann Tomita Mix)) was a key inspiration for ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore’. I absolutely love it.
And yes, I would also like to thank Shu Suzuki again for his wonderfully creative re-interpretation of ‘You Don’t Send Slow Waves Anymore’. It's quite a ride! Thank you, Shu!
5) Looking back at what you crafted and the recognition and support you received over the years, do you ask yourself the question, “What hasn’t yet been done in the Balearic Musical genre?” If so, could you share with us a tiny bit of the “musical dreams” you have for the future?
I would not say that I am necessarily trying to break any new ground within the Balearic genre; I only aspire to develop my own voice with the Simon Peter tracks. Increasingly, I do try to push myself musically with each track I work on.
My musical ambitions are not lofty – I simply hope to be able to continue to find the time to finish tracks and to work with friendly labels to get them released. In terms of future releases, I do have one track finished (a collaboration with a singer/songwriter), which should be released on a compilation record next year, and I have another couple of tracks in the works – including another collaboration – so there should be new Simon Peter tracks appearing over the horizon in their own laid-back time!
Thank you So Much, Simon!
Simon put together a Spotify Balearic Playlist, including both his own works and his Musical Influences. It's a musical trip for sure! Be sure to check that one out! 😉