ALEPH is an electronic music artist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His sound is characterized by heavy bass lines and intricate song structures. Throughout his discography, he delves into genres such as EDM, Dubstep and Future Garage. ALEPH's second studio album SEPULCHRE was released in June 2022. In addition to regularly performing at festivals, he recently toured with British music duo KOAN Sound.

How did you start making music?

Honestly, my friend gave me a USB with a pirated copy of FL Studio on it in maybe 2007, and I really got into it in 2009, trying and failing to make Drum and Bass. I have always been a nerd who spent a lot of his free time creating and I had fallen so deeply in love with electronic music that I figured I should give it a shot.

Do you have specific musicians or genres that inspire you?

I love Garage a lot, House, Techno, but basically everything. Perhaps my tastes are just a bit unrefined, but I really enjoy music. As for my most listened-to artists, Floating Points, Nikki Nair, G Jones, Burial, Sherelle, Nia Archives, Sully, Overmono are some of my favorites at the moment

Your second album delves more into genres like Future Garage and Ambient. One association one might have is with the work of Burial, who had a huge influence on the Future Garage genre. His music is very much a product of London and the environment there. Has Minneapolis had an influence on your music?

It's funny 'cause everyone always thinks I’m from the UK or Europe, but I’m American, and just found a lot of English and European music early on in my formative years. Minneapolis has a really cool space in art and music, with great festivals like Infrasound and the pioneering dubstep act Ternion Sound. I am fortunate to have played Infrasound and worked with Ternion on some shows, and it would be a flat out lie to say both haven’t left their mark on me in terms of taste and inspiration.

How do you approach new music? Do you work with samples or do you start from scratch?

With new music these days, I mostly write very simple melodic ideas over drum loops and play with what kind of bass rhythms I can explore. I don’t spend a lot of time working on each individual sound at first, but rather just focus on the notes and the groove, and lock in everything else later. I balance my creative process between generating new sounds, building off previous ones, or just dragging in samples and loops to see what I can cook up. I very rarely make drums or any specific sound from scratch during the writing process because it can bog down the process and I prefer to just jump into it and move with the idea.

Your music has been described as sounding like a dystopian rave. Would you agree with that description? Or how would you describe your sound?

I feel very honored by the description, and ultimately it's not my job to tell people what to think of my work. I draw a lot of influences from the foundational sounds that became hallmarks of rave music, and can definitely see why someone would say that. I like it to be honest!
Personally, I usually just call my stuff electronic music or dance music 'cause I can’t be bothered to really figure out what it is. I make a lot of Garage stuff and that is probably also a fitting description.

There aren't many vocals or lyrics in your music, why did you choose to make mostly instrumental music?

I don’t find myself drawn to writing music with a traditional vocal structure, but I do love to use them as unconventional instruments or little ravey phrases. They are actually in most songs one way or another. The voice is so special and I really want to make sure it has the proper space in a song.

“[ALEPH's] compositions are intricately detailed, revealing new aspects of itself over many listens that are rewarding in new ways every time.” - Lurien, RYM

This is a quote from a review of your first album, EGO DEATH. How do you manage to make your music accessible to the listener without taking away the complexity of your songs?

That is such a kind compliment! I really hope I can continue to live up to that standard!
My goals have changed a lot over the years, but I have always wanted to make music that gets me moving, be it on the dance floor or alone in my studio. Often when people tend to make music and try to be as complex or technical as possible, I find that the nuance and uniqueness of each idea can get a bit diluted and lost. This is something I have definitely struggled with in the past.
One approach that has helped me avoid this dilemma is to try to present “simplicity in a complex way” or “complexity in a simple way”. I usually start by picking a focus for the song and then build the surrounding elements to support the core spirit of the idea. I guess a more practical example would be to write a very strange and complex bassline with a simplified static drum groove around it, or by having perhaps more chaotic percussive elements supported by some other sound as a constant. I think my brain really likes that contrast.

Could you tell us a little more about the titles of your two albums, EGO DEATH and SEPULCHRE?

EGO DEATH is a concept album that is meant to evoke aspects of a psychedelic experience, exploring concepts of transformation and the dissolution of the self. I wrote it during a major transformational period for myself that started just before and during the COVID19 lockdown period.
SEPULCHRE is a very different record, as I didn’t want to really tell a story the way I did with the first record, frankly I didn’t have one I wanted to tell. I think of it as a kind of reflection about making music during the worst period of my life. I had begun to believe my creative soul had died and the songs were like some partially carved stone statues made to guard my tomb. If I can indulge the metaphor a bit longer, it was only after I awoke from the grave floor and left that I could see the light and finish the monuments I had built.

What do you enjoy more, the process of creating music in the studio or performing it live?

I love both quite a lot, to be honest, and I think they have become rather entangled. I definitely think the comfort of the studio is very nice, sipping a coffee and getting lost in the craft is something that will never get boring. Probably the most fulfilling moments of my life have happened in that setting. DJing is much more of a visceral experience for me, I’ve sort of found the fragility and vulnerability of being on stage to be like a touching lightning rod. The almost intoxicating feeling that “I could just totally trainwreck everything right now” is something I really love and gives me a lot of inspiration back in the studio. There’s also something really special about playing a song for a group of people you’ve never met and knowing that you’re all resonating with the sound.

Are there any artists you would like to work with someday?

I would love to work with many artists in the future! GRRL, Kelbin, Nikki Nair, Ternion Sound are a few artists I am obsessed with right now that I would love to work with on some dance music. I would also love to get in the studio with Hikaru Utada as I love her voice and admire her music a lot.

What’s next? Are you working on a new album?

I am working on a ton of new music and some remixes and hoping to play some more shows in 2024. I am taking a long break from albums for a while to focus on smaller EP’s and singles. I think albums are incredibly important mediums of expression and really want to wait till I feel ready prior to taking the plunge.

Interview by Paul Prell