Safe Passage
SMYAH: This album is a collection of some of my best work that goes well in a sequence. I have much more unreleased material waiting to come out so it was about time I gathered some of it that I felt captures a certain vibe. A lot of my inspiration comes from film scores so I guess you can say this album has beats with a cinematic feeling – they differ in tempo and even genre at times but they all sound coherent because what ties them together is the atmosphere they bring and the sound design. This is what drives the narrative, open to interpretation.
8MIN: When I heard the album, I said to myself – I want this series to be very good. So I bought two films that I had never shot with before and went on a few trips. I wanted to shoot entirely in the evening, urban. But, my travels took me to places, in such moments, that I simply could not help myself but photograph what was in front of my eyes.
What do you think is an important ingredient for good collaborations?
8MIN: Communication and some common aesthetics between the parties.
SMYAH: There are many ingredients that influence the process, one of them is that the collaborators should be equally invested in the project, otherwise there will be an imbalance that might not make it work. I’d say that the most important ingredient for a strong outcome though, is bringing collaborators who emanate similar energy – that way they don’t even need to go into lengthy discussions about what the project is, they will simply manifest it into existence because they already understand each other and the energy they want to bring in.
Which two art forms do you feel go very well together except music and picture?
8MIN: I quite like plastic arts, movement arts and dance. I find them quite influential, especially when there are theatrical elements. I think they call it contemporary dance and performance? I like the way they communicate with the audience. So that at one point you feel part of the experience on stage. And you leave the performance with some feeling – no matter what.
SMYAH: A very obvious one but I’d say writing and drawing. Lately I’ve been reading this magazine that has poetry and short stories illustrated in drawings and this only makes the experience fuller.
