This week’s feature Kameron Rogers is an artist who goes beyond making music in terms of simple harmonic convergence and more into a full scale omni-vergence of sound into a story. Clearly it’s the sounds of someone who is not only a musician but a highly professional sound engineer. The Last Candle is a good example of this as it so realistically incorporates soundscapes and it sets the mood for an imaginable scene not just a song.
The production on his records is extremely clear, well-paned, mixed and should really be experienced in surround sound. Lisbon to San Francisco is a well-paced journey into epically minimal yet huge Moombah beats. The surrounding glitters and spread of sound could equally be the background to the news or a tribal birth ceremony.
This artist not only ticks the box of balance between experimental organic and electronic sounds but through incorporating many different ethnic grooves into his productions. The tagging of his song genre’s like City to City Soul is a clear indication of a well-rounded idea of situational music rather than explaining through BPMs and sub-culture identity.
Morning Dew could be enjoyed equally in a mystical yoga session next to a Guatemalan waterfall or its imaginative equivalent in the minds of a city-dweller. The so called ‘Safari Adventure’ of Magic Carpet Ride is a great self-explanatory guide and Nomadic Language could be explained as a ‘Stratosphere Adventure’.
One of his most dazzling pieces could be the outrageously huge Kameronessi’s Tomb (also now featured on Outtellevision). The production on this track is definitely to the absolute purest precision with sounds going in and out like a 3d microphone recording the centre point of a Middle Eastern bazaar or being a spectator inside one of Genie’s heroin trips as he comes out the bottle.
His track Trinket and Stars from Knick Knacks and Nebulas Album sounds like an evolution of this sound and Kameronessi is definitely an artist under our radars for breaking some international grounds. This description of situational metaphors could go on and on but have a listen for yourself to his material and you are bound to imagine at least 5 different appropriate scenarios for each song.
Before we end this we are going to have a quick Q&A so you get a taste of who the artist is and how he gets all this down.
Q. Awesome music. Ok to start, can you tell us a little about yourself?
A. Hey Outtallectual Collective thanks for the kind words. I currently live in San Francisco & own a full production studio (Aural Boutique) that creates bespoke music, tailored sound design & polished mixing for films, games, TV, artists, you name it. I started teaching myself multiple instruments at a young age and started producing soon after. I am half Persian, half Scottish so I grew up with both western and eastern roots. The earliest memories of my father playing bluegrass on his banjo, to dancing to Iranian music at gatherings on my mothers side. I have a deep affinity for world music, especially those that can blend cultures together. The key element for me as an artist is to create both a visceral and cerebral connection between you and I, experienced through the music. My goal is for the listener to gain a visual and emotional relationship with the piece that they can cherish.
Q. There are so many organic and electronic elements to your music. How do you make all of this? Are we talking a full-on studio production?
A. A full-on studio, with a comfy atmosphere. 25 Instruments, plenty of guitars, keyboards, various exotic instruments, as well as amplifiers, mics and all the other goodies. I use a handful of DAWs and my favorite VSTs. I am a big advocator of acousmatic design, a sound one hears without seeing an originating cause. Turning percussion into synths and synths into percussion, recording real-world sounds, manipulating them and incorporating them into the music. However, for me its important with all this technology to not get wrapped up in the wires, metaphorically speaking. My aim is to create a balance between worlds, and see how far I can push that boundary; by incorporating multi-instrumental ability with the powerful and endless capabilities of electronic production. I believe this blend is the core of my sound, having the organic influence the electronic, and the electronic influence the organic.
Q. Do you believe that there is an idea of omni-dimensionalism that surpasses musical genres and eventually it all boils down to how a song can be described?
A. We have reached a state where the history of music has enjoyed many unique phases, from classical to jazz to the world of edm, and that ones influence can be so broad. This is an integral part into what the todays artist creates, essentially the possibility of the omni-dimensionalism of music genres converging. I completely agree that it boils down to how a song can be described, and if tagging with genres help get the message across then there is nothing wrong with that. I look at genres like adjectives, they are just words to “help describe” the music. For an artist developing an important question to ask, is the genre making your art choices, or is your art making a genre?
Q. Have you ever thought of doing a concept album in the spirit of a full length movie with a script and all the jazz except the visuals?
A. What a fun idea! I am doing something quite similar on my album Knick Knacks & Nebulas, each song will have its own storyline for a more holistic experience. To be on honest I enjoy working with visuals. Creating a mutual artistic space and establishing a relationship with the dialogue, visuals, and plot challenge me to become better at what I do.
