Between Waves is the debut LP from producer and musician Shortcircles. Released just last year, you can feel the influences of jazz and bits of R&B throughout the entirety of the album. Singles such as ‘No 1 but U’ easily flows from airy sounds into dense beat structures while the track ‘You Will Carry This With You Forever’ creates a light, ambient environment. On rare but welcomed occasions, vocals are introduced on tracks such as ‘Patience’ (feat. Lizzy Ellison) and ‘On My Mind’ (feat. Sarah K. Melfy); the latter having beenremixed by Los Angeles based producer Anenon.
Matt graciously took time out of a lovely Sunday afternoon to explore stacks of jazz and soul records at Groove Yard in Oakland, of which the owner knows him by name. We discussed his enviable 2,000+ vinyl collection as he described his vinyl selection process.
What were your earlier connections to music?
I was always fascinated with the process of capturing and playing back sound. As a kid I had one of the 'Talk Boys' as seen in the movie Home Alone 2 and I was obsessed with recording everything I could throughout the day and listening back to it when I was falling asleep that night. As I grew older, the interest of capturing sound was directed towards music. I started recording my middle-school raps through a computer mic into a video editing software – one track for the instrumental and one track for the vocals. As I got older, the gear, approach, and general taste in music became a little more sophisticated. I met musicians, formed bands, and spent a lot of time alone tinkering with gear (mpc, sp303) and listening to music. I started collecting records at 14 and haven't stopped since. What originally began as me just trying to be a DJ developed into me digging for samples and ultimately just expanding my intake of music to a lot of jazz, classical, psychedelic, and some pretty out-there stuff.
How did Shortcircles come to be?
Since high school I had been making music in my bedroom or garage. By 'making music' I mean really just making sketches or beats and experimenting with different genres of music with friends and whatnot. All of my tracks would end up attached to emails I would send to a few of my close music friends and that's about it. Glenn Jackson, a fellow high school music nerd, started a blog called Mapzzz and asked me to contribute an EP. I had 3 songs completed and no name. For whatever reason my 21 year old mind thought Shortcircles would be a dope name. The collection of songs had a dreamy and blissed-out continuity and that sorta became the sound I chased for the next few years. I was lucky enough to be picked up by Allen and Dru at Plug Research and they pretty much let me just take off creatively in any direction I wanted.
What is the first memory that comes to mind when you think of vinyl records?
Gary's Record Paradise in Escondido, CA. The first place I went to buy a record. I bought Frank Zappa Apostrophe as my dad suggested. That place was my first introduction to that dusty, stale cardboard smell accompanied by incense and some of the weirdest conversation I have ever had. I'd head to the record store after school and just hang out for a few hours.
Do you have a favorite record store and if so, why?
This always changes for me. Groove Yard in Oakland is incredible for Jazz and Soul. I find myself digging there about once every few weeks. Every now and then I come across my new record store mecca. There's a thrift store in San Diego that I found when visiting my family for a weekend. They had about 10,000 records on the sales floor and after enough appearances there one of the managers asked if I wanted to see the back room. It was like a smaller version of the record basement DJ Shadow is sitting in during his interview in the documentary Scratch. I was the only one back there and there were no prices on anything. He told me everything was 2 dollars. Last time I went it seemed like a lot of people had caught on and all of the good records were cleaned out. I'm still waiting to find my next record gold mind.
How did you approach the writing process for Between Waves?
I spent time collecting material from old recordings I had done as well recording new material. I found some old sessions of my friends and I jamming on marimba, piano, bells, and used that as a starting point for a few of the songs. I was lucky enough to have access to different spaces to experiment with different sounds and such. Some of the drums and saxophone are performed by musicians from around Oakland. I would just have jam on the tracks. I like keeping things a little improvised so I can treat their performance like a sample and rearrange it later. It also gets their own personal vibe in the song rather than me telling them to play it a certain way. I was lucky enough to be on a label like Plug where they let me put a 4 1/2 minute ambient jam to begin and end the album. They were super supportive throughout the entire process and helped me get what I need to complete the album.
Were there any particular influences behind the album?
When I made the album, I was living in West Oakland with two music buddies. When I listen back to the album now, I can definitely hear the West Oakland influence. I had been mugged 6 blocks away from where I lived and had a little bit of a helpless feeling in the day to day. The album was definitely my outlet for any kind of stress I was going through. I think it was my attempt to create the calmness I was looking for.
Do you have a particular track off the album that you would consider to be a personal favorite or you connect with very deeply?
'You Will Carry This With You Forever'. To me this song comes off as very blissful and beautiful, but I've heard from other people it is a bit haunting. The title came from a conversation I had with a friend who told me my tendency to prioritize music before everything including relationships and such was something I would carry with me forever. That sentence had a lot of weight and was initially kind of scary, but eventually turned into a beautiful concept so the differences of how people perceive this song makes total sense to me.
What do you hope listeners take away from your album?
I hope people who listen to the album just chill the fuck out. Even if my music is just background noise for someone, I hope it allows them to sit and contemplate. I think everyone could benefit from just sitting and thinking for 52 minutes.
If Shortcircles had a spirit animal, what would it be and why?
I honestly have no idea how to answer this *laughs*. A bear I guess? I'm down with the whole hibernation thing. ∆
Taken from the 'Impossible Architecture' EP, a collaborative release by Shortcircles X Parks Burton.
https://soundcloud.com/shortcircles
https://soundcloud.com/parksburton
