Interview of Nehoryn by MPoppins Thursday, 03 September 2009
Nehoryn is a 27 year old Frenchman and his artistic talent is inspired by some of the most talented bands from Bristol that moved the 90s like The Prodigy, Massive Attack, Portishead or Fatboy Slim.
Much of his music is free for download at assorted places around the internet, which will later lead to the commercial release of the album "NaGGa OldSkylerS" in 2009.
Broadcasted across the web and found by the Partipirate.org, Nehoryn participates in the Compil' Pirate Vol.2, a hacktivist work that includes 19 artists, whose purpose is to support and to broadcast independent and alternative music.
MPoppins : Hi Nehoryn. Has music been your passion for a long time?
Nehoryn : I started to teach myself to strum on an old synth when I was 7 years old. It was like I was possessed and I still am!
MPoppins : How was the music of Nehoryn born?
Nehoryn : I have an obsessive need to create things. I conceived the Elkysia Project in 1997 with a little keyboard and a little MIDI sequencer. I didn't have a computer, the Web was still in its infancy I wasn't looking specifically to have my work broadcasted either. I distributed some tapes to those who were interested - to my pals mostly.
In 2007 I produced about ten albums, all broadcasted on the Internet under a Creative Commons license. My approach wasn't marketing at all - each album had its own style: Techno/Old-School, then New Wave 80', Trip-Hop, Industrial, New Age, Electronica, Downtempo, Bigbeat and Experimental, and even if the music sometimes sounded a bit too much like MIDI sound, the idea was to do the best despite the limited resources at my disposal.
But the strength of this project was also its weakness: no direction, the MIDI format no longer held value in the eyes of professions, my influences were too obvious (Vangelis, Enigma etc.) and there was a desire for change. It was time to find something fresh and start from scratch with a more personal project. Once I had the resources, I built my studio, I reworked some of my music and I have developed my own style through Nehoryn.
MPoppins : Why are you using a Creative Commons license to distribute your music?
Nehoryn : No label was interested in what I was doing. That's why I took it upon myself to distribute my music. The CC is a reaction against the star system. Music is an art that has been so corrupted by money that it has become impossible to think of "music" without thinking of "Show Business". Selling my music is good, but making music exclusively for this purpose is like prostitution. An intellectual prostitution that only profits the pimp; in this case the big record company that will transfer less than 1% of sales to the composer of successful music, with a contract that will lock up in for years to come...
MPoppins : Can you present us your latest album "NaGGa OldSkylerS"?
Nehoryn : The commercial release of the album "NaGGa OldSkylerS" marks a major phase in the evolution of Nehoryn. Being an artist/independent producer requires a certain financial autonomy to give life to other projects and it isn't always easy to reconcile ideals and reality.
This is a 100% independent album with 11 tracks in high definition. It is sold on most music platforms (amazon, fnac, virgin, etc.) and the titles can be purchased individually. However, it is possible to download it for free at the official website with sound quality a bit more compressed.
MPoppins : Thank you and good luck with your sales; this is the proof that you can use open licenses and still sell your music!
