Creating art serves as a way to help us cope with a life that's taxing. Paul Feder's ambient electropop was a way to cope with his surroundings. It's fortunate that he's had a lot of support for his music from the beginning. He got into DJing long before he started working on his own music, just as the life-changing pandemic came rolling in. Keep in mind that it's only been two to three years since the pandemic which still resonates through many releases from that period. That was the moment life changed for most of us but was crucial in giving birth to a new creative pursuit. It's been a year since Feder released his debut EP which offers enough time to meditate on their time, place, and meaning. I go over Paul Feder's work, and we talk about his creative process and future goals.
CORRECTION: The order of these releases has been corrected and credit has been given to guest musicians involved.
Ambient Electropop Inspiration Started With A Nightwalk
I'd like to start with Paul's first EP, Nightwalk as it's the beginning of an examination of Paul Feder's creative process about his kind of ambient electropop around an ever-evolving narrative that continues into his latest EP.
"Lose My Mind"
Speaking of minds, let me tell you what was on mine as I approached this EP. From the cover art, we see a thunderous cloud come rolling in, drawing the night curtains with it as I walk. I've had plenty of these moments where I'm walking, heading home for cover before the storm comes.
Initially, from the lyrics I gathered that Paul was portraying a hostile character whose intention was to do harm. From my end, that makes sense. Feder makes the intent clearer in our interview which you'll find at the end of this article. My idea is that this is the continuation of the story from the first EP, and all things being linear, this character is wondering and essentially, wandering about. The end result is a lost mind. It's when Paul sings: "Wild things come out at night, Do they know their wrong from right," I start to wonder if the character is threatening or threatened.
Musically, at about 2:17 this track becomes audibly immaculate as he adds more layers with the keyboard. This is where "Lose My Mind" takes on more of a personality with Paul getting into a zone. That's an interesting thing about bedroom music producers, where you generally don't have another musician to play off of for a solo. In this case, however, Paul did have some guest musicians, for this one it was Andrew Tell.
I sense the Aphex Twin influence when the title-track starts. Richard James seems to be my go-to for the experimental or even ambient electronica I'm referring to.
The most accessible track on this release is "Lose My Mind" but from "Nightwalk" to "In Floodlights", those four tracks feel like one large track is broken up. They have a kind of build-up for the ending and it's in that way that this EP has a theme. It feels like it's part of a bigger story that Feder is working on.
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The scenery also changes in these songs. We go from urban to desert-scapes, which is where the ambient electronic new-age music that I grew up with would transport me to. Imagine the sun setting in the Mojave or any desert for that matter, while galaxies light up the sky.
"Tooth and Heart" brings the accessible back again, which might be one of my faves off of this album. A great example of marrying the experimental with the accessible would be with "In The Floodlights" where I get Underworld vibes before the melody locks in with the beat and they close out this EP.
"Never Sleep"
Never Sleep. This is a release that also switches between the accessible and the inaccessible. "Home" is the more ambient electropop that serves as the score bridging the tracks Never Sleep" and "Wonderful Day" together. Again, I'm centered on the ideas that are behind the album, in that its purpose and its narrative are open-ended.
It fascinates me even more as to where Feder is going to take this. There's a lot here that's still in development which you'll understand what that means when you listen to our interview. As any artist worth Paul Feder's weight, we're all trying to get there. "Never Sleep" and "Wonderful Day" are definitely my faves on this release.
Interview with Paul Feder
In our interview, we talked about experimental music as he's categorized in some press packs. As a genre, the experimental that I'm used to easily falls into being noise art. Paul says that he's more accessible than that but by him saying that he's not classically trained, I think about those artists who are not and approach the experimental or ambient electronica without a plan which can result in more inaccessible noise than art. Paul isn't that, he's got a plan behind his ambient electropop madness!
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