INTERVIEW: Sorsari — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Sorsari

___________

THANKS to Sorsari for telling me about…

his single, Monster, and the E.P., Patterns. I ask about the inspirations behind the E.P. and what sort of music he is inspired by; the albums that are important to him and where he is heading as we look forward to 2019.

I ask whether there will be gigs coming up and which rising artists we need to get behind; if he gets time to chill away from music and which artist he’d support if he could choose anyone – Sorsari picks a great song to end the interview with.

__________

Hi, Sorsari. How are you? How has your week been?

My week has been really good so far!

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourself, please?

My name is Alex Jensen and I'm a twenty-eight-year-old from Edmonton, AB (in Canada). I've been making music under Sorsari since 2015 but I've been picking away at computer music for about ten years now.

Monster is your new single. Is there a tale behind it at all?

Nothing in particular. I was playing around with this Rihanna vocal and I managed to get some cool chops out of it and, when I heard the 'monster' vocal; I knew I could turn it into a higher energy type of track.

Your E.P., Patterns, is out. Are there particular themes and ideas that inspired it?

I wouldn't say there are any particular themes; I felt that 'Patterns' was an appropriate name since I was stuck in this pattern of producing that involved my transition to making music at 140 B.P.M. from 120 so I kind of just slapped the name on it as the E.P.

Is it true you recorded to 8-track? What was the reason for that?

No? Not sure where that came from.

Do you have particular music idols or artists you grew up around?

I would say my friends inspired me the most as artists since I grew up with a lot of different musicians and a lot of producers within my city. I always surrounded myself with creative people because I felt like I had a community of people who shared the same passion and desires to do something more than ourselves. Jake Robertz is one of my best friends as well as my biggest rival in the friendliest way. He always keeps my head straight with music.

What do you hope to achieve by the end of 2018?

I just hope I keep the flame alive and continue to grow and evolve with my music. I don't have any particular deadlines or timelines for when I want to achieve certain things with music but I want to keep the ball rolling and continue to break my own boundaries.

Do you already have plans for 2019?

I've recently been picking up some analog gear so I'm probably going to be making more music with more hardware involved into the tracks. I want to make an E.P. or an album or something with the new toys but, ultimately, I would like to make an album for Terrorhythm.

Have you got a favourite memory from your time in music so far – the one that sticks in the mind?

My favourite memory would be playing at Borealis Music Festival back in September. It was a brand-new festival that my friends put together - and it was nothing but fire from our local scene in Alberta playing all types of Dance music. I felt like I was at home when I was performing there and I was surrounded by nothing but love and the best people I've ever met.

Which three albums mean the most to you would you say (and why)?

Kuedo - Severant

Burial – Untrue

Om Unit - Self

I think these three albums mean the most to me because they make me feel like I'm spiritually elevating and they're also the most interesting to me in terms of how they're composed.

If you could support any musician alive today, and choose your own rider, what would that entail?

I would want to be direct support for Plastician. As for my rider; enough Clamato juice and hot sauces for Caesars all night.

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

Be open in taking your time with learning how to use your DAW; how to synthesize your own sounds and how to create your own sound within your genre. Learn how to take criticism and realize that everybody has their own paces. I know a lot of people (including myself) who get frustrated at being slow but there's nothing wrong with that. As long as you're involving yourself with your art and spending any amount of time on it, you're constantly moving in the right direction.

Do you have tour dates coming up? Where can we catch you play?

Nothing at the moment. I might plan on doing something within the western parts of Canada in 2019 but I really just want to focus on making more music since I feel like I have to improve much more before I do anything serious in terms of playing out. I'm honestly bored of a lot of my music. Haha.