philojain Interview With Colby

Guide

Hello, philojain! “Riff Raff” is an instrumental track with a massive wall of sound, what inspired you to create a piece so intense and guitar-driven?

Mostly my love for experimenting with the layered architecture of a bass driven track that has other guitar layers atop of each other. The guitar driven intensity is mostly narrative based, as I like to think of the same as a horse charging through.

You pull influences from bands like Pantera, Lamb of God, Faith No More, and Pink Floyd, how do you blend these sounds into something uniquely yours?

I take the plausible turn in trying to make the same slightly more surprising than normal music theory, that’s where the flow comes from; the various influences mentioned specialize in that. It’s how fresh sounds are deduced using a keen ear for the same.

The track refuses to follow a formula, pivoting between fast technical passages and slow, crushing power chords, what drives your approach to composition?

Tension and release make any electric guitar track sound better by default as the listener is ideally clueless as to the direction the same should or not take. The shock and awe factor is what makes music enjoyable for a guitar enthusiast.

You handled all the instruments and production yourself, what challenges or freedoms came with doing everything solo?

Solo music production entitles one to artistic freedom and liberty to decide the nuances that come with the right feel. Personal music taste takes the given aspects from one point to the other for a final finishing touch as there is no answerability.

“Riff Raff” exists in experimental rock territory without vocals, what do you hope listeners feel or experience when diving into the track?

The concurrence of guitars, sometimes 2-3 at a time, with sub bass as the pivot added in the middle of an interplay between the drumming; that is the secret recipe for unexplored driving music. I drive around to test out fresh tracks and do what feels right.