On The Rise: Q+A with Desert Sound Colony

With origins far from any desert, Desert Sound Colony is not what one expects. What was originally composed of a single guy making music in the British countryside, has expanded in size, sound, and reach. Since humble beginnings of experimenting with percussion in a bedroom to performing their newest EP Cracks in my Soul at the first every Further Future festival alongside acts such as Tycho and Nosaj Thing, Desert Sound Colony is stepping up their game while developing their downtempo, electronic influenced sound. LA CANVAS sat down with Liam Wachs, the man behind Desert Sound Colony’s very first sounds, to find out a little more about their process.

LA CANVAS: So you’re not from the desert and as far as we know you’re not a part of any colony, so why the name?

LIAM WACHS: I just thought that it fit the sound of the music. It also sounded like a band to me, or that there were more than one person involved in the writing. When I started the project it was just me. I wanted the name to give people the impression that there were more people involved and I had the feeling that there would be down the line.

LAC: So the name was preparing listeners for what was to come?

DSC: I wanted a plural name for that reason: preparation.

LAC: Speaking of preparation, How do you get your often solo recorded songs ready for a live band performance?

DSC: Long and arduously. The songs weren’t written with a three piece band in mind. It would really make sense to have more members in the band to make life a lot easier, but because there are only three of us we are all doing a lot of things. Basically we have a drummer, a bassist, I play guitar, we all sing, and we all trigger samples as well.

LAC: Wow, that’s a lot going on.

DSC: Everyone’s basically using both their hands and their feet and their voice all the time.

LAC: Does that mean you prefer the creating process over performing?

DSC: It’s kind of hard to compare them really, the feelings are so different. They’re almost like the opposite. The performing is a full time job, just getting the band ready, and trying to work out exactly how we are going to do it. It has been an absolute mountain to climb, but then we play, and the playing is easy. With the songwriting, it’s kind of the other way around. I just don’t do any  work or I try to sit down and nothing comes out, but when it finally does, it just happens immediately. It’s extremely satisfying when you can actually sit down and write something.

LAC: What was the most recent catalyst that propelled you from writing nothing for months, to writing a song everyday?

DSC: It’s hard to put a finger on it. Cracks of My Soul really came out of a break up. I wasn’t writing any music at the time that it was happening. It was the first song that I wrote afterwards. It was kind of a release, a release from that I guess.

LAC: Now for the question I have to ask, especially for a music style as fluid as your’s: How would you describe Desert Sound Colony’s sound?

DSC: It’s a question I get asked a lot, but it’s one that I don’t really have a decent answer for.

LAC: Yeah, I see how it’s a difficult question to answer.

DSC: But I don’t know if it for most people. I feel like if you’re the Arctic Monkeys you can. I think for a lot of people it is quite easy to describe their sound, but this project has so many different inspirations kind of woven throughout it. It gets kind of pointless trying to describe it when it’s ten different genres and ten different feelings. You have to just go and listen to it really.

LAC: Does that mean you see your sound being interwoven with even more genres and feelings in the future?

DSC: It definitely could and probably will end up changing in the future. I have a quite fluid inspiration. Also moving forward I’m just about to start writing with the other two band members as well, so chances are we are going to end up at least somewhat with a slight change in sound, yet retaining the same core.

LAC: Besides an infinite possibility for change, what does the future look like for Desert Sound Colony?

DSC: The long term, world domination.

LAC: How would you define your intended type of world domination?

DSC: I’d really like to believe that you can write underground music and really make a successful career from it without having to sacrifice integrity. Bands like Radiohead, people like Bjork, Portishead, there are people that are totally doing their own thing and don’t give a fuck, but they’re still huge. So I think that’s where it’s going to go.

Follow Desert Sound Colony on sound cloud to catch to their newest EP Cracks in my Soul.