Interview with ^L_

Miami Encode have the pleasure of a quick chat with ^L_ ahead of his new work. Lets find out what makes him tick!

How would you present your work to someone who doesn’t know you?

I’m not sure… but when they ask me I answer that I just produce music. I say this because I don’t even know how to
respond and not to sound rude or something on my part, I try to at least respond and be kind.

And your last job? Where are you born? And where do you want to take it?

I was born in the capital of Brazil – Brasília. I started my first band when I was 16.

What message would you like to convey to the public?

A lot of people might object, but for me, the more tumultuous an artist’s life, the more potential
that artist has to compose great music. So try to extract something beautiful from your pain…
because a lot of good things are hidden from that feeling.
ok… I think it’s important to have a certain optimism, but we need to be realistic. Life is grey, you
know… no flowers. When we see things this way, we can live better with all the problems, goals
and victories.

How was your latest project born?

months ago I contracted Covid and was isolated for ten days
locked in my house… alone… without personal contact with anyone (including close family
members, because they are healthy). It was very productive and interesting. In that time I took
some demos and worked intensively during those ten days and in less than a month, I had my
last release done. I had my new release done. and it was very interesting to spend this team
isolated at home, without the usual day-to-day commitments. My only activity was recording.

What do you want to convey in this work? What is the concept behind?

the idea behind it is a big irony behind the concept of PMA – which I’ve always seen as
hypocritical and nothing more than a by-product of success. The “self-help” industry has been
criticized as a scam for authors to make money to its simplistic writing and principles and I think
exactly that way… people treat optimism as if it’s an IOU for actual results, then look to their
results for confirmation bias as “proof” that it was indeed the PMA that led them to the desired
outcome…

My last work “Negattive Mental Attitude” had as its concept this whole false idea that the self-
help culture and optimism preach.

As for your studio, what is it currently composed of?

Tempest Drum Machine
MacBook Pro 15 inch – 2020
Arturia Microfreak
Roland TR 8
Korg Volca Bass
Arturia Minilab V2 – MIDI
native maschine
Beyerdynamic – DT 990
Beyerdynamic – DT 770 Pro
Guitar Pedal Effects: MXR-Overdrive / Digital Delay Boss /Electric Hamonix Memory Boy /
DigiTech The Drop
Arturia Microfreak

What is the one instrument you would never get rid of, no matter what?

my guitar… was where I started and will be with me forever. One of my great pleasures is to play something when I wake
up, still in bed… I start my day happy. And believe me, many of the track ideas I started from
some guitar idea. But I was never interested in mixing the two elements in a composition.

What was the last record store you visited? And what did you rescue from there?

Dom Pedro Discos, in Brasilia.

Do you have hope for the future of music? What would you like the future of the music industry
to be like?

Yes, definitely. Obviously it can always be better and we should never be satisfied…
it’s a constant battle, you know?. I wish independent labels and artists were more prestigious in
the media. This would open doors for new artists.

Can you reveal some upcoming projects for us?

for now I’m promoting my two recent works – the EP “Luis” and the EP “Negative Mental
Atittude”. For next year, I should release two or three new EPs – I already have enough
compositions for almost that.. after that, I think I would take a break at the end of 2023 and
dedicate myself to other projects besides music.
What makes you happy? make art. There’s not much more to say about it. Make art is
everything and touching people’s feelings is everything