Record of Tides is the nom de plume of German electronic producer Sven Piayda. Crafting intricate sound experiments into narrative forms via tracks that ooze with ambition and evidence an ear for subtleties, Record of Tides has recently released "Intercelestial" on Bulgarian label Mahorka, and it is a world-building collection that, at just under one hour, explores various crevices of electronic/downtempo/experimental genres with gusto and attention. We caught up with Sven to find out more about the album and the artist behind the music.
Hello Record Of Tides! Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. How are you today?
Hey Becky, thanks for having me! It’s a hot day in spring here, possibly the hottest day in May on record, but I do not have to work today, so I sit outside in the garden. I´m working on a new album, the neighbour’s cat is joining me, it could be worse.
Intercelestial was inspired by coastal travel. How do environments in general shape your work? How about the Ruhr region where you’re from?
The backstory of becoming is always told when it comes to talk about this album. Actually, it is just the experience of stepping aside from all your duties and open your mind for some new input ending up in inspiration. My girlfriend and me were spending some summer days in a small Dutch place at the coast. When we were relaxing in our room she usually dives into a novel, I had some new music on my headphones. I got into Mouse on Mars and Bran Van 3000 framed by my all-time favourites Turner, Boards Of Canada, Prefuse 73 and Oneohtrix Point Never. The music became the soundtrack of this trip, playing in my head even when I wasn´t listening to it.
Dutch places along the North Sea often appear a bit worn by the sand and salty air but nobody cares because it is summer and the sun is shining. Everything is broken but this is our time. I wanted to keep this feeling and take it home. These inspirational moments were echoing in my head and remained present when I started to working on the album.
The Ruhr Area is a great place, a city cluster that feels like a megacity but with beautiful rural landscapes surrounding it. The periphery is fantastic, the only thing missing is a beach. I am born here and I do not want to live anywhere else. This region has a lot culture to offer. I would not say that there is one scene for electronic and experimental artists but there are smaller assemblies where affiliates come together. It is great when you play live for people digging it and team up for common productions and live shows.
This region grew this big because of the coal deposits and the mining industry launching within the last century. Even during my childhood, I constantly realized the decline of this industry and the closing of mines. Today there is no active colliery left. This place always felt like the big time was over, like there was a golden future drafted and a hundred years later it is just a memory, proven by the industrial ruins. Growing up in this region meant that everybody was always aware that relying on natural resources was not an option anymore. There is always this sublime question of: Now that you cannot remain what you have been, what are you going to be instead? This might be influential to what I do as well, building up upon ruins without covering it. I guess you can hear that in my music.
Also we have realized that mining coal and releasing all of the carbon dioxide might not have been the best idea we had as mankind. Even if you question the effects on climate you have to accept the eternity tasks like the treatment of mine water in the former underground mining operations. I live upon that.
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| "I cannot please the audience, I can only offer a path. It is not up to me to make everyone follow. Nevertheless, everyone is invited." Record of Tides |
The music on Intercelestial is really beautiful in places, but it can also feel like there are forces holding that beauty back and making it more complicated, something darker or more mysterious. That gives it a lot of character. Do you see your identity reflected in the music?
That’s a tough one. First of all, I want to make beautiful music, this means to me that it has to be challenging sometimes, pushing the borders of what is expected. I have a lot of fun listening to Autechre, Aphex Twin and Brothomstates and it is just exciting to shred everything down to its pieces and build up something else from it. To me it appears as a certain quality when the composition seems to crumble away into something coincidental which it actually never is. Mixing up sounds from different sources makes them become a new sound themselves, sometimes it is just something sublime. But I am also into downtempo and post-hip hop, warm sounds and sweet melodies, if possible, even rock band sound and bombast orchestration. On the other hand I do not want to end up creating kitsch so there is the need to wreck it sometimes. Back in the day a friend said I could be more successful doing straight house and techno tracks but it was never an option. I am into multiple genres as I believe there is good stuff in every genre and I like to learn and adapt from all of these. I want to keep it exciting for myself. When I consider myself as an artist I cannot please the audience, I can only offer a path. It is not up to me make everyone follow. Nevertheless, everyone is invited.
It is hard to tell if my identity or personality is mirrored here. When I am into something I take it seriously, like I take everyone seriously, including myself. I try to be clever and I like to throw red herrings. Sometimes I take the easier way, sometimes I don’t.
The music itself is really textured and treated. It sounds like you weren’t just loading VSTs and entering MIDI. Could you talk us through the technical process of putting the music together?
Thanks a lot, I take this as a compliment and it means a lot to me! I do not want to sound like a certain device or a certain production method. Of course, you can spot an 808 or a Fender Strat sometimes but next time everything is different again. The Intercelestial album is cut and paste, other albums are based on other methods.
I use different production methods like recording guitar or bass to tape, using in-browser production tools or MIDI-controlled synths, sampling and processing my performances on whatever makes sounds, generate digital stretching, trigger 19-inch rack effects or free and purchased samples as well as AI-production which is perfect when the machine messes it up. My equipment is outdated, so is most of my software. It is fun to play live shows with just having electronic scrap on stage. As a guitar player I have spent much money on equipment, when I do electronic productions, I want to keep it cheap and I like that.
In the end, most of the production is just putting sounds and samples on the grid, stretching, pitching and mixing, while sometimes it is working against the grid and taking care that it does not comes out too clean and predictable. It often feels like puzzling, it is something I do for relaxing. Intercelestial was produced last summer on a laptop while sitting behind the house in the garden. Making music this way is no work at all, it is pure joy, sometimes close to obsession. In the end it is supposed to be baked into an alloy, more than just the sum of its elements. Friends who are into my music tell me that they realize me no matter what sounds I use just by the way that I chop them up.
My friend who is usually doing the mastering is into plugin research helps me out when it comes to contemporary DAW production issues. We did a lot of stuff together that sounds completely different in creating pop rock and generative IDM as well.
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| Sven Piayda A.K.A Record of Tides |
Intercelestial is available on cassette from Mahorka. Do you find a real difference between analogue and digital technologies?
I am old enough to have witnessed the vanishing of tape cassette and vinyl record and now we see them coming back. I guess I have all of my physical albums mirrored digitally on my phone to listen to my music in the car, in the garden to drowse or wherever I go. I was never into Spotify for ethic, technical and practical reasons and because they do not have half of the music I want to listen to anyway. I do not see my work there either.
Running my own label called Zany Music does not necessarily mean anyone notices the release of a new album. I contacted Ivo Petrov who is running the Mahorka label and he was interested in new music and we set sail for a future release before I started producing it. I was happy to get the opportunity to become part of the Mahorka cadre and make an interested audience come across my music. This strategy paid off by the way. When I came up with the mastered album, Ivo said we should do a tape. That was another great option which I did not see coming. I adapted the cover for the tape and completed it with a photo taken during the inspirational summer trip and actual notes I made finding the right track list. Doing this design was pretty weird, you would not have the opportunity to do something strange and worn in any other context. Surprisingly, the first half of the tracks were perfectly matching the second half in length, perfect for two sides of a tape cassette. It felt like it was meant to be.
When it comes to production, I am not a purist at all, I love the analogue sounds and the digital possibilities as well. Record Of Tides is a true child of the digital age looking back on analogue times. Digital production of electronic music means complete freedom to me using sounds and patterns I could not create any other way. I want to embrace all of the new aesthetics that are possible. My productions are bound to its time of course, but I hope they do not sound like coming from a certain decade. It is supposed to be something unique, nostalgic and futuristic, hovering over time.
If music sounds better from tape, high resolution digital file or vinyl record is an endless discussion among nerds. I guess there is a difference that you can hear in depth and quality and that is supporting the joy of diving into an album. Nevertheless, mp3s are cheap and convenient. Most of my catalogue is available digitally only and it would not be otherwise, so digital production and releasing is a fantastic thing.
I don’t really see the tape´s return based upon quality. Ivo said the Intercelestial album sounds nice and chunky from the tape. Indeed, the medium´s quality interferes well with the music. Purchasing a physical release might be based on certain aesthetics and maybe even nostalgia. I think spending money on a vinyl or tape is also an act of appreciation, the object serves as evidence for your connection to the artist and as a kind of trophy for your love to the music.
How did you first come into electronic music production? And do you have any recommendations for other artists people should check out?
About 25 years ago I had the opportunity to record some songs for my first compact disc album on a guy´s 8-track-tape machine. I wanted to play rock music, but I never found the right people to form a band. It is complicated anyway but I did not want to spend my time with people I wasn´t friends with and who didn’t take it seriously. I was and still am a guitar player and I wrote songs that I recorded in my bedroom using two tape recorders mimicking multitracking. Even semi-professional equipment was very expensive at the time and I could not effort more. With the offer of real multitrack recording, it became ambitioned.
I could play guitar, bass and sing a little bit but I did not have a drummer. Fortunately, I knew a guy who offered to do the backing tracks for me, we sat down together and picked some free samples and looped them – already fixing the structure of the song. It was pretty simple, altering loops for verse and chorus, no fills or any harmonic elements. Later we dubbed the backing tracks on two tracks of the 8-track and I had six tracks left for the rest of the song.
As I was planning to do a second album, I got the software and a bunch of samples and started to do the backing tracks myself. I quickly got into it and it escalated quickly with symphonic samples and authentic drum loops, making it sound more and more realistic while merging acoustic with electronic sounds. I was not into electronic production before, back in the day I was not even in electronic music apart from Björk. Electronic music was just techno to me, how naïve is this? Then I discovered the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk, when Boards Of Canada kicked in it changed everything and opened the path to Warp´s rabbit hole.
My first electronic project was a kind of spare time fun thing called Shaved Space Monkey, I sampled the compact discs from my back-in-the-day girlfriend´s grandma forcing classical tunes onto the rhythm section of Italo Pop hits to get some kind of Rondò Veneziano meets Daft Punk sound. Some guy told me that I can get sued if I release it so I felt this was fun but a dead end. I started to make my own samples and came up with the first Record Of Tides album in 2004, released on compact disc only. Over the years I have started many other projects exploring genres, styles and production methods. What I do as a producer is more or less the same thing, I did two decades ago. It is pretty simple but I got more and more skilled doing it. I am more a composer than a producer, I come from classical song writing and I have an idea of sound and structure, it is important to dramatize the song and even the album. There must be an idea before it is brought into a device but sounds and software are inspiring as well.
Well, you´re asking a music nerd for his recommendations? This monologue will be endless… When it comes to electronic music the Warp Records label has been extremely influential. Boards of Canada, Autechre, Aphex Twin, Brothomstates, Bibio, Prefuse 73, Oneohtrix Point Never have invented everything that coined me. There´s Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, Four Tet, Dabrye, Teebs, Jamie XX and the Considerate Builder´s Scheme. There are also German acts like Kraftwerk, Turner, Mouse on Mars and Funkstörung who shaped my approach.
My early musical DNA is based on rock music, I love Brian May and Queen, David Bowie, Alice in Chains, Radiohead, Bon Iver, Carpark North and everything Nuno Bettencourt ever played or released.
On the radio I like to listen to the eighties and have discovered the Carpenters and Fleetwood Mac, the skill in writing and performing is so precise…
I do not try to copy anybody but I hope that you get the influences. As an artist you wonder if you will ever step outside the shadow of your idols.
You must check out the music of Primal Scapes which is the project of Michael Schreiber who does the mastering and technical problem solving for me. I would tell you that his music is worth listening even if I would not know him. Discovering the Mahorka catalogue taught me that there are tons of brilliant stuff out there, it is endless and beautiful.
Your visual work and music seem very connected. Do images ever influence the sound, or does the music usually come first?
I am a visual artist as well so the visual side is also very important to me. I distinguish between an independent artwork and a cover design. Usually, I have an album finished and do the artwork afterwards. As I always like to push things forward with the next album, I started to play around with designs parallelly. Like a track, it takes time to put an idea into action, let it rest and return some days later to find out if it was a good one. It is always the test of time, as an artist and producer you always believe that your current work is the best, taking time adds some realism to it.
The cover is a door opener, I try to mirror the sound and the methods of making it even knowing that this approach cannot work actually. Like in audio production the process of creation, letting it rest and coming back for evaluation that has developed over time. If it is not boring after looking at it for the hundredth time it might be good on worth to be released. When it comes to creating artwork, I also like to merge whatever is available: photography, vector graphics, handwriting, CGI, AI-generated imagery and found stuff. Once again, it is about composition.
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| A screenshot from svenpaiyda.com |
What does a typical day in your life look like?
I was never good at monetizing my art or music, so I have to do a proper job. I have studied arts, crafts, and design, and I teach students in directing, editing video and sound as well as photography and computer‑generated imagery. I also work with student teachers, guiding them in developing their skills and finding a structure for the process. Art and design are very much about communication and getting your idea into someone else’s mind. I like what I do and it makes my days differ from one another.
Apart from that I love to listen to music a lot and go to art museums or live jams and take care of family and friends. It´s nothing special but a lot I am thankful for.
I am constantly involved in creative projects in music or art, since creativity requires ongoing training.
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| Record of Tides performing live |
There are a lot of danceable moments on this record. Is dancing something you enjoy?
Did you dance to it? I prefer to dance when nobody is watching. My stage of going to clubs is over but I liked to dance to minimal techno that I could never stand to listen in any other context. When I am at concerts, I usually move a bit. But yes, I like dancing for my own joy on a good day and private parties. My music makes the brain dance, sometimes the body follows, hopefully.
It is fun to do live performances. I see people dancing as I serve a groove but then I break it down to do something noisy transforming into something new. After performing live usually two types of people come to me: the ones telling me they are stunned and the others telling me that I was a bad DJ.
I’ve asked you a lot of questions. Do you have any for me?
Maybe I have two questions to compensate my long answers: Fist of all, what are your three all-time favourite artists in music? And secondly: You are truly interested in the independent scene; did you find music that touched you closely as deep as one of your all-time favs?
I think choosing just 3 artists as my favourite is too difficult and feels like idolatry in a way, but I'll try and say Autechre, Aphex Twin, and Peter Gabriel. And yeah, sure I find great music all the time that can definitely stand next to those aforementioned artists, though they are battling with nostalgia which is always difficult. Anything covered on Sleeping In Sound genuinely impresses me.
Thanks, Sven!
Purchase Intercelestial on cassette or digital from Mahorka Records